Graduate Student Appointments
Most graduate student appointments (Research and Teaching Assistantships) in SAFS are governed by an agreement between the UW and the UW/UAW Contract for Academic Student Employees, which is outlined at:
Graduate Student Appointments are usually awarded upon admission to the UW or as a result of an existing advising relationship between the faculty adviser and the student. Vacancies that occur during the academic year are advertised within the school via the safsgrads@u.washington.edu email list, to which all SAFS Graduate Students are subscribed. Occasionally, especially for TA’ships, the listings may be sent to other appropriate UW departments. If an appropriate applicant is not found within 2 weeks, the listing is sent to the UW Central Listing Website.
All graduate student appointments are based on continued graduate standing, satisfactory progress towards a degree, and satisfactory service in carrying out the duties of the appointment. Appointments typically begin about 2 weeks before the quarter starts, on the 16th of the month (Sept. 16th, Dec. 16th, March 16th, and June 16th). Students should expect to be on campus by then, unless other arrangements have been made. Most appointments are at 50% effort and require 220 hours of service for the typical quarter-long appointment. This general information reflects the typical, quarter-long appointment at 50% effort.
Graduate Student Appointments are compensated with:
- Resident Operating Fee Waiver (most of resident tuition)
- An exemption from the non-resident differential portion of tuition (NRD) if the appointee is not a state resident
- An exemption from the technology fee
- Graduate Appointee Health Insurance is paid for the appointee, and also half the cost of insuring his or her dependents. More information and for enrollment, please see:
Research Assistantships (RA-ships)
RA-ships normally are half-time appointments (20 hours a week) for the nine-month academic year (16 September to 15 June). RA-ships can be extended to include Summer Quarter, and in special circumstances, full-time support (40 hours a week) may be granted. Any graduate student appointment in excess of 20 hours a week requires the approval of the student's Major Professor and the Graduate Program Coordinator. Requests for appointment in excess of 20 hours a week require submission of a graduate student appointment petition (available from the School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences Student Services Office) to the Graduate School for all quarters except summer.
For more information about Research Assistantships, see:
Teaching Assistantships (TA-ships)
TA-ships are typically available as half-time appointments (20 hours a week) during the three-quarters of the regular school year and in limited numbers during Summer Quarter. While employed as a TA, students are supervised by the faculty member teaching the course. All newly assigned TAs are required to participate in the Pre-Autumn Workshop for Teaching Assistants sponsored by the Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR) held during the month of September. There is a separate training workshop required specifically for international TAs (regardless of their English language proficiency or U.S. degrees).
For more information about Teaching Assistantships, see:
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