graduate assistant

graduate researcher

student assistant

research assistant

assistant professor

University of Texas at Arlington

I have never felt so unwelcome by a group of women in my entire professional work life.  It was an immediate "shut out'.  I was so excited to work at a place like UTA and it was such a disappointment. 
I would come in and say, 'good morning' and was met with silence.  I would ask a question about the job and was sighed at.  I was told that I ask too many questions and three weeks in I was to be totally independent in the position although the training was incredibly unprofessional. Not to mention that they still ask questions and were very, very unorganized when the start date came for students.
I was very scared about retaliation and hesitant to raise the issue of being unwelcomed.  However, I would cry almost everyday after I left there.  I was adamant to the director of the department that I have kids and could not lose my job. 
Sure enough, I was retaliated against and lies were told about me (along with another peer because they didn't like her)  to the "director" and I use that term loosely.  He is very timid and easily pushed around by the people on the team.  He couldn't even give me the courtesy of telling me himself that they were letting me go.  He pushed it off on his secretary and she couldn't tell me why I was let go.
The "team" point fingers at each other, complain constantly about the students calling in.  Outright lie about others in the department.  Complain about other departments.  Quite ugly.
To add insult to injury - they wanted to hold my check for an additional two weeks because they were behind in putting in the time for the month!!
Because they were afraid that they were going to "overpay" me when in actuality they owed me three days of comp time.  They expected me to wait six weeks for my check when they didn't have their ducks in a row when they let someone go.  Unbelievable.  
It was a HUGE disappointment to have worked there and I would highly recommend you think twice about becoming a Clinical Coordinator in the Nursing Department...
The people are retaliatory, vindictive and small minded.

I am a graduate teaching assistant in the psychology department of my university. Although I do not have a set schedule per se since I have completed my classes, I usually spend about 40 hours a week in my office. During this time I engage in a bevy of activities: class preparation for the undergraduate lecture I am currently teaching, meetings with students and undergraduate research assistants, running participants for a study examining the impact of peer victimization on health, proctoring exams, attending department job talks/colloquia, analyzing data from previous studies run, working on manuscripts, and applying for grants. In my four years as a graduate student, I have learned how to disseminate research to both scientific and general audiences, a skill that has helped me hone my public speaking and presentation skills.I currently act as manager of my mentor's laboratory, where I work alongside three other graduate students with research interests similar to my own; doing so has taught me how important collaboration is in research. Being both a teaching assistant and a researcher can prove to be difficult at times in terms of time management--I have had to learn how to prioritize and assign enough time to each project while not neglecting my other duties. This has perhaps been the hardest part of my job, as my duties are so far-reaching. Perhaps the most enjoyable part of my current position is the research process--having the opportunity to unravel the mysteries of human behavior has been incredibly rewarding, and something which makes the more difficult parts of the job less daunting.

A graduate teaching assistant spends most of their time, depending on the professor the work for, grading papers, tutoring students, and keeping track of things for the professor.  Some of the TAs were given the opportunity to instruct in the classroom from time to time.  I learned to enjoy the learning environment as one that not only taught the students, but taught myself as well.  It was a great experience interacting with both students, staff, and professionals.  The management consisted of following the professor's rules, which were governed by university as well as departmental policy but each professor had their own management style; for the most part, the environment was very casual.  While there is much competition in academia, the workplace culture was one of comradery and friendship among TAs as well as professors.  The hardest part of the job was twofold.  Having to discipline disruptive students could be unpleasant, and deadlines for grading papers for 100+ students could be stressful.  The most rewarding part of the job was the one on one communication with students of all cultures, and the desire to see them become engaged in the learning process.

As a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Computer Science department, a typical day involves a blend of preparation, interaction, and learning. My day usually begins by reviewing lecture materials to assist the professor during classes. This is followed by office hours, where I help students with their queries, explain difficult concepts, and provide guidance on assignments.

The most valuable thing I’ve learned in this role is how to break down complex concepts into digestible parts for students of varying skill levels. My communication skills have improved significantly, and I’ve gained a deeper understanding of the course material myself, as teaching others is one of the best ways to master a subject.

Management is typically supportive, offering clear guidance but also enough autonomy to handle responsibilities. The workplace culture is collaborative, with faculty and teaching assistants working closely to ensure student success.

The hardest part of the job is balancing teaching duties with my own academic workload, especially during exam periods or project deadlines. However, the most enjoyable part is seeing students grasp difficult concepts after I’ve explained them, knowing that I’ve made a positive impact on their learning journey.

I worked mostly with students and loved it.  I loved working with professors and counterparts on other campuses.  The job in Admissions and Records was extremely high paced.The  pace in Bioengineering was high pace at given times such as registration and graduation.

The most enjoyable part of my job was helping students reach their dreams and professors get the information they need for teaching or accreditation.

