School of Computer Science Wiki

The allocation of Teaching Assistants to courses can be guided, but not dictated, by formula and rules.

1. estimate enrollments based on:

a. Past enrollments,
b. Emerging trends, and
c. Advice from Academic Counsellor.

2. Apply the SoCS allocation formula to enrollment estimate to get base numbers

· < 30 = 0 TAs · 30-49 = 0.5 TA · 50-99 = 1 TA · 100-199 = 2 TAs · 200-249 = 3 TAs · 250-399 = 4 TAs · > 400 = 5 TAs.

3. adjust the number based on following considerations:

Brand new course,
Instructor teaching the course for the first time,
  Novice instructor,
  Late assignment of course to instructor,
  Heavy lab component / 0.75 credit course,
  Other extraordinary requirements, and
  Service course (fewer TAs).

The guidelines used at the School of Computer Science are designed to provide adequate TA support and to ensure that the support is greatest where it is most needed, as well as ensure job equity for SOCS TA positions.

Given that the SOCS TA budget is tightly stretched, the focus is on providing TA support for grading and labs/tutorials. Allocation of TAs based solely on the number of students in a course results in some courses being over-resourced (those that have fewer graded item or no tutorials/labs for example) and some being under-resourced (i.e. those with more graded items and heavy lab components).

The guidelines used are outlined here:

• TA estimates are calculated based on the number of students enrolled in the course after the add period in conjunction with the course description document that is created by the course instructor (See Grading Procedures, Resolution 4, Part A of the undergraduate calendar)
• As stated in the calendar, instructors must provide the course description by the start of the course selection period. The course selection period for Winter semester is usually the beginning of August. The course selection period for Fall semester is usually the beginning of March.
• In the case of courses that are taught by sessional lecturers, the most recent course outline for the course will be used to create the course description. TAs may not be allocated for courses unless the course description is provided on time.
• TA estimates are based on the following
  • The number of graded assignments
  • The number of graded labs
  • Midterms that must be graded by TAs
  • Grading of the final exam
  • The number of lab/tutorial sections and their length (assume labs for 11 weeks)
  • Student projects
  • Weekly meetings and consultation time
• The estimates for grading times are based on reports from TAs for different courses and estimates provided by faculty members. Instructors whose evaluated items are more difficult to grade can provide alternate time estimates. Our working estimates are:
  • Assignments take 10 minutes to grade for first and second year course, 15 minutes for 3rd and 4th
  • Midterms take 10 minutes/student of TA time to grade
  • Final exams take 15 minutes/student of TA time to grade
• Consideration is given to the following
  • First and Second year courses may need more TA support than upper year courses. Upper year students are usually more self sufficient.
  • Sessional instructors, especially new ones, may need additional TA support.
  • Instructors who are teaching a course for the first time may need additional TA support.
• Instructors are encouraged to provide details about the marking of labs, assignments and exams when the course description is submitted. Those details can be used to improve the estimates for the course.