On any given day, undergraduate teaching assistants (TAs) at UChicago juggle a range of responsibilities—lecturing, leading discussions, grading and designing assignments, and completing administrative tasks—and gain firsthand experience in academia while supporting their peers. Despite the requirements of the role, many students see TA positions as a valuable opportunity for professional and intellectual growth.
The process of becoming a TA varies by department and course; in public policy studies, for example, the process begins with resume submission for most courses. “I look at the courses, and I sort of predict which courses might have high enrollments—any course that has more than 25 students needs a TA,” said Milvia Rodriguez, the program director for public policy studies. “I try to be fair and just tell [students], ‘Send your resume and send your CV to me, and it will be shared with all the instructors.’”
Other courses follow a more specialized process. The TA hiring process for The Business of Non-Profits and The Emerging Social Sector requires involvement in the affiliated RSO, campusCATALYST. After completing The Business of Non-Profits which requires students to pass an application and interview process to be enrolled, students can join the RSO’s board and later nominate themselves to be selected as a TA.
Lydia Palmer, a fourth-year TA and board member of campusCATALYST, explained the process of choosing a TA for the class. “The campusCATALYST board ends up choosing the TAs,” Palmer said. “Generally, if you’ve been involved with the board for a few years and have shown that you are committed to the class, you can get the TA position. The professor has no role in selecting the TA, but rather [selection is done by] campusCATALYST.”
Although the particulars of the selection process for TAs differ across programs, biological sciences TA Kathryn Guo explained that prior teaching experience can often shape the opportunities available to undergraduate and graduate applicants.
However, when asked if undergraduates face a disadvantage competing for TA positions against graduate students, Guo noted, “It’s two different pockets of opportunities that you’re looking at. I don’t think [undergraduates] are ever going to be competing with a grad student.”
This sentiment is reflected in the Department of Mathematics, where there are four types of undergraduate course assistants (junior tutors, course assistants, readers, and super readers) and one type of graduate course assistant, according to Jitka Stehnova, the co-director of undergraduate studies in the department.
Stehnova expressed that, while “it is more difficult to find qualified undergraduate students because the more you go up the chain in the math major, [fewer] people have taken a certain level of classes,” only a “very small portion” of the 110 courses run every quarter are covered by graduate TAs.
“It has worked out really nicely that the graduate TAs are working in the upper-level electives, and we have been able to find the undergraduates for the remainder of the classes,” Stehnova continued.
The various types of undergraduate course assistants primarily differ in terms of time commitment. Although most math courses estimate a 10-hour weekly commitment for undergraduate TAs, the actual workload varies across departments and courses due to student enrollment and additional responsibilities such as labs, discussion sections, office hours, and tutorials.
Still, both Guo and Palmer have found the time commitment manageable: “10 hours is pretty accurate.… There’s a degree to which you have to acclimate and build up, but I truly think that your work will expand to fill the time allotted to it,” Guo said.
“I haven’t found the time commitment to be strenuous at all—it’s been perfectly reasonable,” Palmer added.
Depending on the department, these differences in time commitment are also factored into compensation. According to the Department of Mathematics website, students earn $16.80 an hour, so compensation varies with a role’s allotted hours, ranging from $500 to $1,680 a quarter.
Conversely, the Biological Sciences Division offers a standardized base salary for each class, though time commitments vary. For example, “if you’re TA-ing a core bio class, it’ll take a lot less time for the same salary, so you’re technically getting paid more [per hour],” Guo explained.
The UChicago Office of Student Employment prohibits students from working more than 20 hours a week in on-campus jobs. This limit is particularly important for students on F-1 visas, for whom working more than that limit would violate their visa and their student status. “It’s kind of a dance to figure out. You have to stay eligible, not just to work for us, but also to stay in the United States or be a student at the University,” Stehnova explained.
Stehnova explained that professors and department leadership strive to ensure balanced compensation across departments overall. “It’s a competitive market,” Stehnova said. “We are competing with other departments on campus, and so we want to make sure that [students] are being paid enough.”
Beyond compensation, Palmer finds that the undergraduate TA experience lets students explore teaching and engage more deeply with their subjects and professors. “The professor is someone [whom] I’ve looked up to for a while, so it’s wonderful to kind of be on the other side of the class, having taken it during my first year at UChicago,” Palmer said. “[Professors] can establish a stronger relationship with TAs. So it’s been nice for that, and I think I’ll hopefully stay in touch with her post-graduation, given that she’s been in a career and sector that is of interest to me.”
The role also provides students with mentorship opportunities and work experience. “I think especially in the [biological sciences] intro sequence, people are super excited about taking the class, so everyone’s really enthusiastic, and it’s really fun to teach,” Guo said.
Faculty mentors, including department chairs, can also offer references and recommendation letters.
“I have served as a reference point for many [students] that are applying for internships. I have received multiple phone calls from the employers or wrote letters of recommendation [and given] positive evaluations,” Stehnova said.
In addition to financial support, many students pursue TA positions for the valuable professional experience and faculty guidance they provide.
“Some [students], especially international students, will not have prior employment [in the United States], but this way, they get Social Security, they get [a] reference point if they want, they [can] apply for a green card with their future employer, and we can verify that they have been employed on campus and that they have done a really good job,” Stehnova continued.
“I’m happy that [TAs] not only help the department to run, but that we can return the favor and help them to get a job or to get into the graduate school that they want. For me, it has been only a positive experience,” she added.
