2005-2006 TEACHING AND COURSE ASSISTANT INFORMATION
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
WHAT ARE TEACHING ASSISTANTS?
Almost all appointments for Teaching Assistants in the EE Department are officially "Course Assistants" as defined by the University.
WHAT IS A COURSE ASSISTANT?
A Course Assistant (CA) is a graduate or coterminal student who works part time helping an instructor with a class. The CA's responsibilities can include office hours for individual student assistance, review or study sessions, occasional lectures, preparation of assignments, grading exams and projects, and solutions. A CA for a laboratory class may also be responsible for laboratory supervision, equipment, or demonstrations.
The position of CA usually refers to a students deemed fully qualified by the department in terms of background, experience, language skills. In some case CA appointments may be made at lower salaries for students without full qualifications for limited responsibilities in assisting courses.WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR A CA?
By University regulations a CA must have graduate standing or be a coterminal student with at least 180 units completed. The CA appointments are not restricted to EE students.
A student with TGR status can be appointed as a CA; however no matter which percent appointment is held ONLY the TGR fee will be paid. Any units taken will be at the CA's own expense.
HOW MANY HOURS DOES A CA WORK?
CAs are appointed on a percent time basis. Most of our CAs are 50% appointments and work 20 hours per week. We also offer 25% (10 hours per week) and 10% (4 hours per week) appointments. These levels of work are typical, however some appointments may require more effort and others less. Under no circumstances should a 50% CA work more than an average of 25 hours per week. The CA should consult the course instructor and possibly the EE CA administrator if the workload is too heavy.
WORK IN ADDITION TO APPOINTMENT
It is University policy that a student on full fellowship or 50% time assistantship may work no more than eight hours a week in addition. NOTE: International students on F and J visas may NOT work more than 50% time.
WHAT IS A CA PAID?
A CA is paid in both a tuition grant and a quarterly salary (paid semimonthly over the quarter).
QUARTERLY SALARY
| Effort | Pre-Quals | Post EE Quals |
| 50% | $6,472 | $6,938 |
| 25% | $3,236 | $3,469 |
| 10% | $1,294.40 | $1,387.60 |
| Effort | Head TA and TF | Teaching Affiliate |
| 50% | $7,388 | $7,266 |
| 25% | NA | $3,633 |
Tuition Grant:
8-10 units for 50% appointment: $7,210
5 units for 25% appointment: $3,605
Pro-rated for 10% appointment: $1,442
TGR: $2,610
The salary portion of all appointments is subject to withholding tax.
DOES A CA APPOINTMENT RESTRICT A STUDENT'S REGISTRATION?
The University typically restricts the academic load of a 50% CA to 8-10 units per quarter. The philosophy is that a student cannot work half time and take a full academic load and do both justice. This 8-10 unit restriction has both good and bad features; the 50% CA's tuition is completely covered by the tuition grant, but the CA's academic progress is slowed down (a 50% CA normally takes 5 quarters to complete the Master's program). A 50% CA can register for 10 units maximum. This may become necessary to enable you to fulfill your seminar requirement. In rare cases 50% CAs may register for more than 10 units and then only after receiving permission from their advisor and the department chair.
25% and 10% CAs are generally required by the School of Engineering to take a full academic load and must pay for the difference between full tuition and the CA tuition grant (i.e., in 2005/06 the CA must pay $3,605 per quarter in addition to the tuition grant for a 25%CA).
Other appointments of less than 50% will be calculated according to the percent time and the units of tuition granted for them.
HOW DOES A CA REGISTER AND USE THE TUITION GRANT?
Tuition for the CA appointment will be credited to the University bill. If you have a late CA appointment and there is no credit on your bill, simply defer that portion of the tuition that will be covered by the CA tuition grant. The portion of the deferment covered by the CA grant will be automatically canceled when the tuition grant is processed.
Please do not defer ASSU or other fees as they are not covered by the tuition grant. Any deferment fee not on the portion covered by the CA grant must be paid by the student.
Please see Graduate Student Assistantships Guide http://adminguide.stanford.edu/24_2.pdf for a complete discussion of tuition grants with unused units.
MAY I APPLY FOR AN RA, A CA IN ANOTHER DEPARTMENT, OR OTHER SUPPORT WHILE I AM REQUESTING A CA POSITION?
Yes, you are welcome to try for other appointments while we are considering your CA application; however once you accept a CA appointment you are expected to fill it. Therefore you must withdraw your CA application immediately after receiving other support. The maximum total appointment per quarter is 50%.
REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICANTS FOR WHOM ENGLISH IS NOT THE FIRST LANGUAGE
Students who expect to hold Course Assistantships must be screened for English proficiency if they are from countries where English is not the first language. To be screened, a student has to do two things:
1) contact Tracey A. Fowler, tafowler@stanford.edu for an appointment.
2) take an introductory undergraduate engineering textbook to the appointment
The screening consists of a simulated office-hour conversation between a CA and an undergraduate student; the student being tested does not need to prepare for the screening. It will take about 30 minutes.
Summer TA Positions
Summer TA positions are handled separately and by individual case. See Tasha Newson (tasha@ee.stanford.edu) for further information.HOW TO APPLY
For online application, please go to http://audi.stanford.edu/appl/ . The password is available on request from Tasha Newson (tasha@ee.stanford.edu)