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Employment 

The Department of Visual Arts employs graduate students as Teaching Assistants, Graduate Student Researchers and Associate-Ins. First priority is given to graduate students within the Department of Visual Arts; however, we also hire students from other departments who demonstrate artistic or programming skills for the creative arts field. Students must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0, and be within their Support Time Limit in order to receive offers of academic employment on campus. Students are also limited to 18 quarters of appointments as either Teaching Assistants or Associate-ins (summer appointments don't count).

Types of Employment

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Job Description

A teaching assistant (TA) assists in the instruction of an upper or lower division course at the University under the supervision of a faculty member. The TA primarily assists the faculty member in charge of the course by conducting discussion, laboratory or studio sections that supplement faculty lectures and by grading assignments, projects and examinations. The TA must attend the lecture course to which they are assigned. 

A TA also holds office hours, proctors examinations and may assist with the development of assignments or exams. The general instructional content of the course, as well as the official assignment of student grades and decisions on grade appeals, are the responsibility of the faculty member in charge of the course. In no instance shall a teaching assistant be assigned the responsibility for the entire instruction or giving lectures for the course.

Courses

In the Visual Arts Department, we regularly hire TAs for lower-division art-making and art history. We also hire a limited number of TAs for some upper-division art-making and film history courses.  You may view the course descriptions in the campus catalog.

Art-Making

  • VIS 1- Introduction to Art Making: Two-Dimensional Practices 
  • VIS 2- Introduction to Art Making: Motion and Time-Based Art
  • VIS 3- Introduction to Art Making: Three-Dimensional Practices
  • VIS 30- Introduction to Speculative Design 
  • VIS 41- Design Communication
  • VIS 60- Introduction to Digital Photography
  • VIS 70N- Introduction to Media
  • VIS 80- Introduction to the Studio Major
  • VIS 141A- Computer Programming for the Arts I
  • VIS 142-  Practices in Computing Arts
  • VIS 145A- Time- and Process-Based Digital Media I
  • VIS 147A- Electronic Technologies for Art I 

Art, Film or Speculative Design History/Studies

  • VIS 11- Introduction to Visual Culture
  • VIS 20- Introduction to Art in Europe and America
  • VIS 21A- Introduction to the Art of the Americas or Africa and Oceania
  • VIS 21B- Introduction to Asian Art 
  • VIS 21C- Introduction to African Art 
  • VIS 22- Formations of Modern Art 
  • VIS 120's- Art History Courses, Variety of Topics
  • VIS 135- Design Research Methods 
  • VIS 150's- Film and Media Studies

Rate of Pay/Workload

Current academic titles and pay rates can be found on the Graduate Division website. Annual salaries are based on a 100% appointment, 40-hour week model. Graduate students are not allowed to have 100% appointments (because, your primary role here is as a student, not an employee). As a salaried employee, the number of hours you work a week may vary but the total number of hours you work should not exceed your appointment percentage.

  • 25% appointment, 10 hours per week, 110 hours per quarter
  • 50% appointment, 20 hours per week, 220 hours per quarter

The University of California Office of the President has mandated that graduate students may hold teaching assistant (TA)  or Associate-In appointments for a maximum of 18 quarters (summer session TA or summer Associate-In appointments do not count toward this limit).

 

Fee Remission 

Students receive remission of the following fees when assigned to a 25% or above appointment.

  • Student Services Fee
  • Tuition
  • Health Insurance

A complete list of graduate student tuition and fees can be found on the Graduate Division website.

Hiring Practice

Academic Year: The Department of Visual Arts sends out a call for employment preferences for anticipated TA positions for the following academic quarter to the Visual Arts program student listservs mid-quarter. All students must apply for positions within the department by the deadline. The Graduate coordinator forwards a list of the applicants, including information about funding guarantees and exceptional circumstances to the Faculty program directors. They then make the final placement decision in consultation with the instructor of record as necessary.

Summer Session: The Department of Visual Arts has limited opportunities for TAs during summer session as funding for TA hires is allocated based on enrollments. The graduate coordinator sends out a call for employment preferences for anticipated Summer TA positions.  Visual Arts grad students who wish to have the opportunity to work as a TA over the summer should submit an application in May. The instructor of record is given a list of the applicants to rank order their preferences.  The graduate program directors make the final placement decision taking into account the instructor of record preference, skill-set, prior course evaluations and overall summer support.

English Language Requirement for International Teaching Assistants

International graduate students who are non native speakers of English must be certified as having requisite language skills before they can serve as teaching assistants (TAs; UC San Diego Graduate Division policy in compliance with Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 41).

