Graduate assistantships are an essential part of the training of Dornsife College doctoral students.  As such, every Ph.D. student is expected to hold a half-time (20 hour per week) assistantship for at least two years while pursuing graduate study.

Research assistantships are funded by Dornsife College and by external or internal grants to USC faculty, who work closely with their students to produce important new work in and across the fields represented by Dornsife College departments, schools and centers.

Teaching assistantships and assistant lecturerships offer doctoral students the opportunity to develop a number of important skills in our undergraduate classrooms and laboratories.  The assistants are an integral part of the College’s instructional team and, as such, they are supported by College Training Programs held each summer, by the USC Center for excellence in Teaching and by programs developed by individual faculty members and departments.

The Center for Excellence in Teaching
The Center for Excellence in Teaching seeks primarily to treat teaching as serious intellectual work that merits sustained focus at a research university. By providing the training, feedback, and resources to make excellent teaching possible, we assist faculty and teaching assistants to think of college courses, and out-of-class activities, as opportunities for them to define, practice, and advance their disciplines (and inter-disciplinary collaborative work) through teaching and mentoring. 

The Graduate School
The USC Graduate School website provides a wealth of resources for all aspects of graduate education, including graduate assistantships, fellowships, dissertation submission and conflict resolution.

The Graduate Assistant Handbook represents the collaborative effort of students, faculty and staff. It has been prepared as an aid for graduate assistants, for the faculty and staff who work with them and for their departmental advisors. It provides basic information regarding University policy and procedures as they relate to graduate assistants and also tries to anticipate the questions that arise most often.

TA Training 2011
August 17th - August 19th, 2011
TA Training Schedule (2010)

*The 2011 TA Training Schedule is still in progress