Psychology Policies for TAs, TA Course Support & Reader Support

The following eligibility criteria are conditional upon the student being in good standing (making satisfactory progress toward the Ph.D.). Priorities listed below may not apply to students on full fellowship support as they are only occasionally considered for a TAship.

1. Graduate students are guaranteed funding for the first 5 years after being accepted into the program. If no other support is available to them, graduate students in the first five years will be offered TAships in the department.

2. Students who are no longer guaranteed a TAship (after year 5) will be prioritized by their cohort year and number of TAships. If a student in this category is offered a TAship outside Psychology, it is in their best interest to accept it. 

   • Students in year 6 are prioritized first, followed by students in year 7 or higher. 

   • Within each grouping students are ranked according to the number of TAships a student has held within the PSYC department.

   • Note: Taking alternate funding (GSR, Fellowship, etc) during years 1-5 does not "save" your TAships to use at a later date. It may, however, reduce your overall PSYC TAship number, thereby giving you a higher ranking on a waitlist in years 6+.

3. Any student who has had 12 quarters of TAship or GSIship (from any source) has reached their normal “limit.” The absolute maximum number of quarters a student can teach is 18 quarters (system-wide policy, no exceptions). Covid exception: Students enrolled between Spring 2020 and Spring 2021 have been given an exception raising their total limit to 21 quarters.

*Please note: Summer GSI and TA appointments do not count toward the 12 or 18 quarter limits.

4. Satisfactory performance in previous TAships is necessary. Any TA who receives less than satisfactory final evaluations from their undergraduate students will be required to work with the Psychology TA Co-coordinators and/or a TA mentor during their next TA assignment, and continuing access to Psychology TAships will depend upon improvement.

5. Students on academic probation receive a lower priority for TAships, and previously assigned TAship may be withdrawn if a student is placed on academic probation.

The first step in the process involves students being sent a list of Psychology courses assigned. Prospective TA(s) are requested to return the list by a specific date indicating ranked preferences. The faculty receives a list of all prospective TAs and is asked to rank the students and return the list. Student preferences and faculty rankings are confidential.

TA assignment history is on file for each graduate student. When the actual assignments are made, these are the criteria considered (not in ranked order):

• student eligibility

• student background for the course

• faculty ranking

• student preferences

• student TA assignment history

• course requirements (Psych 10 for developmental, see program requirements for more information)

PSYC 100 and Upper Division courses are assigned first; then the lower division courses required for the major or prerequisite courses (1, 2, 10), and then the remaining lower division courses.

PSYC 100 Research Methods is one of the key gateway courses for our undergraduate majors. It is a 7-unit course with a required lab that the TAs teach. Each TA is responsible for 1 lab section with 24 students. To plan the weekly lab activities, the instructor has a weekly meeting with all of the TAs. Given the large number of TAs assigned the course, the meeting time is scheduled in advance, and any student who is a TA must be available. 

Because PSYC 100 requires several TAs per quarter, students should expect to be assigned to this course at least once per academic year. However, graduate students may request to the Graduate Advising Team that they are not assigned to the course for two consecutive quarters within an academic year. 

TAs will receive quarterly TA appointment offer letters once TA assignments for the following quarter have been assigned. The TA appointment letter (sent via email by UCSC Academic Personnel) constitutes the official “offer" letter. The TA must reply to this email to accept the offer. If the individual fails to respond as set forth in the appointment letter, the TA may be considered to have rejected the appointment. New and continuing students who have had a break in service will also need to complete employment paperwork at the Social Sciences Division’s Human Resources office. Not filling out the proper paperwork may also jeopardize getting your paycheck on time. 

TA assignments will be announced sometime during the preceding quarter: Fall assignments in the Spring/Summer, Winter assignments in the Fall, and Spring assignments in the Winter. Students will have one week to decline their assignment without consequences. If students decline their assignment after one week has passed, their priority for a subsequent TAship will be lowered to a position below students in category (5) in the Psychology Graduate Student Handbook (i.e., all other students), unless an exception is requested and granted by Graduate Affairs Committee and Department Chair; due to extenuating circumstances including unanticipated family demands; or notification that you have received alternative funding that is received (for the first time) after the one week deadline. A student’s priority will be lowered during the next quarter they request a TAship. Normal priority status will be assumed following their subsequent request for a TAship.

If you are offered an additional position that will bring you to above 50%, you must get it approved. You must first get approval from your Faculty Advisor. If they approve, send the approval to the Graduate Program Coordinator along with the exact percentage of overage you are requesting, if applicable. The Graduate Program Coordinator will then request approval from Graduate Division. Please note that the Graduate Division rarely approves of an overage larger than 11%, or total percentage of 61%- 65%. If you have any further questions or concerns, please consult with your faculty advisor and the graduate program coordinator. 

The Department is not allocated enough TA positions to support every enrolled graduate student beyond what is committed when admitted. Historically, the Psychology Department has usually managed to provide a TA position to qualified students who request one. However, this has always depended on some students finding other forms of support. Therefore, students are encouraged to seek any possible alternative forms of support. For example, this might include occasionally being a TA in another department or getting a GSR with a faculty member. Please consult with the Graduate Coordinator and your advisor for possible leads. In addition, receiving non-TA funding will help a student get a higher priority for a Psych TAship in the future.

TA allocations are based primarily on the number of undergraduates enrolled in classes—rather than the number of enrolled graduate students. 

Support for courses follows these very general guidelines: One TA per approximately 60 students for an UD (upper-division) course or LD (lower-division) course that is required for the major (courses need to have a minimum enrollment of 60 students to get TA support). However, because it has smaller, labor-intensive lab sections, one TA is assigned to approximately 24 students for PSYC 100. 

Reader support follows these rough guidelines and the maximum number of hours are not automatically given. Instructors are asked to give some thought and request only the hours they actually need.

For courses with TA support: two hours of reader support for each enrolled student above the 60/1 ratio (example: a course with 80 students and 1 TA can request a maximum of 40 reader hours; a course with 400 students and 2 TAs can request a maximum of 560 reader hours).

For courses without TA support: two hours of reader support for each enrolled student above a minimum of 30 (example: a course with 50 students and no TA can request a maximum of 40 reader hours). The rationale here is that Psychology does not have sufficient resources to give reader support to small courses under 30 students.

Exceptions are made to the above on appeal from the instructor for extenuating circumstances, i.e., a TA needs assistance in reading papers due to a health problem; etc.