Sustainable Energy Engineering Graduates

Job Description

• TAs must be available for tutorials, labs, office hours, invigilation and marking of midterms and finals, where applicable
• For courses with tutorials, prepare for each tutorial, facilitate and/or lead tutorials and perform all related duties required for effective conduct of the tutorial
• For course with labs, have experience reviewing and assessing laboratory reports for written quality and technical accuracy, be willing to proactively assist students and be able to provide constructive written or oral feedback on work submitted by students in the course. Most courses include marking and require the ability to provide constructive written feedback on work submitted by students
• TAs are expected to hold office hours for some courses which require the ability to assist students with understanding course material and assignment requirements

TA Requirements

General Requirements:

• Applicants must have sufficient written and one-to-one oral communications skills in order to support students and instructors throughout the semester whether in-person or by email
• Applicants must have sufficient time management and organizational skills – this is of particular concern for courses with tutorials or labs
• Applicants must have sufficient knowledge in the discipline of the course to interpret the course material and competency in oral and written English.
• Applicants must download the “Self-Assessment Qualification Sheet”. Starting Summer 2023, SEE TA applicants will be required to upload a completed copy of this form with their applications. Applicants should be sure to only select those qualifications that they have met and are demonstrated within their CV/applications. This will help course instructors to better assess their qualifications and the School to make better assignments.

Education Requirements:

• Applicants must have an undergraduate degree in engineering or an equivalent post-secondary degree from a recognized institution OR demonstrated industry experience specific to the course(s) applied for. Applicants must have sufficient knowledge in the discipline of the course to interpret the course material and pre-requisites in order to provide optimum TA support for students and course instructors.
• Applicants can be senior undergraduate students who have a better than average overall CGPA who can demonstrate competence through courses taken. Applicants must have sufficient knowledge in the discipline of the course to interpret the course material and pre-requisites in order to provide optimum TA support for students and course instructors.

Appointment Priorities

Priority for appointment/reappointment as a TA is in accordance with Article XIII of the Collective Agreement with the Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU).

Per section XIII F3. 1(a), priority must be given to applicants in the following order:

1. Graduate students registered in SEE
2. Graduate students registered in other departments
3. Undergraduate or external students

In allocating TA positions, SEE will also take into account the following:

• Instructor requests
• Applicant’s preferences
• Amount of financial support offered on admission to the graduate program
• Suitability for particular courses (e.g. discipline of prior degree(s), publications, experience)
• Employment evaluations
• Number of base units already received to ensure sufficient teaching-related experience in applicant’s field

If an assignment within a priority group requires a selection between applicants, the graduate student without financial support from merit based scholarships or merit based fellowships during the semester of appointment with a value equal to at least a 5.17 appointment, will have priority for the appointment. For specific information please refer to the TSSU Collective Agreement.

Appointment Requirements

• Applicants must review and understand TA requirements for all courses 
• Non-SEE graduate student applicants must submit a current CV and unofficial transcript (not co-op transcript) at the time of application
• Applicants will be asked to indicate their course preferences at time of application 
• Applicants must declare in their TA Application Form if they will be away for more than one week in the TA appointment term. This will NOT be used to deny their application or alter their priority.
• SEE graduate students must use their SFU computing ID and password to login to the application system

Please ensure that you review the course calendar entry and course outline and course schedule for details about each course. All TAs must be available in-person for the duration of the semester and/or appointment dates. This includes in-person attendance at specified labs, tutorials, mid-term(s), final exam, marking sessions, etc. for the semester.

TA Appointment Reviews & Evaluation

Important milestones to note about your TA appointment:

1. First week of Class - Time Use Guidelines (TUG): Completed by the Course Supervisor in consultation with TAs to establish the required duties and responsibilities for the appointment.  Course supervisors should also review evaluation criteria with TAs.
2. Before the end of Week 5 of the semester - TA Workload Review: To be conducted by the course supervisor in consultation with TAs to ensure workload hours remaining is sufficient for the completion of the course. TA Workload Reviews are mandatory for all TAs. 
3. Throughout the semester – The Course Supervisor should be in constant communication and reviewing TA’s work progress.
4. End of the semester - TA evaluations: There will be two types of evaluations of TA performance. Both will be added to a TA’s employment file once the TA has had an opportunity to review and discuss the evaluation with their supervisor and provide comments no later than the end of the first week of classes of the following semester.

a) Evaluation by students of the course. Sample student evaluation.
b) Evaluation by the course supervisor. Sample Evaluation form. Course supervisors must review evaluation criteria with their TAs at the beginning of the semester, i.e. upon commencement of TA duties (ref. TSSU Collective Agreement - Art. XVIII A.).

TA Appointment

SEE selects and appoints TAs based on criteria and principles in compliance with Collective Agreement with the Teaching Support Staff Union.

Successful candidates will be notified by email with an offer indicating Base Unit assignments and a specific deadline for acceptance or rejection. Please read in its entirety before accepting the TA offer.

The termof a TA appointment shall normally be seventeen (17) weeks from the beginning of a semester and in accordance with the University's payroll schedule. Payroll schedules can be found on the SFU HR website. Your salary information can be accessed through SFU MyInfo. 

If you are NOT in the SFU payroll system, there are important documents that you have to submit. SEE is UNABLE to process your appointment until these required documents are received within the time period specified.

Please note that if your appointment is conditional, changes may occur from your acceptance of the TA offer until the 4^th week of classes. If you receive a revised offer, please respond within the time period specified.