Employment Eligibility and Hiring Process

Owned by Melanie Hoven
Last updated: Apr 13, 2021
3 min read

Student Academic Employment positions provide the single largest source of UC Santa Barbara graduate student support. They also constitute an important aspect of graduate training under faculty guidance. Graduate Student Academic Employment encompasses the following positions:

  • Graduate Student Researcher

  • Associate In __

  • Teaching Assistant

  • Reader

  • Tutor/Remedial Tutor

The Training and Rights of Academic Employment

The Graduate Division encourages all departments to train graduate students who will be teaching or assisting in research as Teaching Assistants, Associates In __, Readers, and/or to serve as Graduate Student Researchers (GSRs). Departments may provide professional preparation for their students by offering classes, colloquia, and workshops to ensure effective teaching and professional development. All departments should ensure that students are well-prepared to assume the responsibilities for teaching undergraduates and to succeed as professional researchers. Increasingly, attention is turning to the preparation of students for roles not just in academia, but also in industry, government, and public service. Graduate students who will be new TAs are required to attend a mandatory TA Orientation held prior to the start of the fall quarter.

Graduate students seeking academic employment positions should be presented with clear guidelines concerning the application and selection process, as well as terms of service. The procedures for posting open positions, appointing students, and complaint resolution for TAs, Associates, Readers, Tutors, and Remedial Tutors are specified in the UC-UAW Agreement. Information for GSRs on how to express a concern or file a complaint should be included in the department's student handbooks or communicated in another formal manner to students in the department.

Terms and Conditions (Limitations)

The appointment or reappointment of a graduate student to an academic title must be for a period of one year or less. Graduate students holding these academic appointments should be under the direction of a UC Santa Barbara faculty member. Graduate students in teaching appointments may not supervise or evaluate other graduate students. Additional information regarding student academic appointments can be found in Academic Personnel Procedures for UC Santa Barbara (The Red Binder), Section IV: Student Academic Titles.

Students who are appointed to Associate In __, Reader, Tutor/Remedial Tutor, and Teaching Assistant titles fall under an agreement between the Regents of the University of California and the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), and AFL-CIO pursuant to the provisions of the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA). For questions concerning the contract, see the UC-UAW Agreement.

All appointments or combined appointments are limited to 50% time (an average of 20 hours per week) during the academic terms. An exception may be granted by the home department for a graduate student to be compensated for a maximum of 75%; appointments above 75% require Graduate Division approval (see the exception process below). The 50% time restriction will apply without exception for Associates and international students, dependent upon their visa type or country of origin (consult the Office of International Students and Scholars for further information). All continuing students may work 100% time during the summer, provided they were registered and paid fees for the immediately preceding spring quarter.

The total length of time a student may hold any one or a combination of the following titles may not exceed 12 quarters: Teaching Assistant and/or Associate In __. Under special circumstances, an exception may be granted for additional appointments beyond 12 quarters (see the exception process below). Systemwide regulation does not permit graduate student appointment beyond 18 quarters as a Teaching Assistant and/or Associate In __.