EVE Teaching Assistant Application

Teaching Assistant/Reader Application - 

Department of Evolution and Ecology

 

DEPARTMENT OF EVOLUTION AND ECOLOGY TEACHING ASSISTANT AND READER POSITION APPLICATION

INFORMATION FOR THE 2025-2026 ACADEMIC YEAR

Thank you for your interest in a teaching assistant and/or reader position with the Department of Evolution and Ecology (EVE).  Please find details below for applying to EVE for teaching assistant and/or reader consideration.

Application Deadlines for the 2025-2026 Academic Year:

    Priority Deadline:  May 30, 2025

    Standard Deadline:  You are welcome to apply after the May 30, 2025, priority deadline.  Applications received after May 30, 2025, will be considered on an as needed basis.

Application Process – How to Apply:

**NEW for the 2025-2026 Academic Year** - Department of Evolution and Ecology teaching assistant/reader applications for the 2025-2026 academic year will only be accepted via the College of Biological Sciences TA/Reader online application available here:  https://apps.mcb.ucdavis.edu/otap/.

Please submit your application for review and consideration via the link by above deadline(s).  Follow all application prompts.  Include the following in your file upload:

  • Up to three previous teaching assistant course evaluation summaries if available;
  • Undergraduate and graduate level transcripts

(If you have already applied via this online application for the upcoming 2025-2026 academic year and selected your applicable quarters, then there is no need to do anything further/re-apply.)

Questions?  Contact the Department of Evolution and Ecology:  Sherri Mann, smmann@ucdavis.edu; or Yuliya Yarova-Yarovaya, yarovaya@ucdavis.edu.

TA Orientation UC Davis:

Per Campus Guidelines:  All graduate students are required to attend the UC Davis campus TA Orientation before being offered/assigned a TA appointment. 

“All first-time Teaching Assistants at UC Davis are required to attend a campuswide TA orientation https://cee.ucdavis.edu/tao. This orientation introduces new TAs to teaching at UC Davis, what is expected of TAs, and what TAs can expect in terms of instructional support and TA training.”

(from the APM and the TA appointment notification letter)

Salary Point and Related TA Information:

Beginning Fall 2023, the experience based salary wage schedule shall be implemented and teaching assistant and instructor in_ will be placed on these new scales.  See Article 32A, General Wages, under section C.1.  Please visit the Graduate Studies FAQs page for additional information.  Current salary scales are available on the Graduate Studies website:  https://grad.ucdavis.edu/understanding-your-student-salary. 

Teaching Assistant Salary Points: 

As of 10/1/2023, available here - https://grad.ucdavis.edu/understanding-your-student-salary - and stated as follows:

Salary Point 1:  0-2 quarters of teaching experience at UCD greater than or equal to 25%

Salary Point 2:  3-5 quarters of teaching experience at UCD greater than or equal to 25%

Salary Point 3:  6+ quarters of teaching experience at UCD greater than or equal to 25%

Please note these points as well from the Graduate Studies FAQs page:

Q: Do summer session TA appointments count towards the ASE experience-based quarter count to move to the next salary level?

A: No they do not, only Fall, Winter & Spring Quarter TA experience counts. (Reader, Tutor, and Summer Sessions appointments do not count toward the ASE experience-based quarter count.)

Q: Does TA experience at a different university count towards their overall experience?

A: TA and AI teaching experience is counted from the same campus. Therefore, only teaching experience at UCD is counted.

Key Points Defined

  • Teaching Assistant (TA):
    May be appointed up to 50% employment (20 hours per week) during academic quarters (Fall, Winter, and Spring). Duties vary, but may include running lab or discussion sections, holding office hours, and grading papers and exams. The minimum GPA requirement to hold a TA appointment is 3.00. Graduate students may work 15 academic quarters in teaching titles (18 max by exception).  Summer appointments are excluded from these limits. In every quarter except Summer, appointment as a TA alone, or in combination with other University employment, may not exceed 50% or 75%. TAs receive a stipend (income) as well as an in-state fee remission.  Information available here.
  • Reader:
    Most Reader positions are 25% employment (10 hours per week). This position is sporadically demanding, but the hours tend to be more flexible than a TAship. However, when called to grade exams, you will be expected to turn the material around pursuant to the instructor’s request. The minimum GPA requirement to hold a Readership appointment is 3.00. Graduate students may work 15 academic quarters in teaching titles (18 max by exception).  Summer appointments are not included as quarters for purposes of computing the quarter limits.
  • TA and Reader Assignments/Tasks:  As campus and EVE/BIS 2B course instruction is all in-person, teaching assistant and reader tasks for EVE and BIS 2B courses will be in-person as well.
  • Graduate student employment:  is outlined in the Graduate Studies Graduate Student Employment Handbook - GS-200, Rev. 4/13; the Academic Personnel Manual - Appendix II-B; and APM 410-17c.Information is also avaialabe on the graduate studies website: https://grad.ucdavis.edu/current-students/employment/student-teaching-research.
    • Fee Remission: To be eligible for fee remission, the position must be 25% time or more. All in-state fees are covered as a benefit of TA or Readership employment of 25% time or more. Fee remission information can be found on the Budget and Institutional Analysis web site: Current Student Fees.
    • Salary information: Teaching Assistant and Reader pay scales are regulated by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union contract. TAs are paid a set monthly stipend. Readers are paid hourly. The current pay scales for these positions are available on the Graduate Studies web site: Current UAW Salary Scales.
    • UAW Contract: TAs and Readers are covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Please refer to the University of California Office of President web site for details: UAW Contract (BX).

 

Other Teaching Assistant Opportunities

There are teaching assistant and reader opportunities across campus.  General information on student teaching is available from Graduate Studies here. 

Please also visit our College of Biological Sciences site - https://biology.ucdavis.edu/graduate/funding/ta - for an additional listing of teaching assistant and reader opportunities by department.