2012 - 2013

• 1. Overview
• 2. FAQ
• 3. TA offer process and criteria
  • 3.1. Introduction
  • 3.2. Other Sources of Information on TA Positions
  • 3.3. Offers to Incoming Students
  • 3.4. Offers to Current TAs
  • 3.5. Types of Offers
  • 3.6. Students Without Support
  • 3.7. Special Requests from Faculty
  • 3.8. Criteria
  • 3.9. Summer Appointments
• 4. Teaching Tips
• 5. Department Rules
• 6. Department Contact Information
• 7. Ethical Issues for TAs
• 8. Department Policy on Cheating by TAs
• 9. Related links

3.6. Students Without Support

The CS Department supports a number of graduate students through TA appointments, and professors' research grants support many more. However, we are not able to support all CS graduate students. Students should realize TA appointments are highly competitive, and we get many more applicants than the number of available positions. Some ramifications of this are:

• It is no longer sufficient to be a good student or have a good general CS background to be a TA. Students need to stand out in some other way.
• Students whose RA support or outside support is lapsing should not assume that they will be able to get a TA position instead. Such students are of course welcome to apply and will be considered along with all other applicants. However, they are not guaranteed a TA appointment.
• Students who are TAs need to realize that it is no longer sufficient to do an "adequate but not great" job since there are unsupported students who could do a better job.