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Home » Policies & Procedures » Guides » Guide to Graduate Policy » H. Academic Appointments: Full Version

H. Academic Appointments: Full Version

This version of the Guide to Graduate: H. Academic Appointments handbook has been made available for users who prefer to print or read it in its entirety.

H1. Academic Appointments

 As part of their financial support package, graduate students will often hold academic appointments or have other employment on campus. The Appointments Office  monitors and ensures compliance with campus and system-wide policies and procedures for all graduate students who hold academic or staff titles. Graduate Division Appointments adheres to and abides by policies and procedures that have been established by the Graduate Council of the Academic Senate, the Graduate Division, the Academic Personnel Office, and the Office of the President.

Graduate students are subject to Graduate Division policies from the time they are admitted until they receive their final, or terminal, degree.

H1.1 General Information

 

Academic titles. On the Berkeley campus, graduate students are most commonly appointed to the following academic titles: Graduate Student Instructor (GSI), Graduate Student Researcher (GSR), Reader, and Tutor. Acting Instructor-Graduate Student (AI-GS) appointments are much less common and always require the advance approval of Graduate Division and the Committee on Courses of Instruction (COCI) of the Academic Senate.

The titles GSI, AI-GS, Reader and Tutor are covered by a collective bargaining agreement between the University and the United Auto Workers (http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/labor/contracts/BX). GSRs are not covered by this agreement.

All first-time ASEs are required to attend the New ASE Orientation sponsored by the Labor Relations Office and the UAW Local 2165 during the semester of their appointment.

Staff titles. Graduate students may be hired in staff titles in accordance with Staff Personnel regulations.  UC career employees who have become graduate students may maintain their career positions at up to 100 percent time. However, once an employee accepts a student academic appointment or fellowship, he or she becomes subject to UCB’s restrictions governing appointments and fellowships.

UC career employees who become graduate students may also be eligible for the Reduced Fee Enrollment Program.  All questions regarding this program should be directed to Employee Relations and not to Graduate Division.

Course-Work-Only status. Students admitted to the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) on Course-Work-Only (CWO) status (usually through the Education Abroad Program) may not be appointed as GSIs or GSRs.  Some rare exceptions are considered by Graduate Division but must be approved prior to making the appointment offer. However, these students may be appointed as Readers and Tutors.

Academic appointments after completion of degree. Registered and enrolled students who are degree recipients may hold a GSI, AI-GS or GSR appointment through the end of the last month of the semester in which they receive their terminal degree. Thus, recipients of a spring terminal degree may work through May 31, and recipients of a fall terminal degree may work through December 31. If qualified, individuals who have graduated may be appointed as a Reader or Tutor because those titles do not require registration and enrollment as a graduate student*.

Fellowships. The stipend from a fellowship cannot be used as a substitute for salary for an academic appointment.

Volunteers. Students may not hold any graduate student academic title as volunteers. Academic appointees must be appropriately compensated through the Berkeley payroll system for their time and effort.

* A student on filing fee status may not hold a graduate student academic appointment for which registration is required or be hired as a lecturer.

H1.2 New Students

New students entering in the fall semester may begin graduate academic appointments on July 1 if they have submitted a Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) on or before that date. New students entering in the spring semester may begin on December 1 if they have submitted the SIR on or before that date. (New international students cannot do this, however.) If the student has not submitted the SIR on or before July 1 (or December 1), the student may not be hired until the date that the SIR has been submitted. The above is dependent on the student fulfilling all other relevant appointment regulations. New students may begin staff appointments on June 1.

H1.3 Visiting Students

Graduate student academic appointments are usually reserved for UCB students. Certain non-UCB students may be hired if the department has been unsuccessful in recruiting a qualified Berkeley graduate student, or if the visiting student is unusually qualified for the appointment. Only students who are registered and enrolled at another UC campus, students participating in the Exchange Scholar Program, GTU students in a joint doctoral program, are eligible for an appointment.  Hastings College of the Law students may not be appointed as GSIs or GSRs.

