Graduate Assistant/Associate Duties, Salary, and Promotion Guidelines
GA Classifications, Salary, and Promotion
Graduate Assistants/Associates in Teaching & Research (GAs) are
officially classified into four categories:
The pay rates given here are current as of June 2008. Increases correspond to
annual University budgetary guidelines.
Graduate Assistant I
New GAs start as Graduate Assistant I.
(Exception: Students who enter with an MS and one year of
acceptable teaching experience will start out at Graduate Assistant II.)
Graduate Assistant II
To be promoted to Graduate Assistant II, a student must either
- have a 3.5 cumulative GPA and one year satisfactory teaching or
research performance, or
- have two years' satisfactory teaching or research performance.
Satisfactory teaching performance means that the GA
received positive evaluations in all aspects of teaching responsibility.
All teaching activities of GAs are under the supervision of an
assigned member of the department. The supervisor will
evaluate the performance of the GA and will submit a written report to
the Graduate Committee and to the Undergraduate Committee. The
evaluation is not considered confidential and may be discussed with
the GA.
Satisfactory research performance is determined by the
professor with whom the GA worked.
We have additional information on satisfactory progress.
Graduate Associate I
To be promoted to Graduate Associate I, a student must have satisfactory
teaching or research performance and be in the PhD phase of the program, namely either
- achieve a “high pass” on the qualifying
exams and complete
30 units of coursework, or
- achieve a “pass” on the qualifying exams and successfully defend an
MS thesis.
Graduate Associate II
To be promoted to Graduate Associate II, a student must both
- pass the oral component of
the comprehensive exam,
and
- have satisfactory teaching or research performance.
Promotions will normally take place in August following achievement
of milestones.
Duties of a Half-Time (50%) Graduate Assistant or Associate in Teaching (GA):
- First-year Graduate Assistant duties will include:
- Teaching four (4) units per semester or
equivalent time spent on tutoring, grading, or proctoring examinations.
- Mandatory attendance at the Graduate College two-day orientation in
August as well as the Mathematics Department orientation of three half-days.
- Mandatory enrollment in MATH 596T.
- For Graduate Assistants/Associates in their second or later years, duties will include:
- Teaching nine (9) units per semester
or equivalent time spent on tutoring, grading, or proctoring examinations.
Units of Teaching are determined as follows:
- If the teaching assistant/associate has total responsibility for
a class then each hour per week of teaching counts as one unit.
- Each hour per week spent in the tutoring room counts as 2/5 unit.
- Each hour per week spent grading counts as 1/3 unit for
undergraduate courses, or 2/5 unit for graduate courses.
- For a student holding a Graduate Assistantship/Associateship in Teaching
for a percentage of time other than 50%, the duties are assigned proportionately
(e.g., the work load for a 25% GTA is half of that for a 50% GTA).
