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Laboratory Assistant
UCI Series Concepts
Class Specifications - I.20
Laboratory Assistant IV - 9601
Laboratory Assistant III - 9602
Laboratory Assistant II - 9603
Laboratory Assistant I - 9605
Laboratory Helper - 9606
June, 1975
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SERIES CONCEPT
Laboratory Assistants perform or supervise the performance of
standardized and recurring technical procedures in the natural,
physical or social sciences in a teaching and/or research laboratory;
perform or supervise a variety of business operations related to
management of a laboratory; and perform other related duties as
required.
Incumbents in the series may work under the supervision of academic
personnel, Staff Research Associates, or higher level Laboratory
Assistants. Assignments may require specialized knowledge of a field or
area of discipline, however, they do not require the thorough
understanding of the scientific principles involved or knowledge of the
discipline as required for incumbents in the Staff Research Associate
series.
Incumbents typically perform duties ranging in level from unskilled to
skilled in one more academic fields. The fields may include chemistry,
biochemistry, physics, microbiology, botany, zoology, biology,
bacteriology, geology, psychology, physiology, dentistry, and other
related fields. Incumbents perform duties which include preparation of
media for research activities; participation in the construction,
assembly, testing and/or operation of laboratory equipment; preparation
of tissues for microscopic examination; setting up research and teaching
laboratories; ordering, receiving and distributing laboratory supplies
to faculty, teaching assistants and students; cleaning and maintenance
of equipment and supplies; and the maintenance of safety procedures in
teaching and research laboratories. Incumbents may assist in laboratory
facility planning and space utilization; and may assist faculty,
teaching assistants and students in their use of laboratory equipment
and supplies.
The examples cited subsequently in the class concepts are illustrative
and do not preclude allocation to the series of positions requiring
equivalent technical knowledge and skill.
CLASS CONCEPTS
Laboratory Assistant IV
Under direction incumbents perform business management and/or technical
support duties in a laboratory operation typically involving supervision
over a large group of Laboratory Assistants.
Incumbents prepare and assist in the justification of budget estimates;
maintain expenditure control over approved budgets; direct the work of
Laboratory Assistant and related clerical/administrative personnel; have
responsibility for the purchasing, storing and issuing of equipment and
supplies; advise students, teaching assistants and/or faculty members on
laboratory rules and procedures; supervise the preparation of class
demonstrations and teaching aids for lectures, laboratory classes and
student field trips; and make cost estimates of laboratory expenses of
courses in order to determine student laboratory fees. Incumbents may
participate in laboratory facility planning and space utilization projects
and may design and/or supervise the construction of complex and technical
laboratory installations.
Assignments at this level are primarily managerial and supervisory and
typically involve, full managerial responsibility for related laboratory
support and/or teaching support activities. The scope of laboratory
management duties usually precludes the performance of the majority of
technical duties found at lower levels in the series.
Laboratory Assistant III
Under general supervision, incumbents perform technical and/or
supervisory duties in a laboratory.
Incumbents typically supervise the purchasing, receiving, storing,
distribution and maintenance of laboratory equipment used by students,
teaching assistants, faculty and/or staff personnel; supervise lower
level Laboratory Assistants and/ or students in the laboratory;
coordinate the physical preparation of laboratories and the scheduling
of dates for experiments for a variety of teaching courses; and
supervise the preparation and distribution of culture media, chemical
solutions and other material for various class laboratories.
Technical assignments at this level typically require scientific
knowledge and skills which might be expected from incumbents at the
college "upper division" level or from incumbents who have acquired
equivalent knowledge and skills through experience. The following
examples are typical of technical assignments at this level: collection,
classification and filing of scientific material; dissecting, assembling
and mounting of skeletal and other body parts; preparation of charts,
graphs and/or models involving experimental data; modification of media
solutions; performance of microtechnique procedures including knowledge
of staining, and the ability to distinguish between treated and
untreated plant tissue; and performance of surgical procedures on
animals without supervision.
Laboratory Assistant II
Under supervision incumbents perform one or more standard repetitive
laboratory and/or field experimental procedures that require technical
scientific knowledge and skills which might be expected from incumbents
at the college "lower division" level or from incumbents who have
acquired equivalent knowledge and skills through experience.
Technical assignments at this level typically include duties such as:
preparing samples for radiochemical analyses, preparing complex reagents
and media using basic ingredients, processing serum from whole blood,
preparing components required for media making, preparing specimens for
examination by professional and/or academic personnel, preparing
concentration specimens, removing fluids and preservatives by pipetting
and using solvents, preparing smear and imprint impressions, processing
and sectioning tissues, preparing and staining slides, grinding tissues
and placing in suspension for passage into host animals, and dissecting
laboratory animals exposing tissues for examination.
Incumbents may, when in charge of laboratory equipment and supplies,
keep records; maintain, order, store and dispense a limited variety of
standard supplies for a complex of student laboratories; assure
availability of materials used by students in laboratory classes such as
chemical compounds, unknowns, microscopes, culture media and models; set
up and maintain equipment such as fume hoods, fans, emergency lights,
water drains and special fixtures; and assist in the assembly, testing
and operation of complex laboratory equipment.
Laboratory Assistant I
Under supervision incumbents perform operational level work in a
teaching or research laboratory requiring delicate manual or
manipulative skills in a limited variety of tasks but not necessarily a
thorough understanding of the principles involved.
Incumbents prepare standardized media, reagents and solutions from
formulas for clinical, research or teaching use; set up simple apparatus
for classroom demonstration or laboratory experiments; prepare bacterial
and viral filters; make routine sugar analysis and prepare solutions;
wash glassware using a mechanical dishwasher with the responsibility for
determining the number and sequence of steps in the cleaning process;
clean and decontaminate radioactive glassware and equipment; and may in
addition keep laboratory facilities clean and sanitary.
Laboratory Helper
Under close supervision incumbents perform simple duties of a routine
nature in a teaching or research laboratory.
Incumbents wash, wrap and sterilize glassware, equipment and/or
instruments; fill, label and distribute media and reagent bottles;
clean, check and replenish standard laboratory equipment and supplies
and order new stocks of supplies as necessary; dust and wash shelves and
counters; clean sinks; check and record temperatures of refrigerators
and incubators; check and clean centrifuges; keep standard solution
bottles filled; prepare labels; provide clean towels, test tubes, cover
slips, filter and lens paper and keep records of supplies furnished.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Laboratory Assistant IV
Graduation from high school or a General Education Diploma and five
years of laboratory experience or two years of college including courses
in the natural, physical or social sciences and four years of laboratory
experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience;
and knowledges and abilities essential to successful performance of the
duties assigned to the position.
Laboratory Assistant III
Graduation from high school or a General Education Diploma and three
years of laboratory experience or two years of college including courses
in the natural, physical or social sciences and two years of laboratory
experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience;
and knowledges and abilities essential to the successful performance of
the duties assigned to the position.
Laboratory Assistant II
Graduation from high school or a General Education Diploma and two years
of laboratory experience or two years of college including courses in
the natural, physical or social sciences and one year of laboratory
experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience;
and knowledges and abilities essential to the successful performance of
the duties assigned to the position.
Laboratory Assistant I
Graduation from high school or a General Education Diploma and one year
of laboratory experience or two years of college including courses in
the natural, physical or social sciences; or an equivalent combination
of education and experience; and knowledges and abilities essential to
the successful performance of the duties assigned to the position.
Laboratory Helper
Ability to read, write, perform basic mathematical calculations, follow
oral and written instructions; and knowledges and abilities essential to
the successful performance of the duties assigned to the position.
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