UC Intercampus Exchange Program. Graduate students who are registered and enrolled in at least 12 units on another UC campus — even if they are not participating in the UC Intercampus Exchange Program — are eligible to hold graduate student academic appointments on the Berkeley campus, and they may be eligible to receive fee remissions. To hold a fall semester appointment at UCB, a student must be registered and enrolled in the fall term on the other UC campus.

To hold a spring semester appointment at UCB, a student must register and enroll in both the winter and spring quarters or in the spring semester on the other UC campus.

Exchange Scholar Program. The Exchange Scholar Program enables a graduate student enrolled in a doctoral program at one of the participating institutions to study at Berkeley for up to one year.  Exchange Scholar Program students pay fees and tuition at their home campus and are assessed only the Health Insurance fee at UCB.   If  Exchange Scholar Program students have already paid Health Insurance at their home campus, they could apply for a waiver of Health Insurance through University Health Services.

Exchange Scholar Program students may hold graduate student academic appointments on the Berkeley campus and may be eligible for Health Insurance remission with a qualifying appointment.

Current participating institutions are: Brown, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, MIT, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale.

Graduate Theological Union students. There are two programs between UCB and the Graduate Theological Union (GTU): a casual exchange program open to all students at both institutions in which students register on one campus and take courses on the other (subject to appropriate academic approvals); and two joint doctoral programs offered in Near Eastern Religions and Jewish Studies.

Students in the casual program are not registered at the Berkeley campus and are not eligible to hold GSI, AI-GS, or GSR appointments. They may be appointed as Readers and Tutors, or may be eligible to be appointed as Lecturers. Questions about Lecturer appointments must be directed to the Academic Personnel Office .

Students in a joint doctoral program are eligible to hold GSI, AI-GS, GSR, Reader, or Tutor appointments at UCB.  And if they are registered at UCB the same semester they hold qualifying graduate student academic employment (GSI, AI-GS, GSR, Reader or Tutor), then and only then joint doctoral program students may be eligible for fee remission.

Education Abroad Program. EAP Reciprocal Exchange students attend a UC campus for up to one academic year on a no-fee-exchange, non-degree basis and are admitted to UCB on Course Work Only (CWO) status.    EAP Reciprocal Exchange students are not eligible for GSI, AI-GS or GSR appointments.

They may, however, be appointed as Readers or Tutors.

H1.4 Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate students cannot be appointed as GSRs. Undergraduate students may be appointed as Readers and Tutors. Generally, undergraduate students may not be appointed as GSIs. Exceptions may be approved if a department is not able to recruit any qualified graduate students (including graduate students in other departments) or hire a lecturer to fill an essential GSI position. Hiring units in the College of Letters and Science must follow the college’s procedures in hiring an undergraduate as a GSI.  Any other hiring units must submit a written request of exception to Graduate Division.

Undergraduate candidates for GSI positions must:

1. be registered in the semester in which they are teaching;

2. be enrolled in no fewer than 15 units of course work;

3. have upper division status when they begin teaching;

4. have an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher; and

5. have previously taken the course for which they are being appointed, its equivalent, or a more advanced course, with a grade of A- or better.

Like graduate student GSI appointees, undergraduate appointees who do not speak English as a native language must satisfy the English Language Proficiency requirement before they can teach. See the GSI Teaching and Resource Center for more information. They must also pass the online course on Professional Standards and Ethics in their first semester of teaching.

All departments have a responsibility to provide on-going mentoring and oversight for undergraduates who teach in their units. During the semester in which they are teaching, undergraduate GSIs must be enrolled in a 300-level course or the equivalent, for purposes of training.  And if the GSIship is their first appointment, students must also attend 1) the New ASE Orientation, 2) the Teaching Conference for first-time GSI’s, and 3) complete the online Professional Standards and Ethics Course.

