TA Appointment FAQs

Graduate Assistantships generally come in two forms: RA appointments and TA appointments.

Research Assistantship (RA) appointments are typically provided by faculty research advisors and involve working on research projects with specific deliverables identified by the faculty member. It is good practice to discuss availability of RA appointments for the coming year during your annual review with your advisor. RA appointments are made semester by semester.

Teaching Assistantship (TA) appointments are eligible graduate students who work under the supervision of faculty or academic staff, providing assistance to the faculty in teaching or advising students registered for specific courses. TA responsibilities may include (but are not limited to):

• development and instruction of courses (if Instructor of Record)
• grading of examinations, reports, and/or assigning final grades
• preparation of examination or class materials
• organization of course
• assistance provided to faculty in the teaching or advising of students registered in specific course
• supervision or instruction of laboratory classes, recitation sections or intern groups
• academic administrative duties directly related to administration of a course

No. The information provided on your application will be used as a guideline by the DGS to help determine the best placement for applicants. However, applying DOES NOT guarantee a TA position.

The normal TA appointment is at the 25% level, 10 standard hours per week.

It is common for PhD students to hold simultaneous TA and RA positions within any academic semester, with 50% being the maximum appointment with very few exceptions.
 

Please see the Graduate Assistantships in ME main page for the list of Eligibility Requirements for TAs in the Mechanical Engineering Department.

Yes. Many of our incoming Fellowship students apply before arriving in Minnesota and taking their SETTA. However, the ME department requires all nonnative speaking applicants to have an ELP of 1 or 2 on file with the University to be eligible to TA. For most students, their TOEFL iBT speaking subscore will be automatically converted to an ELP rating when admitted to the University. This score will be confirmed by ME staff through UM reports. Note that the absence of an ELP on file at time of application may prevent applications from being fully processed unless further steps by the applicant are observed. 

For nonnative students without an ELP on file with the University when they apply, the following steps are required:

1. Schedule and pass the SETTA. Dates and times are available through the Center for Educational Innovation.
2. Enroll in GRAD 5105 (the class can be dropped upon passing the SETTA).
3. Email Jennifer Dahal with the scheduled SETTA date for listing on the TA application.

You can apply for a position, however, this does not guarantee you will be offered a TA appointment.

In order to hold a TA position, you must have an ELP on record. This is a University policy. Furthermore, your ELP of record must either be a 1 or 2 to hold a TA position within the Mechanical Engineering. This is a Departmental policy. We advise all nonnative speakers with no ELP scores on record to do the following:

1. Schedule and pass the SETTA. Dates and times are available through the Center for Educational Innovation.
2. Enroll in GRAD 5105 (the class can be dropped upon passing the SETTA).
3. Email Jennifer Dahal with the scheduled SETTA date for listing on the TA application.

Only the DGS can offer you a position.

No. In the interest of making this process as fair as possible, the DGS will not respond to e-mails asking for a higher priority ranking for TA appointments, nor will they discuss TA appointments in person.

Additionally, the DGS has access to all TA reviews (from faculty and students), as well as access to all graduate degree plans and progress towards graduation. This information will be taken into account in making TA appointments. The best things you can do to increase your chances of getting an appointment in the future are:

1. Take challenging classes and do well in them
2. Complete your graduate degree plan ASAP
3. Complete your qualifying exams and written prelim exams in a timely fashion (PhD students)
4. Make progress in your research (such that there are no concerns that a TA appointment will hinder your research progress
5. If you get a TA appointment, work on becoming a good instructor to our students and be assistant to the instructor (i.e. take TA positions seriously)

There are many reasons why this takes so long. To start with, it's a multi-step process. Secondly, there are several people who must approve along the way. Lastly, candidates frequently drop out due to receiving RA positions. This causes some TAs to be reassigned and can create additional openings at the last minute.