Fall 2008/Spring 2009 GSI/Reader Application

GSI APPOINTMENTS

Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs) are chosen for their excellence in scholarship and for their promise as a teacher. They serve as a teaching apprentice under the supervision of a faculty member. Students may not serve as a GSI in courses in which they are enrolled, and only graduate students who are advanced to candidacy may serve as a GSI in courses with other graduate students. Students cannot serve at the same time as a GSI and a Reader for the same course.

GSI appointments for the fall semester usually start on August 1 and end on December 31; those for the spring semester start on January 1 and end on May 31.

Students on F-1 or J-1 visas may not be appointed for more than 49.5% total for all of their combined appointments on campus. This includes any and ALL reader, GSI, and GSR appointments.

A GSI Step 1 requires no previous college teaching experience.

GSI applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Minimum 3.1 GPA
• No more than 2 incompletes
• Enrolled in 8 units
• Registered by the end of the third week of classes

GSI applicants who do not speak English as their native language must fulfill the English language proficiency requirement before starting their appointment. Please visit http://gsi.berkeley.edu/ for instructions and equivalences. If you need to take the SPEAK test, please schedule it through the Language Proficiency Program by e-mail at langpro@berkeley.edu.

All first-time GSIs are required to:

• Attend the conference for new GSIs held the Thursday and Friday before classes begin each semester. Thursday will be for new international GSIs only, and Friday will be for all first time GSIs.
• Take CE 301 for at least 2 units during the first semester of teaching. You will receive sign up information when hired.
• Attend one of the Academic Student Employee (ASE) orientation sessions, where they will discuss your duties and rights regarding your GSI/Reader position.

GSIs who can demonstrate to have more than 4 semesters of teaching experience, gained after award of their undergraduate degree, may apply for appointment at a higher level, as a GSI II.

For more information and resources for GSIs, please visit the Graduate Student Instructor Teaching Resource Center at http://gsi.berkeley.edu/.

READER APPOINTMENTS

Readers primarily perform duties related to grading of papers and examinations.

Students cannot serve at the same time as a GSI and a Reader for the same course, nor as a Reader in a course in which they are enrolled.

Reader appointments usually start on the first day of instruction and end on the last day of instruction in any given semester. Readers are paid on an hourly basis. Appointments at or in excess of 10 hours/week (corresponding roughly to a class with 100 students enrolled), also include partial tuition and fee remission. It may be possible to combine appointments, e.g., for two classes, in order to reach this 10 hours/week level.

Students on F-1 or J-1 visas may not be appointed for more than 49.5% total for all of their combined appointments on campus. This includes any and ALL reader, GSI, and GSR appointments.

Reader applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Minimum 3.0 GPA
• Minimum grade of "B" in the course for which they are reading or an equivalent course

APPLICATION PROCESS

Please complete this form to be eligible for GSI and Reader positions for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The application review process for Fall 2008 will be processed on an ongoing basis until all the appointments have been successfully filled.We will notify you if a faculty member chooses you to serve as a GSI or reader.