Frequently Asked Questions regarding Teaching Assistantships in ECE department at PSU

**Applications for Winter 2010 TAs are now being accepted. Click here for information.**

The ECE department at PSU is a relatively large department with many undergraduate classes - many with labs - that require help from Teaching Assistants. There are two types of students helping in this regard:

• Graduate students with TA appointments
• Undergraduate students (typically seniors) who typically help with lab sections in lower-division classes. Sometimes they may help with running junior level labs as well. Some undergraduate students are employed as "mentors" for lower-division classes, typically ECE 171 and 221/2/3, and assist students with their studies. The latter program is administered from MCECS Student Affairs office.

This FAQ page addresses primarily the first group of assistants. Undergraduate students should contact UG advisors for details about various options. Here are some common questions and problems that arise:

• Q: I ran into financial problems and I really need to get a Teaching Assistantship to stay in school.
• A: TAs are given on the basis of performance (see below) not need. This may sound heartless, but this is simply not something that we take into account when TAs are assigned.
• Q: What are my chances of getting a TA-ship and is there some way to improve them?
• A: Nobody can determine your chances with any precision. There are some facts that should help you get a better understanding of what it takes to get a TA-ship. For example:
• PhD students get priority over MS students
• Faculty recommendation is critical
• MEng students have practically no chance of getting a TA-ship
• GPA has to be good (the higher it is, the better)
• Communication skills have to be above average (and this includes oral as well as written skills).
• Your chances improve tremendously if you have been working on a dissertation or a thesis and your advisor is willing to recommend you for a TA. Just being in a MS program means nothing without some corresponding advancement in your research. Most faculty will not just take someone on as graduate student without first having them do some work to show that they can do independent research, so you need to be prepared to be "tested" this way. The sooner you can identify your advisor and research project, the sooner you can start working on it, which will improve your chances that your advisor will recommend you for a TA-ship.
• Q: what is the stipend associated with a TA-ship?
• A: this varies, but there are some "guidelines." Typically, if a student is assigned one lab section or one course then they will get a 0.15 FTE appointment ("full-time equivalent"). This should be enough to cover tuition for 9 credits that all TAs are required to take during their appointment. In addition to the tuition remission, a stipend is provided, but the exact amount varies. Typically, TAs on 0.15 FTE will earn around $1,400 - $1,500 per term. These are rough guidelines only! We reserve the right to adjust these, both up as well as down. When FTE is larger than this then the amount may be larger but that happens only in cases when a TA has responsibility for more classes or labs and it does not happen very often.
• Q: What are the duties and expectations from TAs?
• A: This is explained in detail in a separate document.
• Q:  how do I apply for a TA-ship?
• A: TA applications are submitted online. There is an announcement posted on the website and e-mail sent to all our graduate students that gives deadlines and explains procedures. Typically, we do not process late submissions unless there are serious extenuating circumstances.
• Q: What happens to my application after I submit it?
• A: The data is collected and distributed to all faculty who can then make their recommendations for their own graduate students or request specific students to be TAs for the courses they teach. After the recommendations are collected a faculty committee or Associate Chair evaluates the applications and makes recommendations to the department chair (who has the final authority to hire). The deadlines for all the steps are given in the announcement. Prospective TAs may be asked to verify by e-mail that they are still available for a TA-ship. Once the decision has been made offer letters are sent out and TAs are expected to sign them. Sometimes there will be uncertainty about the number of TAs that can be assigned and in such cases some applicants may get a notice that they are on a "waiting list." Once the situation clears up those students are notified if they will be offered a TA or not.
• There is a TA meeting during the week preceding the start of a quarter that all TAs are required to attend. Similarly, it is not acceptable that TAs do not show up during the first week of classes even if, for example, there are no labs scheduled during that week. If a TA misses these meetings or in some other way does not carry out TA duties, he/she may be removed from a TA and that position assigned to someone else.

It should be mentioned that the TAs job is a difficult one, and one that is very important for the proper functioning of the department. TAs are at the "front line" of interacting with our students and they are representatives of the ECE department. If they do a good job that reflects well on the department; if they don't, students may remember that for a very long time and it reflects poorly on us. If a TA does a good job in his/her assignments then that is usually a very nice spring board for careers in academia where some teaching experience is usually expected. Finally, our best TAs can over time become adjunct instructors in the department. We hope that being a TA will not be a "chore" for you but that you will truly enjoy this opportunity to learn and help others learn.

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