H1.5 Fee Remissions

Fee remissions are considered a benefit derived from a graduate student’s eligible academic appointment to offset either a portion or all of a student’s assessed fees. Fee remissions are fee specific and may only be used to offset specific assessed fees in a student’s CARS account. In addition to fulfilling the academic requirements for each academic title, student appointments must also meet established criteria to be eligible for fee remissions.

Fee remission payment source. Fee remissions are paid by the same source that pays a student’s salary. The chart string used by the hiring unit to pay the student is also used during the collection process, which is the responsibility of the Payroll office.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory appointments. Students who have Graduate Student Research Assistant (GSRA) appointments at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) must remain at LBNL for the entire semester to be eligible for the fee and SHIP remission. If the appointment is terminated before the end of the semester, the remissions will be canceled and the student will be required to repay the entire LBNL remission which will be assessed in CARS. If the student then begins a GSR appointment on campus at any point after the first day of the semester, that appointment will not be for the entire semester and may not meet the criteria to qualify for the remissions.

Fee remissions in combination with other awards. Occasionally, students receive more than one type of award that is intended to pay fees or fees and tuition for a particular semester. Fee remissions for students with eligible appointments will generally take precedence over concurrent fellowship, departmental awards, and loans. If more than one type of award appears as a credit against fees or tuition in a student’s CARS account, a system-wide set of established rules governs which award is used to pay the assessments. The sequence in which CARS is programmed to accept award credits to offset fees and tuition is generally as follows. Please contact Billing and Payment Services for more information on the CARS priorities:

1. Outside agency awards

2. LBNL remissions from GSRA appointments

3. Fee and tuition remissions from UCB campus appointments

4. Department awards made through the Department Student Award System (DSAS)

5. Fellowship awards

6. Student Loans

7. Student payments

Loss of fee remission eligibility. If a student loses eligibility during the course of the semester because the appointment is cancelled; or modified such that it no longer meets the criteria for remissions, the student will be billed in CARS for the entire remission amounts and must repay them.

Intercampus transfers of fee remissions. Graduate students who are registered and enrolled at other UC campuses and hold eligible appointments at Berkeley are also eligible for remissions. However, there is no automatic system for creating the remission and transferring it to the appropriate UC campus. Berkeley hiring units must request an inter-campus transfer of remissions via a financial journal.

H1.6 GSI Preparation for Teaching

The Graduate Council Policy on Appointments and Mentoring of GSIs describes the responsibilities of GSIs, faculty, and departments in ensuring that GSIs are prepared for teaching. All first-time GSIs are required to attend the Teaching Conference for GSIs on the Friday before classes begin; complete an online course, Professional Standards and Ethics for GSIs, before the end of the third week of teaching; and enroll in a semester-long, 300-level course on teaching in the discipline either prior to or concurrent with the first teaching assignment. Faculty members who teach with GSIs are required to meet with them at the outset of the semester to clarify responsibilities and expectations and to review the course syllabus. Faculty are also required to meet regularly with their GSIs throughout the semester to discuss course logistics and pedagogy and conduct classroom observations of first-time GSIs.

Departments are required to offer a 300-level course on teaching in the discipline. Guidelines for the course are included in the Graduate Council Policy. Departments should provide all GSIs and faculty who are teaching with GSIs a copy of the Graduate Council Policy or the document’s URL each semester. Departments should also review end-of-semester evaluations of GSIs by their students and, in those cases where improvement is needed, outline the steps a GSI should take to improve.  Departments should contact the GSI Teaching and Resource Center if they need assistance in developing their 300-level seminar on teaching. Suggested procedures for conducting classroom observations, materials for faculty on guiding the work of GSIs, and resources for developing a 300-level course on teaching can be found on the GSI Teaching and Resource Center website.

H1.7 Summer and University Extension Teaching Appointments

Summer and University Extension teaching appointments are not included as semesters of teaching for purposes of computing the four-year or six-year teaching limits, nor are they considered in determining the step at which a student should be appointed in the GSI series. Summer and Extension teaching appointments may not be used as evidence of relevant post-baccalaureate teaching experience when proposing early advancement.
All University Extension appointments are administered through University Extension, 1995 University Avenue.  All summer teaching appointments are administered through the Summer Sessions office, 1995 University Avenue.