Evidence of English Language Proficiency: Certification as Teaching Assistant Cut Off Scores

Students may be certified either on the basis of their score on one of the following:

  • have a TOEFL iBT Speaking subscore of 28-30
  • have an IELTS Speaking subscore of 8.5-9.0
  • have a PTE Speaking sub-score of 83-90, and 2
  • be international graduate students who serve as language assistants in courses conducted in their native language.

Those students with TOEFL speaking scores of 23 – 27, IELTS speaking scores of 7-8, or PTE speaking scores of 65-82 are required to take the English Language Certification Exam. 

Students who do not pass the English Language Certification Exam are given the opportunity to improve their language skills.

Many students have found courses offered in the English Language Institute  and the English for Academic and Professional Development Program(both offered by University Extension) helpful in this regard; however, these courses must be paid for out of pocket.

Job Description

A Graduate Student Researcher is a registered graduate student who performs research under the direction of a faculty member.

Courses

Not applicable.

Rate of Pay/Workload

Current academic titles and pay rates can be found on the Graduate Division website. GSRs in the Visual Arts department are paid the step 1 hourly on the GSR pay scale.

Fee Remission 

GSR titles do not include fee remission. A complete list of graduate student tuition and fees can be found on the Graduate Division website.

Hiring Practice

Academic Year: GSR appointments are created by faculty using their research funds, including but not limited to grants from the Academic Senate. For the most part, faculty have a specific student in mind when they notify the staff of a position. When faculty have no specific student in mind for a GSRship, the call goes out to the Visual Arts Graduate Student listserv. The staff then forward the names of the students interested in the GSRship to the faculty member, who decides whom to hire.

Summer Session: Same as  Academic Year Hiring Practice above.

Job Description

An Associate (teaching a course) may conduct the entire instruction of a lower division course or upper division course with approval granted by the Dean of the Graduate Division. The Associate is assigned a faculty mentor to provide guidance and training as needed. Use of this title requires prior approval by the Dean of the Graduate Division.

Appointment to this title requires evidence of extraordinary merit in teaching and scholarship and prior relevant teaching experience, advanced training in the subject matter and support of the department chair. For Ph.D. students, the candidacy exam must have been passed and the student must be in the final stages of dissertation writing or must have equivalent other accomplishments (publications, extensive experience as performer-teacher, etc.). MFA students should be in the second to last or last quarter. The appointment is also dependent upon positive academic and administrative review and approval by the student's department/group Chair, the Divisional Dean and the Dean of the Graduate Division.

Courses

Inside the visual arts department, we hire Associate-Ins to teach courses in the summer as Summer Graduate Teaching Scholars, and on an annual basis during the regular academic year. A call for summer courses proposals goes out in early Fall quarter. Offers to teach during the regular academic year will come from the department chair via a student's faculty advisor as necessary to balance the needs of the undergraduate program.

Summer Courses commonly offered

  • VIS 22 Formations of Modern Art
  • VIS 21A Intro. to the Art of the Americas or Africa and Oceania 
  • VIS 21B Intro. to Asian Art
  • VIS 60 Intro. to Digital Photography 
  • VIS 128 A-E Topics in Art History and Theory
  • VIS 130 Special Projects in Visual Arts

Rate of Pay/Workload

Current academic titles and pay rates can be found on the Graduate Division website. Annual salaries are based on a 100% appointment, 40-hour week model. Graduate students are not allowed to have 100% appointments (because, your primary role here is as a student, not an employee). As a salaried employee, the number of hours you work a week may vary but the total number of hours you work should not exceed your appointment percentage.

  • 25% appointment, 10 hours per week, 110 hours per quarter
  • 50% Appointment, 20 hours per week, 220 hours per quarter

Fee Remission

Students receive remission of the following fees when assigned to a 25% or above appointment. 

  • Student Services Fee
  • Tuition
  • Health Insurance

A complete list of graduate student tuition and fees can be found on the Graduate Division website.

Hiring Practice

Academic Year: The Department of Visual Arts has limited opportunities for Associate-Ins during the academic year. There is an annual call for Associate-In applications in the Fall quarter for the following academic year. (ie. FA21 for Academic Year 22-23) Opportunities arise out of a need to cover gaps in the undergraduate course offerings due to faculty sabbaticals or leaves. When opportunities do come up, positions are offered to advanced graduate students in the final stages of their thesis or dissertation. Final placement decisions are made by the Department Chair in consultation with the student’s advisor and Graduate Program Faculty leadership.

