Undergraduate Teaching Assistants for CSci Classes

Undergraduate TAs (teaching assistants) are an important part of undergraduate classes here in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Each semester a number of undergraduates TAs play vital roles in our introductory classes.

This file contains some basic information about undergraduate TAs. Specifically, it contains information about the following topics:

Applying for an Undergraduate TA Position
Classes that TAs Help With
Application and Hiring Timeline
Continuing Appointments
Selection Criteria
TA Duties and Hours
TA Pay
TAing as an Honors Experience
Summer Classes
Academic Conduct and Professionalism
Additional Information for Undergraduate TAs

Applications

Undergraduate students who are interested in applying for a TA position in the Department for Computer Science and Engineering should fill out an online application. Any University of Minnesota - Twin Cities undergraduate is eligible to apply (students need not be Computer Science or Computer Engineering majors).

Applications are accepted at any time of year. See the "Application and Hiring" Timeline section below for information about when applications are usually considered.

Note this is an application for undergraduate TA positions, and not for Graduate TA positions. Students applying for a graduate TA position in the CS&E Department should see the information linked to the department graduate page.

Classes that TAs Help With

The department regularly hires undergraduate TAs for CSci 1001, 1103, 1113, 1901, 1901H, and 1902. Of these, 1113 and 1901 are the largest classes by far, and therefore need the most TAs. Additionally, the courses 2011, 2021, and 2033 occasionally have undergraduate TAs.

Application and Hiring Timeline

Undergraduate TA positions are on a semester-by-semester basis.

For Fall semester, applications are considered starting in early August, and continuing throughout August and through the start of classes. The department will email applicants selected for interviews.

For Spring semester, applications are considered starting in late November and continuing throughout December and January. Again, the department will email applicants selected for interviews.

Summer undergraduate TA positions are considered in April and May. Because there are only a small number of undergraduate TA positions in summer, and because these positions normally require an experienced TA, the department does not usually consider new applicants for summer positions.

One common question from applicants is when they know if they will be contacted for an interview or not. For both Fall and Spring semesters the hiring process often extends into the first or second week of the semester, and so applicants might not know until then.

Continuing Appointments

The department welcomes undergraduate TAs to continue as a TA for as long as they are undergraduates at the University of Minnesota, and as long as their work is of high quality. This means that the course staff in most classes will consist of both experienced TAs and new TAs.

Undergraduate TAs who wish to continue from Fall to Spring should notify, by late November, both the teacher they are working with and the department TA Supervisor. However, they do not need to submit a new TA application. Undergraduate TAs who wish to continue from Spring to the following Fall should submit a new application to ensure the department knows they wish to continue. They should do this well before the start of the semester since continuing TAs are usually the first applicants considered during the hiring process. Specifically, continuing TAs are usually contacted in early August --- before new applicants are considered --- for Fall positions.

Continuing TAs are usually assigned to the same course that they have TAed before; however, in some cases they will be assigned to a different course.

Selection Criteria

A variety of factors are considered when deciding which applicants to interview and hire. Here, in no particular order, are the most important criteria:

Past TA experience: As discussed above, the department usually makes continuing offers to interested students who have done a good job in past TA work here.
Communication skills and rapport with students : TAs need to be able to speak clearly; explain CS concepts well; relate to students, faculty, and staff; write well; etc. International students whose native language is not English must have a passing score on the University TA language requirements to be eligible for a TA position. (Minimally an ibTOEFL speak score of 23, or a SETTA score of 1 or 2.)
GPA and course expertise: Applicants should have a reasonably high GPA (above 3.0 to be considered). Moreover, they should have done well in the classes they are being considered for (usually this means getting an A or A-, although on occasion students with a B grade will be considered if they have other significant qualifications).
Class level: most TAs are juniors and seniors. On occasion the department will hire students who are sophomores or freshman, but such applicants should have extremely strong qualifications.
Time availability: Students should have sufficient time to do quality TA work. Students taking an extremely high number of credits, or who have extensive additional commitments usually do not have enough time. Moreover, students' available times need to match course needs since much TA work involves helping with specific labs or discussion sections. (This time match can be especially important, since we are often trying to find students to help with a few specific labs or discussion sections.)
Other factors: These include work experience that uses course content (e.g., a software development job outside the University), outside tutoring or teaching experience, etc.

TA Duties and Hours

Undergraduate TAs usually assist with labs or discussion sections, hold office hours, do grading, attend weekly course staff meetings, and do occasional other tasks such as helping maintain the course website. The exact duties are assigned by the course instructor. Typically an undergraduate TA position involves an average of 8-12 hours/week. However, this will vary from week to week. Moreover, for some TAs the number of hours will be less or more than that average depending on the course size and other factors.

TA Pay

Undergraduate TA positions are paid hourly positions. TAs need to track their hours and turn in a time card to their course instructor biweekly. TAs should not delay turning in these cards, since significantly late submissions might result in penalties for both the TA and for the department.

TAing as an Honors Experience

Honors student who wish to TA may do it as an honors experience or for pay. Honors students who wish to TA as an honors experience should discuss this both with their advisor in the Honors College, and with the TA Supervisor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

TAing Summer Classes

The department usually hires a small number of undergraduate TAs to help with summer classes. These TAs are almost always undergraduates who have TAed the course the previous Spring semester. So new applicants are usually not considered for summer positions.

Academic Conduct and Professionalism

Since undergraduate TAs are University employees with important responsibilities, they are held to high standards. TAs who engage in academic misconduct --- either in the course of their TA work or in the classes they are taking --- can lose their TA positions and be subject to other disciplinary action. TAs should act in a professional manner (show up on time for TA duties, answer email in a timely fashion, speak respectfully to students, etc.), and should treat any sensitive course information (grades, class lists, etc.) carefully. Any undergraduate TA who has access to information such as grade files and course lists should be aware of the FERPA rules for working with educational records.

Additional Information for Undergraduate TAs

Most TA questions can be answered by the course instructor or other TAs. Questions about labs and lab machines can be answered by the system staff operator (operator@cs.umn.edu). Payroll questions can be answered by the department payroll staff (payroll@cs.umn.edu). General TA questions can also be answered by the front desk or the department TA Supervisor.