Great Grad Gigs

Great Gigs That May Pay for Tuition

Finally, you’re a grad, but you need a little side gig to help with costs. In the Florida university system, there are several employment classes that fall under the general category of a teaching assistant. UNF uses three of these titles: Graduate Teaching Assistant, Graduate Teaching Associate, and Graduate Assistant.

• Graduate Assistants are highly sought after and amazing positions for graduate students. There are tons of different types of GA positions at UNF that revolve around specific work and allow students to work closely with faculty, participate in research, and see the inner workings of the University.
• Graduate Teaching Assistants teach a class at the University who instruct on a regular basis and give grades to students. Another type of GA is a Grad Lab Assistant, who instruct undergraduate students in lab sections across campus. They are required to teach, observe, and facilitate experiments to enrich student’s learning and comprehension of their specific class’ materials.
• Another type is Graduate Research Assistants which are tasked with helping current faculty and staff with research projects such as library searches and lab experiments while being mentored by overseeing faculty. Not to be confused with Grad Research Assistants, Grad Research Fellowship Assistants hone in on research but do not get tuition benefits for the participation in or completion of their role. This is strictly for experience and has no other gain.

The last and least specific type is just a General Graduate Assistantship; it is any assistantship received by any graduate student for any job other than teaching or research. These jobs can be centered around technician work, working on grant-funded projects, analysis of data, or working an office-based job within different aspects of University life.

Teaching Assistants at UNF are very different from Grad Assistants. They are positions given by professors to allow mostly undergraduate students the opportunity to have instructor, grader, and facilitator experience during their 4 years in undergrad. If this is a position you are interested in holding, we recommend reaching out to the professor you would like to TA to receive more information. Professors are able to have as many or as little TA’s as they would like, and they usually choose their fall TA’s in the spring, and vice versa, so make sure you are on top of things or you may miss the opportunity.

Participating in hands-on learning by either being a TA or a GA are great ways to gain experience and set yourself apart as an academic for future applications and potential positions. UNF does a great job of giving students as many chances as possible to succeed and learn, so we recommend taking as many of these opportunities as possible.

Students can also check the UNF jobs site for open positions.

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