Assistantships & Academic Funding

Teaching Assistantships

Assistantships for both teaching and research appointments are generally given as part of a two- or four-year offer. For MA students, your initial offer covers the two years during which you will be expected to complete your MA degree. For Ph.D. students, this four-year offer covers the first four years of your doctoral program. For students who complete the MA and are approved to continue on to the Ph.D. program in Geography, this transition is typically accompanied by a four-year continuing offer.

For advanced Ph.D. students (i.e., Ph.C. status), appointments are made at the level of Predoctoral Instructor (job code 0804). In general, the duties for Predoctoral Instructor involve teaching a class. Tasks will probably include preparing a syllabus, lecturing, preparing student exercise and assignments, and supervising teaching assistants to assist in classroom activities and grading. These appointments require letters of recommendation and approval from the Graduate School and are made at the discretion of the chair, the Director of Academic Services and the Executive Committee in accordance with curricular needs during the academic year.

Predoctoral instructors are assigned a faculty mentor for the quarter of the appointment. The instructor job description and the mentor are communicated by the Chair before the appointment begins. The faculty mentor is available to consult on the class syllabus, grading, student issues, and other needs as they arise.

Term offers stipulating the compensation, expectations/required duties and conditions for employment for RAs, TAs and Instructors (both PhCs and PhDs) are sent out in advance of the employment start dates and require that you accept by signing and returning the offer to the department administrator. Both you and the University of Washington are bound to the terms of this contract, so it is important for you to familiarize yourself with its provisions prior to accepting the offer. You will be offered an opportunity to join UAW Local 4121 and as a member, you will pay dues each pay period. If you should choose not to become a member, the contract requires that you pay a monthly service fee. For more information please visit the UAW Local 4121 website.

Teaching and research offers are based on 20 hours of work per week, and it is expected that you will work a maximum of 220 hours per quarter. In addition, your offer is dependent upon satisfactory progress in your degree program, including a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0, and satisfactory performance of your assigned duties. In order to maintain eligibility for your offer and its benefits, you will need to enroll full-time (at least 10 credits) for each quarter in which you hold the appointment. It is also expected that you attend any orientations and/or training sessions required for your position offered either by the department or other units. Time spent in such required orientations or training sessions will count toward your maximum of 220 hours except as described in Article 33 Section 4 of the collective bargaining agreement that is linked below.

Your offer classifies you as an Academic Student Employee (ASE) and is governed by a collective bargaining agreement between the University of Washington and UAW Local 4121.

Your duties and responsibilities are generally described in your offer. You are encouraged to contact the faculty member responsible for teaching the class for more details about your duties and responsibilities.

If a position is offered and the student declines or resigns the position, it is counted as a funded quarter for students who have unexpired funding packages from the department. Therefore we encourage students to inform us ahead of time if you do not need a funding offer for a given quarter.

Summer Teaching

Standard teaching assistantships are nine-month appointments and do not cover the summer quarter. Each summer quarter, additional instructional opportunities may arise for A-Term, B-Term, or Full-Term. These positions usually carry with them full teaching responsibilities (Predoctoral Instructor), and are available only to graduate students with Ph.C. status. The department’s limited summer offerings are based on projections of which courses are likely to achieve high enrollment levels. Due to there being so few summer teaching opportunities, this is not a funding opportunity that should be expected or relied upon.

In the spring, the Director of Academic Services will send out a call to graduate students to gauge interest and availability for summer Predoctoral Instructor positions. The Chair, Director of Academic Services and Executive Committee make decisions about summer course offerings based on anticipated enrollments and instructor availability, while considering a variety of special circumstances in order to provide equitable access to these opportunities.

Summer teaching appointments are different from the standard nine-month appointment. The following are some of the key differences and features of a summer TA position:

  • Salaries are paid for the month you are teaching: July for A-Term, August for B-Term.
  • A-term and B-term salaries are paid at 100% FTE over a one-month appointment, plus an additional 20% supplement.  Full-term salaries are paid at 50% FTE over a two-month appointment, plus an additional 20% supplement.
  • The appointment carries with it a waiver of the quarterly operating fee and technology fee. You are still responsible for all other fees.
  • In order to be employed as a Predoctoral Instructor for summer A- or B-Term, you must register for a minimum of 2 credits; otherwise the department cannot pay you. Regardless of whether you are teaching A or B Term, you need to register at the beginning of A Term!

Research Assistantships

Research Assistant appointments are usually the result of a faculty member(s) having external funding that can be used to fund a graduate student as part of their research project. These appointments are made at the discretion of specific faculty members, and the duration is variable, ranging from a single quarter to an entire academic year (or more). The duties for an RA generally involve working with one or more faculty on a research project. Tasks may include reading and annotating articles, conducting interviews and participant observation, filling out surveys and other forms, working on IRB paperwork, and meeting and corresponding with research contacts. No later than three weeks prior to the beginning of your duties you will be provided with a document that describes the specific tasks, times, and locations related to your appointment, the supervisor to whom you report, required training programs, procedures used for evaluation, and any additional details related to the duties required for the appointment.

Staff Associate Positions (Administrative Assistantships)

At times, the department is able to fund graduate students through staff associate positions. These appointments are at the discretion of the chair, and usually arise from specific departmental needs. These needs include work such as: conducting research related to teaching and learning with undergraduate students, working on the departmental newsletter, and organizing conferences and workshops hosted by the department.