H1.8 Summer, Winter, and Spring Break Appointments

Graduate students may be appointed up to 100 percent time during the summer, winter, and spring breaks. During the summer break, appointments at greater than 50 percent may begin on the day following the last day of the spring semester, but must end no later than the day prior to the first day of the fall semester. While registration in Summer Session classes is not required to hold an appointment, registration does not preclude appointing students at greater than 50 percent during the summer.  However, continuing students who hold summer academic appointments must either have been registered for the previous spring semester or be registered for the following fall semester. Students who have withdrawn in spring must be readmitted and register for fall before they can hold a summer appointment.

Appointments greater than 50 percent during the winter break may begin on the day following the last day of the fall semester, but must end not later than the day prior to the first day of the spring semester. Official UC Berkeley academic calendars may be viewed online.

 

H1.9 Discipline and Termination of Appointment

GSRs: Information regarding discipline and termination of GSRs can be found in Section 150 of the Academic Personnel Manual .

ASEs: Information regarding discipline and dismissal of ASEs – GSIs, AI-GSs, Readers and Tutors – can be found in the UC-UAW contract .

Policy Revisions & Updates

Revised Policy on Appointments and Mentoring of Graduate Student Instructors

(Revised March 7, 2005)

The education and training for Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs) at Berkeley are essential to the educational mission of the campus. Faculty supervision and preparation of GSIs improves the preparation of graduate students for their future roles as teachers in academic institutions. The important role that GSIs play in undergraduate education on this campus also means that effective preparation and training of GSIs will improve the quality of undergraduate education at Berkeley.

Mentoring of Different Types of GSIships

Preparation and guidance of GSIs in their teaching roles depend in part on a GSI’s level of experience and the level of responsibility for teaching a particular course. There are four general types of GSIships, each giving the GSI a different level of course responsibility.

Policies

A. Recruitment and appointment

The process of recruiting and selecting GSIs should be open and centralized, rather than controlled by private arrangements between course instructors and GSIs. In the following statement of principles, our definition of “fairness” refers to the clarity and equity of the process, not to the equal distribution of GSIships to all graduate students.

  1. The responsibility for making GSI appointments rests with the Chair. He or she may delegate this responsibility to a faculty committee, but the Chair should make certain that fair recruitment and selection processes are in operation in the department.
  2. As provided in the contract between the University and the United Auto Workers, in the “Posting” article, departments must, by March 15 of each year, post appointment opportunities for GSI positions on the campus Web site. The information posted includes the number of positions anticipated, a statement of non-discrimination in employment, a general description of the duties performed, the minimum qualifications as established by the University, a statement that exceptions to these qualifications may be granted by the University, and a statement of the application procedures or contact person for hiring GSIs in the department. In addition, departments may wish to post notices about available GSI positions in the following ways:
    • a well-marked notice on a bulletin board indicating that GSI positions are available, see [designated person] in the department office for information;
    • notices in department e-mail;
    • notices on the department Web site (information should state whether the unit is willing to consider appointing students from outside the department).

    When appointments outside the department are acceptable, bulletin-board and electronic notification of openings should be provided and an announcement and description should be forwarded to Career and Graduate School Services, 2111 Bancroft Way, MC 4350.

  3. It is advisable that GSI vacancies that occur during the first week of instruction and that must be filled on an emergency basis should be posted for at least two full working days, unless the department is prepared to fill them on the basis of a previously established waiting list of GSI applications.
  4. Criteria required for appointments to GSIships, and criteria involved in determining selection of students, should be made available to graduate students in advance of the appointment. Different criteria may be appropriate for different types of GSIs. At the beginning GSI level (type a above), if the department can assume that all entering graduate students have basic preparation in the course material, issues of distributing student support may be primary. For appointments that involve more active planning and teaching responsibilities, issues of previous experience in teaching and competence in the subject matter may be of first importance.

 

B. Guiding principles determining workload
  1. As provided in the “Appointment Notification” article of the UC-UAW contract, departments must provide written notice of appointment, by letter or email message, to those who are offered GSI positions as soon as is practicable after hiring decisions are made. This notice must follow Labor Relations guidelines, and include the title of the appointment, its percentage or the range of hours to be worked, effective dates, the stipend, the benefits, the name of the hiring unit, the contact person in the hiring unit, the requirement that the appointee respond to the offer, a statement that the position is covered by the union contract, and the contract Web site address.
  2. As provided in the same article of the contract, before the teaching term begins or as soon as practicable thereafter, a second notice is sent to the appointee that includes the supervisor of the course to whom the appointee reports, the course that is assigned, the location of the course, the duties that may be required, and other information that the department deems appropriate. When the duties are changed significantly, the department provides advance notice.
  3. GSI appointments ordinarily do not exceed half time. The limit of workload for such an appointment will not exceed 340 hours per semester, as specified in the “Workload” article of the contract, and this standard will apply proportionately to other percentages of appointment. A GSI with an appointment of 50 percent or less shall not be assigned a workload of more than 40 hours in any one week. The number of hours worked in excess of twenty (20) hours per week may not total more than 77 hours per semester. Workload is defined in terms of hours rather than of student headcount. If a GSI anticipates that the workload will exceed these levels, the GSI should initiate discussions with the course supervisor as soon as possible. The course supervisor should advise and support GSIs in balancing their teaching responsibilities with other responsibilities involved in graduate
    education.
  4. Graduate students who are Acting Instructors are responsible for a workload consistent with the normal workload of the course.
  5. Disputes regarding workload are subject to the Workload Dispute Resolution Procedures of the contract as found in the “Workload” article. All other matters that the contract makes grievable are subject to the provisions of the “Grievance and Arbitration” article of the contract.

 

C. Preparation of GSIs for teaching

In this section, policies and procedures are defined that describe the mutual responsibilities of faculty and GSIs in making certain that undergraduate students receive the best possible educational experiences, and GSIs receive the best possible pedagogical training.

  1. Leading discussion sections or teaching stand-alone sections requires complex teaching skills, and first-time GSIs accordingly require training in both the logistics and pedagogical issues of undergraduate teaching. Resources for this purpose include campuswide GSI orientations and workshops, department GSI orientations, and department 300-level courses. The Graduate Council, in collaboration with the GSI Teaching and Resource Center, will circulate a list of resources available for preparing new GSIs.Each department must inform the Dean of the Graduate Division and the Graduate Council about the specific ways in which it provides new GSIs with appropriate preparation before they enter the classroom and during their first year of teaching.
  2. First-time GSIs must either have completed or be enrolled in a 300-level semester-long pedagogy seminar on teaching in the discipline offered by the department. In those departments in which a low number of GSIs makes it infeasible to offer such a course, the pedagogy seminar should be taken in another department, with the advice and approval of the GSI’s department and with the consent of the course instructor. The GSI Teaching and Resource Center will maintain a list of 300-level courses on its Web site. First-time GSIs who fail to pass the 300-level course must retake and pass the course before they are eligible to teach again.The course would normally:
    • be taught by a faculty member; address the practical and theoretical knowledge needed by new GSIs in the specific discipline;
    • have a syllabus that specifies topics week by week, identifies readings, and describes the basis for evaluation
    • have a meaningful number of units and student contact hours (2-4 units);
    • have a course reader or textbooks;
    • have specific assignments for which GSIs are accountable and on which GSIs will be graded.

    Departments are required to apprise the Graduate Division each semester of the name of the faculty member teaching the course and to submit a copy of the 300-level course syllabus to the Graduate Division each time the course instructor changes. The GSI Teaching and Resource Center can assist departments in developing such 300-level courses through consultations, workshops, and grants.

    The 300-level course requirement must be stated in letters of appointment for first-time GSIs.

  3. All graduate students who teach require faculty supervision. At the beginning of the semester, the faculty member responsible for the course is required to meet with GSIs (types a and b) to go over the course syllabus, to clarify GSI responsibilities in the course, and, in the case of discussion sections and labs, describe the relationship of sections to lecture.In the case of GSI type c, in which a GSI has primary responsibility for curriculum, textbook selection, and student evaluation, a Senate faculty member or members must oversee and approve all course descriptions and reading lists in keeping with the needs and standards of the University.GSIs with the title of Acting Instructor-Graduate Student (type d) serve as the Instructor of Record and have full course responsibility. However, all course descriptions and representative reading lists must be overseen and approved by a Senate faculty member or members within the relevant department before submission of a graduate student’s appointment to the Graduate Division and the Committee on Courses of Instruction for approval.
  4. Departments are obliged to provide new and continuing GSIs (types a, b, and c) regular meetings with faculty who are responsible for the course to discuss the logistics of curriculum, selection of topics, assignments, tests, grades etc.
  5. Departments are obliged provide new and continuing GSIs (types a, b, and c) regular meetings with faculty who are responsible for the course to discuss pedagogic matters related to their teaching of the course or sections of the course.
  6. Departments are obliged to provide GSIs holding the title Acting Instructor-Graduate Student (type d), who have primary responsibility for course content, regular meetings with a faculty member designated by the Chair to discuss course logistics and pedagogical issues.
  7. The faculty responsibilities to prepare GSIs are complemented by GSI obligations to prepare themselves for teaching roles. Included in these obligations are: attendance at classes, lectures, and GSI meetings; meeting with faculty mentors to discuss more effective ways of teaching undergraduates; seeking out opportunities for guidance and feedback concerning teaching; and attending orientation courses and workshops on pedagogy offered in the department or in the University.
  8. As part of their classroom preparation, every first-time GSI must successfully complete, no later than the end of the third week of classes, instruction in the professional responsibilities involved in teaching. Developed and administered by the GSI Teaching and Resource Center, instruction will include information on academic freedom, political speech, confidentiality, plagiarism, sexual harassment, Title VI, Title IX, and other issues delineated in the Academic Code of Conduct. The Graduate Division will oversee enforcement of this policy, and this requirement is to be stated in GSI letters of appointment.
  9. Every first-time GSI must attend the Orientation Conference sponsored by the GSI Teaching and Resource Center. An Orientation Conference is offered by the GSI Teaching and Resource Center each semester before classes begin. First-time international GSIs (IGSIs) must attend the International Orientation Conference, scheduled before classes begin in the fall semester. Because the IGSI Orientation Conference is only held in the fall, departments should anticipate the spring appointments of first-time IGSIs and instruct them to attend in the fall. The requirement to attend these Orientation Conferences must be included in the GSI letters of appointment.
  10. Supervision of preparation of Reading and Composition course GSIs should be vested in a campuswide Reading and Composition Courses Committee. This committee will be overseen and appointed by the Dean of Arts and Humanities, who has overall responsibility for Reading and Composition courses.
  11. As charged by the Dean of Arts and Humanities, and in consultation with the GSI Teaching and Resource Center, the Reading and Composition Courses Committee should: 1) convene, at least once each semester, a meeting of all Reading and Composition instructors of record to provide GSIs appropriate uniform standards, guidelines, and supervision, and 2) convene, at least once each semester, a meeting of all instructors of 300-level courses designed for training of Reading and Composition instructors to foster appropriate oversight and coordination.

 

D. Assessment of GSIs by faculty
  1. First-time GSIs should be observed in the classroom by departmentally designated faculty and receive feedback on their teaching. Guidelines and workshops on how to conduct a classroom observation are available from the GSI Teaching and Resource Center.
  2. End-of-semester evaluations of GSIs should be reviewed. A departmentally designated faculty member should meet individually with GSIs whose reviews are below average to set up a plan for improvement of teaching skills. This may involve repeating the department pedagogy seminar, or other appropriate remedial action.

