Important Information:

• TAs may be asked to attend lectures, lead discussion or lab sections, and proctor midterm and final exams. You should be available to do so for any classes you mark as TA preferences. The general expectation is that instructional assistants may be expected to be physically present for hybrid course offerings.
• Readers assist a course instructor by grading homework, papers, or exams and may also hold office hours to answer students’ questions about such assignments. 
• You must remain enrolled in at least 12 units all quarter to be hired at 50% (~20hrs/week). You must be enrolled in at least 6 units to be hired at 25% (~10hrs/week) . 
• Advisors or course instructors often encourage students to apply to TA for a specific course, but this is not a job offer.  ONLY the department makes the official job offer through the IA System. However, we do use faculty input to determine who should be assigned to each course.
• You should not start preparing to TA for a course until you have received an official appointment letter from the department and accepted the position.  
• The TA application is for submitting requests only.  There is no guarantee that you will be given a TA position or that you will be assigned to TA one of your preferred courses.
• Students may not be a TA for courses in which they are enrolled.
• TAs must complete DSC 599 (Teaching Methods in Data Science) with a grade of S concurrently with their first TA position. We will pre-authorize first-time TAs via TEA to book DSC 599 after they have accepted their TA assignment in the IA System. The goal of DSC 599 is to give you the skills and knowledge needed to be an effective and successful TA.
• We will assign you to TA a course only if you already have a solid command of the material to be taught in the course.  In other words, only request to TA a class if you have taken the equivalent course or have comparable other experience. For information about our DSC courses, please see the Undergraduate Courses webpage and the Graduate Courses webpages.
• The 2026-2027 compensation for a TA is detailed here, and partial tuition & fee remission and health insurance subsidy, detailed here. Please note that from 9/24 – 9/30, pay will be aligned with 2025-2026 compensation, as the 2026-2027 update begins 10/1.
• If you are applying for other campus employment (i.e. you think a faculty may support you on research funding, or you applied to TA in more than one department), please remember that your total UCSD employment may not exceed 50%.