An academically qualified and registered graduate student in full-time residence employed temporarily to teach a lower-division course. A graduate student, upon recommendation from the department head, may be assigned an upper-division course or course section (non-graduate level course only) with the written approval of the Graduate Dean and the UCI Academic Senate’s Subcommittee on Courses. Such approval must be obtained in writing prior to the student beginning their assignment/appointment.

Responsibilities

  • Assist in the instruction of any lower-division course or
  • May be assigned to conduct the entire instruction of a lower-division course

The department chair, program director, or a faculty designee will be responsible for oversight of appointed Associate Instructors. The department chair, program director, or faculty designee is vested with the final responsibility for course content, work assignments, performance evaluations, grading in the assigned course, and resolution of any appointment-related issue.

Academic Qualifications for Associate Instructors

  1. Enrollment Requirement — For new and continuing graduate students:
    • Enrollment in at least 12 units (full time) during the current quarter — ONLY Readers and Tutors can be employed Part-Time (8 units)
    • Combined campus wide employment of no more than 50 percent time (220 hours of assigned workload) or less during any academic quarter.
  2. Grade/GPA Requirement — For continuing graduate students, during each of the three most recent quarters of enrollment:
    • Completion of 8 units or more of upper division or graduate level credit courses.
    • A letter grade of C, S, or above in all courses completed.
    • No more than two incomplete (I) grades except where stricter school policies apply.
    • A cumulative GPA of 3.1 or higher for Associate Instructor
    • Satisfactory academic progress toward the degree objective
  1. 12 Quarter Associate Instructor Limit
    Graduate students who have not advanced to candidacy for the doctorate may be appointed as a Associate Instructor for a maximum of 12 quarters including the full period of the current or proposed appointment. Following advancement to candidacy, a doctoral student is allowed to be appointed to an additional 6 quarters for a total maximum of 18 appointment quarters. An allowable quarter is counted for any quarter in which the student is compensated, at any amount/rate or percent time. Eighteen quarters is the maximum any student may be appointed, irrespective of whether the student has chosen to enroll in more than one graduate program at UC Irvine. As per UC policy, a 19th quarter will not be approved.
  2. English Language Proficiency Requirements
    For the most current information and campus-approved tests, please visit: https://grad.uci.edu/funding/teaching-assistantships/.
    All graduate students, except those who have earned an undergraduate degree from an institution at which English was the sole language of instruction according to the World Higher Education Database, are required to demonstrate oral English proficiency before they are appointed to Teaching Assistant or Associate Instructor titles. The aforementioned exception will apply only when the undergraduate degree has been earned within five years prior to admission to a graduate program at UCI.
  3. Doc2A Definition & Guidelines
    By definition, a Doc2A student is enrolled more than 9 quarters past their advancement to candidacy for the Ph.D.  The Doc2A quarter count begins with the quarter immediately following their advancement to candidacy date.  The university does not receive state funding for students who are in Doc2A status nor are they included in official enrollment counts.  Graduate students in Doc2A status may be appointed to GSR/GSAR titles at the hiring department’s discretion, provided they are making satisfactory academic progress; and to ASE titles at the hiring department’s discretion if they are within the 18-quarter service limit for Teaching Assistants and Associate Instructors; meet academic qualifications including enrollment and grade/GPA requirements; and meet English language proficiency requirements for Teaching Assistants and Associate Instructors (for international and U.S. permanent resident students who are not citizens of countries where English is the primary or dominant language).

Additional Qualifications — Associate Instructors

In addition to the general qualifications for Associate Instructors, all of the following additional qualifications apply for appointment as a Associate Instructor:

  1. A master’s degree or equivalent training.
  2. At least one year of teaching experience (such as that of a Teaching Assistant) within or outside of the University.

To teach an upper division course, a Associate Instructor must meet the following additional requirements:

  1. Advancement to candidacy for a Ph.D. degree.
  2. Within normative time-to-degree.
  3. In advance of the appointment, written approval from the Graduate Dean and the UCI Academic Senate’s Subcommittee on Courses.