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Information found on the ISG website may be outdated/subject to change as the collective agreement's terms and conditions are implemented.
General TA expectations
As a Teaching Assistant (TA) or Instructional Apprentice (IA), your job will start officially on the first day of classes and end once the final course grades have been submitted. You are expected to be responsive to communications from the instructors, ISC, or ISAs once you sign your TA contract.
In order to hold a TA position, you are required to be on-campus for the duration of the term. If you anticipate absences/travelling during the term, you must contact both your supervisor and the instructor of the course ASAP. Some courses will allow for remote TA work but others may require in-person meetings or tasks.
During a graduate student's first term as a TA, they must complete the Required learning modules as per the Faculty of Mathematics's guidelines.
The University's Centre for Teaching Excellence (CEL) highlights information relevant to all University of Waterloo graduate students in its TA Handbook. The Faculty of Mathematics also has its own Math Faculty TA guidelines. Both sources encompass the following information, but the information below is what the ISG deems to be most relevant to you as a TA/IA for a CS course, ISG-supported or not.
TA units and workload
Starting Spring 2026, CS TA units and associated hourly workload will be as follows
| Term | TA/IA positions available | Termly commitment | Weekly commitment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | 0.75 TA units | 120 hours | ~7.5 hours |
| Winter | 0.75 TA units | 120 hours | ~7.5 hours |
| Spring | 0.5 TA units | 120 hours | ~5 hours |
Instructors/ISCs must provide you with an Assignment of Duties (AOD) form within the first 5 days of the TA appointment. The AOD form should describe your assigned duties/deadlines, important dates during the term, and additional expectations.
The workload may not necessarily be distributed uniformly throughout the term. For example, some duties like marking may not occur in the first two weeks, and midterm and final examinations may require more than five hours of proctoring and marking for those weeks.
Tracking your hours worked each week is encouraged and is to be submitted back to the instructor/ISC at the end of each term. If you find that you are exceeding the number of hours you were initially assigned, you are expected to communicate these concerns with the instructor or ISC for guidance.
TA duties
It will be up to your assigned instructor or ISC to tell you if you will not be expected to participate in one or more of the following duties at the start of the term.
The duties may consist of the following or others and will vary by course, term of offering, and the instructor.
- Attendance at course meetings or marking meetings
- Holding office hours in the CS Consulting Centre or virtually
- Conducting tutorials or providing assistance in the lab
- Marking assignments and examinations
- Proctoring examinations (midterm and final)
- Monitoring and participating in discussion forms (e.g. Piazza, edX)
If you are an IA, you will likely have a wider variety of duties than a TA who usually only partakes in marking/proctoring duties. Read more about all of these duties in depth and the differences between IAs and TAs in our TA/IA duty guidelines page.
Additionally, you are part of the Faculty of Mathematics proctoring pool, and may be called upon to assist in the proctoring of another course's examination (midterm or final). The assignment is random, and you are not expected to be familiar with the course material. Should you be selected, the Math Undergraduate Office will notify you.
TA performance
Depending on your role, your instructor or ISC may provide TA performance feedback throughout the term. The initial stages of performance improvement focus on identifying the underlying causes of poor performance and working together to develop a plan to bring performance in line with expectations. In most cases when the TA and the Instructor/Instructional Support Coordinator (ISC) work together, performance is successfully corrected.
In situations where there is no, or insufficient improvement in performance, the instructor/ISC may report the situation to the Director of Graduate Studies. They will determine if any discipline actions will need to be taken, which may include a formal warning and/or cancellation of TAship.
TA evaluations
TA evaluation forms are made available for Instructors and ISCs to complete near the end of the term. In the evaluation TAs/IAs are rated by the following categories:
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Quality of Work
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Timeliness
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Communication
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Preparedness
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Initiative
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Overall Rating
Instructors and ISCs may provide constructive feedback for the TA and in some cases, confidential comments for the Director of Graduate Studies.
Graduate students with exceptional performance can be recommended for teaching assistant awards which can result in monetary compensation for their dedicated time and efforts.