MCDB Graduate Student Handbook
All MCDB graduate students are required to TA for two quarters. Students are expected to TA one quarter per year in their second and third years of graduate study. Any additional TAships will require approval by the MCDB Graduate Committee. Thesis advisors must submit a petition for each student who will TA more than one quarter during the academic year. The thesis advisor should clearly state in the petition, the affected student's name and the quarter in which the additional TAship will take place. Valid reasons for the additional TAships and how these TAships will affect the student's progress to degree must be provided. If the student's progress to degree is delayed, the thesis advisor must also explain what measures will be taken to remedy the delay and how normal progress to degree will be maintained thereafter. The petition should be submitted to the Student Affairs Office at least one quarter prior to when the proposed TAship will take place.
Students for whom English is not the native language must pass the TOP (Test of Proficiency in English) exam with a minimum score of 50 before they can be hired as a TA. A student scoring 45 may serve as a teaching assistant if concurrently enrolled in an English as a Second Language course specifically aimed at improving spoken communication (ESL 39A, 39B, 39C, 38 and 108, as appropriate).