Teaching Assistants

A teaching assistant (TA) position is available for registered graduate students in full-time residence serving under the supervision of a faculty member. Students may work a maximum of 18 academic quarters in teaching titles.

  • Eligibility

  • ♦  An appointee must be a full-time registered graduate student in good academic standing during the period of appointment.

    ♦  An appointee must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 in previous graduate work if a continuing student, or in the last two years of upper-division work if a new graduate student.

    ♦  An appointee must demonstrate adequate ability to comprehend, write, and speak the English language.

    ♦  An appointee must be willing and able to work 20 hours a week (50%) or 10 hours a week (25%) during the following time periods: 7 a.m. – 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturdays 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

    ♦  An appointee must be available for work from the first day through the last day of the quarter.

    ♦  An appointee must be willing and able to teach at least two courses from each of the priority lists from the “teaching assistant” application.

  • Criteria for Initial Appointment

  • Departmental Needs
    ♦  Courses requiring TA support
    ♦  Desire to attract outstanding student teachers

    Academic Qualifications
    ♦  GPA from U.S. institutions
    ♦  GRE and TOEFL scores, where required for admission

    Teaching Qualifications
    ♦  Prior teaching experience
    ♦  Communication skills
    ♦  Variety of courses and/or specialized courses candidate can TA

    Other Qualifications of the Candidate
    ♦  Industrial experience
    ♦  Experience in the use of electronic instrumentation
    ♦  Willingness to practice and teach proper safety practices from industrial supervisors
    ♦  Ability to work cooperatively with faculty, staff, and students

  • Criteria for Continued Appointment

  • ♦  Criteria as outlined above for initial appointment
    ♦  Appraisal of performance as a TA from evaluations by faculty, staff and students
    ♦  Appraisal of progress toward completion of degree requirements

    NOTE: The department reserves the right to offer support on a quarter-to-quarter basis and guaranteed support for subsequent quarters is not implied.

  • Appeal Process
  • Candidates who are not satisfied with appointment decisions should follow the appeal process: (a) write to the Vice Chair of the department and thereafter, if necessary, by (b) writing to the Dean of Graduate Studies.
  • Financial Need
  • Financial need is NOT a criterion in the selection of TAs. It is the departmental goal to provide the best possible teaching environment/learning assistance to students in addition to providing assistance to faculty members teaching courses.
  • General Polices and Information
  • The department follows the basic regulations in the UC Davis Policy and Procedure Manual Section 390-24 and the Academic Personnel Manual Section 410, and has established additional policies as outlined above.
  • Recommendations

  • We tend to receive more qualified applications than the number of available TA positions. You might want to consider these three recommendations to increase your chances of receiving a TA offer:

    ♦  Rank all courses you are interested in applying for in your TA application. We cannot consider you for a class you do not list.

    ♦  Consider that not all undergraduate classes have the same number of TAs.  Large classes and lab courses need multiple TAs (e.g., ENG6, ENG17, EEC100, EEC140A, EEC180A), but smaller classes might need only one TA.  Your probability of getting a TA assignment is higher if you are qualified for a larger class, and you list the course as a higher preference.

    ♦  Instructors get the opportunity to submit their TA preferences. You can help your chances of receiving a specific TA assignment if you discuss your interests and qualifications with the Instructor of the class.  This is especially important for the smaller or more-specialized classes.

  • Deadlines

  •  Fall 2024

    Application opens: Monday July 15, 2024
    Application Deadline: Monday July 29, 2024
    Application Link: https://ucdavis.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3duC2ky3q0cDB5k 

    Winter 2025

    Application Opens: Monday October 7, 2024
    Application Closes: Friday October 18, 2025

    Application Link: https://ucdavis.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_38XQA9Pa6usenJ4 

    Spring 2025

    Application Opens: Tuesday January 21, 2025
    Application Closes: Friday January 31, 2025                                                                          

      Application Link       https://ucdavis.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_doPH9JtsEGIHtbM                                                                                                                                                                

  • TA Handbook
  • Teaching Assistant Handbook
  • TA Homework Box Request Form
  • Please fill out this online form.
  • TA Office Hours Request
  • Please fill out this online form.