Computer and Information Science

Teaching Assistant Information

Open TA Positions for Fall 25

CIS 1100, 1200, 1600, 1210 (Deadline is Friday, April 18th – 11:59PM): Intro Course Application

CIS 5450 (Deadline is Wednesday, April 30th – 11:59PM): CIS 5450 Application

Other Courses (Rolling Deadline): Common TA Application

 

Other classes than those listed on the forms above may be hiring TAs as well, please inquire with individual instructors.

PhD students completing a teaching practicum should speak with the course instructor directly, and do not need to fill out these applications.

NOTES
Students who are on a leave of absence from the university during Fall 25 are not eligible to be hired as a TA for a Fall 25 course.

An application to any of the larger ML courses (CIS 4190/5190, 5200, 4210/5210, 4300/5300, 2450/5450) may be redirected to another ML course to ensure a good balance of staff.

CIS Mini Course Instructors

If you’re interested in teaching any of our CIS 18xx/19xx minicourses, please contact Swapneel Sheth (swapneel@cis) and Harry Smith (sharry@cis).

Approval/Payment

Once you have been selected to be a TA for a CIS/CIT/NETS course you will receive an offer letter from the department, you will need to sign this offer letter and save it as a PDF. After signing the letter you will receive paperwork from PEFS for you to fill out and return with your offer letter.

NOTE: In order to be paid, you must return the paperwork and your offer letter to establish your payroll record for this position. The start date of your employment or re-employment in this position will be effective only when you have emailed all of the necessary payroll documents to the PEFS office.

Time sheets must be submitted on a weekly basis.

Assignment Guidelines

Below are the guidelines for assignment of teaching assistants for classes.

35 – 70 students thirty TA hours
70-105 students forty-five TA hours
105-140 students sixty TA hours
15 – 35 students fifteen TA hours

Hours per week to be arranged but should be ten hours or less.

Resources

TAs needing the textbooks for the course they are assisting with can obtain a voucher to use at the bookstore from the Business Office (pefs@seas.upenn.edu).

Options for TAs needing space for office hours: