Teaching Opportunities
Many graduate students serve in teaching roles during their time at Brandeis.
Teaching in Brandeis Academic Programs
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Teaching Fellow (TF): This is a PhD student serving as the instructor of record for a course. TFs are union-eligible positions and are expected to work up to 20 hours per week.
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Teaching Assistant (TA): This is a PhD student serving in a teaching support role for a course. TAs are union-eligible positions and are expected to work up to 20 hours per week during a student's period of funding. Students beyond their funding period can serve as per-course TAs; these positions are also union-eligible and are expected to work an average of 10 hours per week.
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Course Assistant (CA): This is a master’s or postbaccalaureate student serving in a teaching support role for a course. CAs are not union-eligible positions and are expected to work an average of 10 hours per week.
Programs and departments assign TA and CA positions as they are available each semester. If you’re interested in teaching opportunities within a program or department, please contact your Director of Graduate Studies and/or the Chair of the Department/Program.
Additionally, at the beginning of each semester, the Office of Graduate Affairs will announce an opportunity for graduate students to sign up to be considered for additional positions, within and outside of their departments. This candidate list will then be circulated to departments who are looking to hire TAs and CAs.
If hired into TA or CA positions, some students are eligible for tuition waivers as outlined here.
Please see our resources and policies page for additional information for students in these roles, including required training.
Union Membership
When serving as Teaching Assistants or Teaching Fellows, PhD students are members of the Graduate Assistant Union, SEIU Local 509. The definitions of each role are included below.
A Teaching Assistant is a PhD student employed to assist with instructions while serving as a Stipended Graduate Assistant. Their TA duties may include, but are not limited to, assisting the professor with: course preparation before and during the semester; Latte or other Learning Management System maintenance; grading essays, exams, and homework; providing input on syllabus design; writing exam questions. TAs may be required to attend classes on a regular basis. TAs may also be responsible for some instructional duties, including the following: lead discussion sessions, labs and recitations and/or teach an occasional class. TAs who lead labs, recitations, and/or discussion sections are to do so under the supervision of the faculty member assigned to the parent course. The supervising faculty member, not the TA, is responsible for syllabus design and lesson planning for the labs, recitations, and/or discussion sections, though the TA may be consulted. TAs may also be responsible for some student advising and may be required to hold office hours. Teaching Assistants are required to complete Title IX training.
A Teaching Fellow is a PhD student employed to be the instructor of record in a single course while serving as a Stipended Graduate Assistant. Teaching Fellows, with Program and faculty leadership and oversight, are responsible for lesson planning and implementation, administration and grading of assessment tools, student advising, and holding office hours. TFs are required to complete Title IX training.
As a result, PhD students cannot be hired as Teaching Assistants except through the union role and using the negotiated rate of pay, which is paid via stipend. PhD students, regardless of where they are in their programs, are not eligible to be hired into hourly Teaching Assistant positions at the university. Roles other than Teaching Assistants, Teaching Fellows, and Research Assistants, such as Graders and Course Assistants, remain non-union roles. If you have questions about this policy, please contact Liz Tierney.
Other Teaching Opportunities
- The Brandeis Summer School offers on-campus courses in two five-week summer sessions and online courses that span the full ten weeks. Contact your DGS or program chair about the department’s curricular plan to offer summer courses in your discipline.
- The Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (BOLLI) hires talented graduate students as Lecturers and Digital Fellows to lead lecture series and study groups in-person or online. For more information about proposing a series or course, contact bolli@brandeis.edu.
- The Brandeis Educational Justice Initiative (BEJI) works to expand the educational access of people impacted by the criminal justice system and to increase the Brandeis community's awareness and knowledge about mass incarceration.