Assistantships from Other Units (Departments, Centers, etc.)

Geography graduate students routinely receive funding appointments from other department in the forms of both teaching and research assistants. Especially for Ph.D. students who are beyond their four-year contracts, seeking funded positions from other units around campus is both encouraged and appreciated by our department. Other units that our graduate students routinely work with include the Jackson School of International Studies, the Department of Law, Societies, & Justice, and the Department of Comparative History of Ideas. None of these units have specific obligations to our department (i.e., reserved, guaranteed spots for geography graduate students), but these opportunities do come about fairly regularly.

The departmental expectation is that assistant positions from other units around campus will not take precedence over pre-existing departmental appointments. In other words, if you have already signed a contract to serve as a teaching assistant in the Department of Geography for a specified course and number, the department expects you to honor such a contract and not rescind your departmental teaching duties.

Interdisciplinary Writing Program (IWP) Instructor Positions

The Interdisciplinary Writing Program, administered through the Department of English, offers expository writing courses linked with lecture courses in various disciplines, including geography. These courses are designed to help undergraduate students improve their writing skills while further exploring ideas and materials assigned in the lecture courses. Each year, the department nominates/appoints a graduate student to serve as an instructor for a geography course that is linked to a writing course. This is usually a two-quarter commitment (Autumn and Winter), and requires that you attend training sessions beforehand. The department’s slot is usually assigned to an advanced Ph.D. student. For more information, please visit the IWP website.

Hourly Appointments

Hourly appointments do not come with tuition waivers and benefits, but are duties that are paid based on a specified hourly wage. These usually take two forms, listed by job title and classification:

  • Reader/Grader-10886: Sometimes the instructor of a course might not have a teaching assistant, but will be given the opportunity to employ a reader/grader. The professor or instructor of such a course selects a graduate student to employ as a grader for the quarter. Typically, the initial allotment of time for this purpose is 12 hours per quarter, but may be adjusted. The pay for this position is a uniform wage.
  • Hourly Research Position-10854: This is different from a research assistant position, as it does not come with a stipend, tuition waiver, etc. Rather, hourly research positions come with an hourly wage rate, and these appointments are made at the discretion of individual faculty members who have research money to support this sort of appointment.

In both classifications, the department pays graduate student ASEs an hourly rate based on the equivalent 50% FTE rate for the student’s academic level that is in effect during the period of work. This rate is calculated by multiplying the monthly salary for a 50% FTE (schedule 1) Research Assistant by three and then dividing the product by 220.

Department of Geography hourly graduate student ASE payrates are the same as those listed in the UW Graduate School's Salary Schedule. They are the hourly equivalent of the schedule 1 rates under “Regular (Non-Variable Rate) TA/RA/SA Salary Schedule."

ASE Appointment Procedure

TA & Instructor Assignments

In advance of each quarter of the regular academic year (autumn, winter & spring), the Chair, Director of Academic Services and Executive Committee create preliminary assignments that match TA skills and expertise to curriculum needs (and when possible, take into consideration faculty and student preferences). Priority is given to geography graduate students who hold a departmental funding offer for the quarter of appointment. Preliminary assignments are reviewed/revised by faculty, as necessary, and then official offer letters are issued to TAs.

If any offers are declined (or if the number of positions is greater than the pool of graduate students holding departmental funding commitments), the Chair and Director of Academic Services and Executive Committee identify alternative candidates. In these cases, current geography graduates students who do *not* hold a departmental funding offer are prioritized on the basis of strong progress toward degree and fit to curriculum needs. We would only consider hiring others who are not geography graduate students when absolutely necessary.

Summer quarter assignments follow the same general procedure as that described above, and considers a variety of special circumstances in order to provide equitable access to these opportunities.

All Other ASE Appointments

Priority is given to grads with existing guaranteed funding that extends through the entire term of the appointment. An appointment recommendation is made by the chair and direct supervisor of the position (following any interview or application process), and this recommendation is reviewed by the Executive Committee. The undergraduate advisor ASE position is appointed through a specific procedure as outlined below.

Undergraduate Advisor

Because of the steep learning curve, the appointment is typically for one full academic year (AUT-WIN-SPR quarters). This is a nine-month, 50% appointment, similar to that of a three-quarter TA position, supervised by the Director of Academic Services. This opportunity is open to current graduate students who will be in residence and have guaranteed departmental funding for the academic year of the appointment. The position requires approximately 20 hours per week, with at least 10 of those hours scheduled consistently as office hours for open drop-in meetings with students.

This is a great opportunity for someone who is interested in pursuing an academic or non-academic career in a university setting. Duties include degree planning, academic counseling, event planning and student mentoring, plus other duties as assigned.

Graduate students who meet the eligibility requirements are encouraged to apply by the stated deadline for consideration by the Director of Academic Services. Applications include the following materials:

  • a brief (one page maximum) statement of interest or cover letter detailing your experiences with mentoring and/or advising, as well as how your experiences working with under-represented minority students at UW will inform your approach to this position
  • your CV or resume
  • your availability for a 45-minute interview during the interview week

The appointment recommendation is made by the Chair and Director of Academic Services, and this recommendation is reviewed by Executive Committee. This appointment may be renewed for a second year upon recommendation by the Chair and Director of Academic Services, and Executive Committee review.

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