CS TA Assignment Team
The CS TA Assignment Team is a shared effort between ISG and the CS Graduate Office. The team works to ensure that CS courses are staffed by appropriate TAs/IAs and that eligible graduate students are receiving their TA positions in a clear and fair way.
Due to the size of the School's undergraduate population, there are 300-450 TA units to assign each term across 40-50 courses. Each course covers different topics and specific research areas may lend themselves better to specific courses.
The CS TA Assignment Team itself is small and the work is only made possible through cooperation from graduate students, graduate supervisors, and instructors. We ask that you keep a look out for our emails each month.
TA Assignment Forms
Note for Spring/Fall 2026 TAships
A new collective agreement between the University of Waterloo and CUPE Local 5524.01, a union representing Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) and Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) employees, was approved on February 26, 2026. The collective agreement (retroactively) covers the period from January 12, 2024, to April 30, 2027, and outlines terms and conditions of employment for graduate students working in GTA and GRA roles. More up-to-date information can be found on the Current Graduate Students website.
Information found on the ISG website may be outdated/subject to change as the collective agreement's terms and conditions are implemented.
TA Eligibility
To be eligible to TA, graduate students must be enroled with a full-time course load and on-campus for the duration that they are TAing. TA eligibility is determined by the CS Graduate Office. Students can check Odyssey for their program TA history to date.
New students
New students are generally assigned to marking duties in first/second-year CS courses so that you can focus on adjusting to the university environment.
TA training is provided as part of the CS Graduate Orientation and in Fall and Winter terms, new students are invited to the TA Assignment Info Session (typically held in early October or early February) to be formally introduced to the expectations for all TAs and how to participate in the TA assignment process.
Over-eligible MMath and PhD students
MMath and PhD students who have completed their TA unit requirements or have gone over their time limit are not guaranteed TA units. TA positions for these students are only possible if eligible TAs have all been assigned and a surplus of vacant positions.
MDSAI students
MDSAI students are not entitled to any TA units as part of their program. The MDSAI program is academically demanding and time-intensive. For these reasons, MDSAI students are not encouraged to apply for a TA position unless they are strongly confident that they can manage an additional 80 hours of TA work.