Summer Session: The Department of Visual Arts sends out a call for Summer Session course proposals to faculty and graduate students for applications for the Summer Graduate Teaching Scholars program in early fall quarter, and is due (mid-October) to vis-grad@ucsd.edu; 1 month prior to the campus deadline for nominations. Students who will have advanced to candidacy by start of Winter quarter are eligible to apply for the upcoming Summer Graduate Teaching Scholars/Associate-In positions. Priority is given to students who have not had the opportunity to teach their own class before. Final placement decisions are made by Summer Session in consultation with the Department Chair, Graduate Program Faculty leadership, and the student’s advisor.

Associate Instructor Handbook

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Frequently Asked Questions

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There are three (3) offices on campus that provide direct deposit for graduate students:

Student Business Services (stipend payments for domestic students):  This includes all fellowship stipend payments disbursed via UC San Diego.

Payroll (TA and GSR employment checks for domestic and international students): UCPath Self Service Portal, in the left hand column click Employee Actions>Income and Taxes>Direct Deposit, and add your account information.

New Hires: While new employees should be able to access the UCPath Portal as soon as an Empl ID has been issued, they will not be able to submit benefit enrollments, W-4, Direct Deposits, etc., until their Hire Date (effective date of job).

Disbursements (stipend payments for International students, travel and other personal reimbursements):  More information here Since the implementation of UC Path (Spring 2020), this may only be required for International students. The Graduate Division-Financial Support Unit is working directly with students. If you have a question submit a ticket here, select STUDENT SUPPORT and include “International Grad Student” in the ticket subject line.

UC Path  is a brand-new, systemwide payroll and personnel system, and allows you to see your salary from any forms of on-campus employment, lists your employee ID number and allows you to add or update your direct deposit information for employment salary. The first time you log in you’ll have some set-up tasks to complete.

At Your Service Online (AYSO) allows you to see your salary from any forms of on-campus employment and lists your employee ID number.  This system is used for employees hired prior to Spring 2020.

*For continuing graduate students with an employment history at UC San Diego prior to Spring 2020, you may view this UC Path vs. AYSO poster to see which system to view your payroll information.

UC Path or AYSO does not list fellowship stipend award payments, but graduate students can go to the Grad Student Portal to view/verify their fellowship stipend awards.  The link is on the following site (towards bottom of page)

UC Path Self-Service allows you to see your salary from any forms of on-campus employment and lists your employee ID number.

At Your Service Online (AYSO) allows you to see your salary from any forms of on-campus employment and lists your employee ID number.  This system contains information for employees and employment activity prior to June 1, 2020.

International Students

An international student in F-1 or J-1 status is restricted to on-campus employment of a maximum of 50% time (20 hours per week) during the academic year.  During the summer, 100% employment is allowed (depending on the student’s academic department support policy) if the student intends to enroll full time Fall quarter and meets all other eligibility criteria.

No exceptions are permitted to this rule. 
Contact the Global Education Division with questions.

U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents

The employment of a graduate student over 50% time during the academic year requires the prior written approval by:

  • All hiring departments/programs and/or funding sources involved
  • Additionally, the endorsement of the student’s academic advisor is required
  • The student’s graduate academic home department Chair
  • The Dean of Graduate Division

Visual Arts Request process
average timeline (3 weeks)

  1. Student Advisor/Chair submits to vis-grad@ucsd.edu letter of request outlining all employment and funding sources for quarter of exception requested.
  2. Graduate Directors review request
  3. If approved, Graduate coordinator request approval from all hiring departments/funding sources
  4. If approved, Graduate coordinator submits to graduate division for review.

MFA Program policy for employment above 50%.

* Exceptions reserved for one per career in program; and, to minimize impact on time to degree, would need to fall in the second year after First year review and not in the third year when the Thesis is produced. Compelling reason for exception around research focus and/or unique career development opportunity: to be summarized by Committee Chair/Advisor and agreed by Grad program directors.

PHD Program policy for employment above 50%.

*Exceptions reserved for one per career in program; and, to minimize impact on time to degree, would need to fall in the two years after QE and not in the years in which either QE or defense are scheduled. Compelling reason for exception around research focus and/or unique career development opportunity: to be summarized by Committee Chair/Advisor and agreed by Grad program directors.

No.  Only the employee (you) can update withholding and VISA information and that update must be done online through the GLACIER system.  When the update is complete, GLACIER generates forms that must be signed by the employee (you) and submitted, along with copies of required immigration documents, to CCP (Central Core Payroll).  Once received and verified, the GLACIER information is integrated into UCPath via a nightly batch file. There is one exception, when an employee becomes a permanent resident.  In that case a manual update by UCPC is required. This is because once the Glacier record is updated to Permanent Resident, the record closes and the information does not feed into the nightly Glacier update to UCPath. 

Follow this link to employee instructions for completing Glacier update: https://blink.ucsd.edu/finance/payroll/foreign/administrative/ealn.html
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