Application to Be a TA, UPI or Grader

Application to Be a TA, UPI or Grader

About a month before each semester begins, the Associate Chair begins a process to assign teaching assistants (TAs), undergraduate peer instructors (UPIs), and graders for the coming semester’s classes. The list of available positions includes several groups:

  • Students to whom the Department has made commitments
  • Students who are best qualified to teach labs or grade for particular courses. These can be graduate or undergraduate students. These come from a list including:
    • Students who have applied by email or through this webpage
    • Recent TA/UPI/graders who express interest in continuing
    • Students recommended by faculty
    • Students who have done well in classes needing a TA/UPI/grader

    Note that in practice, we give significant weight to the preferences of the professors teaching the classes. Some professors recommend their own grad students as graders or TAs. This is often necessary for high-enrollment graduate classes, where only such senior students are qualified. However, students should not expect to fund their graduate programs through teaching assistantships.

    Students whose primary language is not English must have a qualifying SPEAK or spoken TOEFL score to teach labs or classes (55-60 on the SPEAK; 28-30 on TOEFL iBT). For more information, see http://ase.ufl.edu/testing.html. Note that students with SPEAK scores of 45-50 or TOEFL of 23-27 can be hired for labs if they take or have taken EAP 5836.)

    To apply, please complete the form below.


    Application Form for Prospective TAs, UPIs, or Graders

    • Please select the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Department with which you are affiliated
    • If you are not from the USA or a country where English is the primary language, please enter your SPEAK or TOEFL iBT score
    • Please list the courses for which you feel competent to TA, peer instruct, or grade. Include the experience or education you have that has prepared you for this assignment
    • Please indicate the semester for which you are applying