 

E. Increasing faculty incentives to play a central role in mentoring graduate students as teachers
  1. Departmental reviews should include an assessment of GSI mentorship in their assessment of faculty teaching performance.
  2. Budget Committee reviews should include an assessment of GSI mentorship in their assessment of faculty teaching performance.

 

F. Policy Dissemination
  1. Departmental Chairs should provide faculty members a copy of these policies along with specific department guidelines at the beginning of each semester that they teach courses with GSIs.
  2. A copy of these policies or the URL where they can be located, along with specific department guidelines, should be included in each GSI letter of appointment.

Assistance in developing guidelines for mentoring GSIs can be obtained by consulting the GSI Teaching and Resource Center. Nothing in this policy shall be construed to alter the provisions of the UC-UAW contract. See the contract online.

Quick Summary of Highlighted Changes to Policy on Appointments and Mentoring of Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs)

Prepared by the Graduate Division

Background

At its 2005 March meeting, the Graduate Council made revisions to the Policy on the Appointment and Mentoring of GSIs (2003). Major changes and clarifications have been made in the following areas of the policy:

  1. Section C2: 300-level Seminars on Teaching

    First-time GSIs must either have completed or be enrolled in a 300-level semester-long pedagogy seminar on teaching in the discipline offered by the department. In those departments in which a low number of GSIs makes it infeasible to offer such a course, the pedagogy seminar should be taken in another department, with the advice and approval of the GSI’s department and with the consent of the course instructor. The GSI
    Teaching and Resource Center will maintain a list of 300-level courses on its Web site. First-time GSIs who fail to pass the 300-level course must retake and pass the course before they are eligible to teach again.

    The course would normally:

    • be taught by a faculty member;
    • address the practical and theoretical knowledge needed by new GSIs in the specific discipline;
    • have a syllabus that specifies topics week by week, identifies readings, and describes the basis for evaluation
    • have a meaningful number of units and student contact hours (2-4 units);
    • have a course reader or textbooks;
    • have specific assignments for which GSIs are accountable and on which GSIs will be graded.

    Departments are required to apprise the Graduate Division each semester of the name of the faculty member teaching the course and to submit a copy of the 300-level course syllabus to the Graduate Division each time the course instructor changes. The GSI Teaching and Resource Center can assist departments in developing such 300-level courses through consultations, workshops, and grants.

    The 300-level course requirement must be stated in letters of appointment for first-time GSIs.

  2. Section C9: Orientation Conference for First-time GSIs

    Every first-time GSI must attend the Orientation Conference sponsored by the GSI Teaching and Resource Center. An Orientation Conference is offered by the GSI Teaching and Resource Center each semester before classes begin. First-time international GSIs (IGSIs) must attend the International Orientation Conference, scheduled before classes begin in the fall semester. Because the IGSI Orientation Conference is only held in the fall, departments should anticipate the spring appointments of first-time IGSIs and instruct them to attend in the fall. The requirement to attend these Orientation Conferences must be included in the GSI letters of appointment.

  3. Section D: Assessment of GSIs by Faculty
    1. First-time GSIs should be observed in the classroom by departmentally designated faculty and receive feedback on their teaching. Guidelines and workshops on how to conduct a classroom observation are available from the GSI Teaching and Resource Center.
    2. End-of-semester evaluations of GSIs should be reviewed. A departmentally designated faculty member should meet individually with GSIs whosereviews are below average to set up a plan for improvement of teaching skills. This may involve repeating the department pedagogy seminar, or other appropriate remedial action.
  4. Section F: Policy Dissemination

    Departmental Chairs should provide faculty members a copy of these policies along with specific department guidelines at the beginning of each semester that they teach courses with GSIs.

See the full text of the revised policy. A copy of the policy or the URL where it can be located, along with specific department guidelines, should be included in each GSI letter of appointment.