The hardest part of the job in my last position was finding enough work to do.  The person that had the job before me was always behind in work yet i would have hours some days with nothing to do.  I don't enjoy having nothing to do.

Supervision was minimal, at best, after learning the job.

each day was processing information for the students or examining information.  There might be research on the computer for information on certain schools or classes.  Solving problems was a large part of both positions at UTA.

I would say the most useful skill I learned  was organization.  If you are organized you are not able to keep track of projects and information.
.

As a resident assistant, my duties included getting to know my residents, organizing monthly programs, administrative tasks associated with the apartment complex. Overall my experience with this position was positive and would recommend this position to anyone who can get it.

During my time as an RA, I felt stressed at timed but I realize that most of it was due to my own time management and not the work load as a whole. The work load itself is not too taxing, it consists of planning every month for a program, weekly visits to your assigned residents and once a week on call shifts that last 8pm to 6am. There are a few administrative tasks to deal but they are simple and quick to do.

For any student that wants a job on campus this is great because it also provides on campus housing. While the housing isn't free, you are more than compensated to pay for it while also being able to pay for food and daily expenses.  

The job contract you sign states that there are only two priorities that you should put above the RA position and those are school and health.

My day would start off checking to see if any of the faculty that had brought in any of documents that they wanted their students to have access to the documents from their residences.  Additionally I would assist students and faculty.  I would scan, return, and keep a copy of the articles that the professors would make available outside of class for their students.  If the faculty or students had any questions they would call me to answer their questions.  We would run the article or articles through the copyright sites to determine whether or not that it could be used without any legal problems for the university system.  Once the articles had cleared the copyright sites I would let the appropriate faculty member know so that they could release the information to their students with the appropriate password to retrieve the documents.  I would also train the other branch's reserves managers as they were hired.  I would also determine what magazines were ready for the bindery as well.  I would also receive notice what previously sent in volumes were ready.  I would also choose the fabric that the volumes that were to be bound in.

As a new employee, I would not recommend working here. Many broken promises have been made here from more additional staff to help with workload to being told this would be a collaborative place to work. Many senior administrators are "stuck" in anitquated processes, procedures, policies or lack of experience. When coming from outside the institution, and asking why, you are consistently told this what we have always done. There are pockets of good people who are trying to fight the good fight. They make it worth while and commiserate with you. 

The workplace is siloed and I have never seen so many state employees for a lack of better way to say this. - Doing as little as possible to make sure to collect a salaried/hourly paycheck and state benefits. 

My onboarding from HR took almost 3 months
Computer and basic access took 4-5 weeks after starting. 
Offices don't open and close as posted when needing assistance
Administrators do not try to innovate and keep up with current student trends 
Just recently switched to a half working electronic software for timekeeping. It was paper before.

I had high hopes coming here. Now would recommend anyone not to come here. 





I was a part-time student teacher volunteering in the ASSURE program to help teach younger undergrads how to apply the scientific method to research. It taught me advanced techniques for both teaching, speaking, and scientific research. My supervisor, although hard to understand, was a GRA who ran the lab very smoothly and was almost always able to get us the supplies we needed. My co-workers would all make sure everyone was on track, gathering together if there was a problem and picking the best course of action. It built teamwork and problem solving. The hardest part of the job was dealing with a contamination in the broth we were using. One of my coworkers and I were able to track down the source of the contamination and eradicate it after it had been there for over 2 years. Solving this problem was the most enjoyable part of my job while I was there. It went unnoticed because the Pseudomonas(the contaminant) was almost identical to E.coli (the bacteria used in the experiments) in morphology, except for colony shape. Using isolation techniques, we figured out the vials in broths it was in, and eradicated it.

In UTA, I had to work with undergrad students in physics labs. This job gave me an opportunity to interact with people of intelligent and inquisitive minds, and dispersive cultures. In addition, I have had privilege to brush up the basics of physics which often we overlook due to overwhelming workload during graduate life. Further, it helped me to learn organizing multi-tasking jobs (e.g. organizing course works, research, and teaching at labs ) efficiently. Moreover, it gave me a chance to build up a friendly working environment between co-workers by participating in group discussions and  exchanging work experiences. The most challenging part of my employment period was to teach non-science major students since very basics of physics even sound jargon to them. However, it was the most satisfactory part of my job as well. Because I had to be very innovative and patient to present physics as very interesting and comprehensible before them. I took that challenge, and students' evaluation at end got me to believing that I was quit successful.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Graduate assistant 19 salaries reported	$1,588 per month
Graduate researcher 5 salaries reported	$27,240 per year
Student assistant 9 salaries reported	$11.00 per hour
Research assistant 3 salaries reported	$17.67 per hour
Assistant professor 6 salaries reported	$71,083 per year

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