Skip to main content
Urban Studies and Planning Urban Studies and Planning
  1. HOME
  2. Undergraduate
  3. Practica
  4. index

USP Undergraduate Instructional Apprentice Guidelines


Undergraduate Instructional Apprentices are defined as an undergraduate student who serves as an assistant in an undergraduate course under the supervision of a faculty member.  The purpose of the apprenticeship is to learn the methodology of teaching through actual practice in a regularly scheduled course.

Requirements to be an Undergraduate Instructional Apprentice

  • Must be an upper division student (have earned at least 90 units)
  • Must have a minimum overall GPA of 3.0
  • Completion of the course for which you will be a UIA
  • Achievement of an “A” or better in the course for which you will be a UIA
  • Consent of the Instructor
  • May not be a UIA for the same course more than once
  • May not be a UIA for more than one course per quarter
  • May not earn credit (Any course listed as a 195) for more than a total of 8 units

Duties of an Undergraduate Instructional Apprentice

  • Attend all lectures
  • Provide administrative support for grading. Examples include:
    • Providing feedback to students on drafts
    • Participating as an jury member or evaluator on a panel for midterm and final presentations
    • Providing input to the instructor on student posters and presentations
  • Proctor exams
  • Assist with Exam Review Sessions
  • Hold office hours
  • Provide administrative support for course management on TritonEd and/or Google Classroom
  • (Optional) Conduct research, prepare and present one mini lecture related to the course subject matter
  • May be asked to conduct a portion of lecture
  • Assist groups in class break-out sections

Earning Credit as an Undergraduate Instructional Apprentice

The Undergraduate Student Services Advisor will submit your UIA paperwork through the Academic Student Employment System (ASES) once they have been notified by the course instructor. After the paperwork is submitted, UIA’s will receive an email to accept the position through ASES. Once the student accepts the position in ASES, the paperwork will move on through a series of approvals culminating with Academic Senate.


After all approvals are obtained, the Advisor will clear the UIA to enroll in USP 195. It is the student’s responsibility to enroll in USP 195 through WebReg.