The School of Life Sciences employs graduate students with academic backgrounds in the life sciences to serve as TAs in a number of undergraduate (and occasionally graduate) courses. TAs within the SoLS predominantly support laboratory-based undergraduate courses. We encourage all interested graduate students to apply.
| Spring 2025 SoLS TA Application available here |
| Priority for Spring 2025 placement will be given to applications submitted by October 21, 2024. See placement criteria below |
Timeline
| Fall 2024 | Spring 2025 | Summer 2025*** | |
| TAships Available | 65 | 64 | TBD |
| TA application available | March 29, 2024 | Oct. 2, 2024 | Feb 3, 2025 |
| TA application due | April 15, 2024 | Oct. 21, 2024 | Feb. 14, 2025 |
| TA letter of interest and waitlist notifications distributed* | May 1, 2024 | Oct. 28, 2024 | Feb. 18, 2025 |
| TA Confirmation of Interest Due/Last day to move to RA** | May 8, 2024 | Oct 31, 2024 | Feb 21, 2025 |
| TA Course Assignments Formalized and Offer Letters Distributed | May 15, 2024 | Nov. 8, 2024 | N/A |
| Start of TA Duty Period | Aug. 19, 2024 | Jan. 6, 2025 | SSI: May 27, 2025 SSII: July 3, 2025 |
| End of TA Duty Period | Dec. 20, 2024 | May 16, 2025 | SSI: July 7, 2025 SSII: Aug. 14, 2025 |
* Frequently one or more TA offers are declined. Should a TA offer be declined, new offers will be extended to those on the waiting list. As a result, these deadlines will adjust to accommodate the delay in offering a TAship to waitlist candidates.
** Declining a TA position after this date will result in lower prioritization of future TA applications.
*** Some courses run outside of the traditional SSI or SSII schedules. For these courses, special duty periods will be defined in the offer letter.
TA Placement Criteria
Current SoLS graduate students whose funding is guaranteed through their program or advisor are placed first during this process, followed by graduate students from other programs within UH Mānoa. The original offer or acceptance letter from your graduate program should explain details regarding financial commitments.
The TA placement process takes into account your skills and experience to best match them with available courses. We try to place students in their preferred teaching assignments, but cannot always accommodate these requests due to the broad array of courses requiring TA support each semester. Most SoLS labs are for introductory (100-level) courses in Biology, Botany, and Microbiology so the majority of our TAs are placed in these classes.
Quality of instruction is an important goal in SoLS which requires that courses are staffed with TAs that are knowledgeable in the relevant subject areas and skills. Due to changes in TA availability, you may find that your teaching assignment may change prior to the start of the semester. Such adjustments are made to ensure that all TAs are matched with courses that complement their skills and expertise. We work to limit reassignments, but know that it is important to understand that such changes may occur. We will notify you as soon as possible should your teaching assignment be changed.
TA Salaries
Effective August 1, 2024, SoLS TAs will be paid $23,028 for 9-month appointments. Effective Fall semester 2025, SoLS TAs will be paid $23,952 for 9-month appointments. Read more about graduate compensation and withholding.
Questions?
Should you have any questions or concerns regarding SoLS TA positions, please contact Associate Director for Instruction, Dr. Curtis Daehler (daehler@hawaii.edu).
Last Updated: November 21, 2024