Teaching Assistant Information

Hiring Selection

Students with funding indicated in their offer of admission will be assigned a Teaching Assistant position if they do not have other forms of employment or support. Please let the graduate advisor know ASAP if you will have alternative means of funding in the form of work outside of the MATH Department, fellowship, or other - this funding needs to be logged in order for tuition remission to be posted to your account. 

Those without funding indicated in their offer of admission will be automatically considered for available teaching appointments. Because the Mathematics Department is allocated a finite set of positions, and we can not create new positions at our discretion, appointments can not be guaranteed. There is no application process for TA positions within the Mathematics department for the academic year (Fall - Spring). Hiring will be done as evenly as possible, and will not take into consideration teaching experience or excellence in the program. Students without funding who have not yet received an appointment for the current academic year will be prioritized first for any remaining positions. 

Students without funding should also pursue positions outside of the Mathematics Department. The graduate advisor forwards opportunities to the MathGrads email list when they are received. You should also join the TA Jobs Google Group to be notified of open positions in other departments. 

Teaching and Administrative Assistants (TACs)

The TAC's are a group of math graduate students that act as a resource for TA's in the Mathematics Department. They also perform administrative duties relating to TA Appointments. The TAC's are your first stop for questions about teaching assignments and duties. Questions about appointment logistics can be directed to the graduate advisor. TAC's hold weekly office hours for TA's to seek support and advice in their teaching. Fall TAC Office Hours Schedule TBD.

About a month before the beginning of the quarter, the TAC's will send a Teaching Preference Google Form. The Teaching Preference Form is not mandatory, but completing it will enable the department to assign you to a course of your preference if possible. Not completing the preference form does not impact whether or not you will be assigned a position. If you do not complete the preference form, you will be assigned at random to a course available after those who have completed the form were assigned. 

Appointment Duties and Logistics

TA appointments are made at 50% time for an assigned workload of ~220 hours per quarter. TA's are under the supervision of the instructor responsible for the course. Upon notification of your assignment, you will be instructed to complete the Description of Duties form. This form is required for every appointment each quarter, even if you have taught the course with the same instructor in the past. 

The Description of Duties form is used to identify and agreed upon duties and tasks that should be completed over the course of the appointment. The performance of these duties will form the basis of the end-of-quarter performance evaluation, and will use the following criteria: quality of work; accuracy and attention to detail; interaction with students, peers and instructor; knowledge of subject; dependability.

Course duties vary, depending on the course assigned and level of the course. The following are generalized, and may differ from course to course:

• Upper division course duties include leading 1-2 sections, writing solutions, holding 3-5 office hours, assisting with grading midterms and finals, and may include some homework grading.

• Lower division course duties (depending on enrollment) include leading 2-3 sections, writing solutions, holding 3-4 hours of office hours, assisting with grading midterms and finals, and may include homework grading.

• Entry-level course duties include leading 3-4 sections, write solutions, hold 3 office hours, and assist with grading midterms and finals.

Union Representation

TAs are covered by a collective bargaining agreement between the University and the United Auto Workers (UAW). See the Staff Human Resources website for information about academic student employee representation. UAW does presentations from Academic Student Employees at the beginning of every academic year. 

18 Quarter Limit - APM 410

The total length of service rendered in any one or any combination of the following titles may not exceed 18 quarters (or 6 years):

• Reader on annual stipend

• Teaching Assistant

• Teaching Fellow and/or Associate In

Summer does not count towards the length of service. Students that were enrolled in 2020 and 2021 were authorized for an extension to this limit by three quarters, increasing the limit the 21 quarters or 7 years. The mathematics department is unable to guarantee alternative modes of funding for students ineligible to work. 

Students Outside of MATH

GSI and GSR positions are not available for students outside of the Mathematics department. Teaching Assistant Positions are rarely available for students outside of the Math Department. If a position becomes available, it will be posted to the TA Jobs Google Group with instructions to apply attached.