Teaching Assistantships & Financial Support
Graduate Teaching Assistantships
If you have been guaranteed a graduate teaching assistantship (GTA), you must still apply for positions via the University's online application system. At this time, you will be able to rank your choices. Every effort is made to provide you with one of your top choices, but sometimes you may be assigned a course that was not listed on your preference sheet.
If you have not been guaranteed a GTA or would like to apply for additional GTAs, positions are posted for 10 working days toward the end of each semester. Apply via the University's online application system.
Do not take on additional GTA positions if your ability to do a good job as a GTA and to complete your degree in a timely and effective manner will be impaired.
Once you have accepted a GTA position, contact the professor that you will be working with. Find out the professor's expectations for the assistantship and then negotiate its terms. If you feel uncomfortable with some aspect of the contract, discuss it with the professor at that time.
One of the skills of a good graduate student is time management. If one of your responsibilities is marking, undergraduate students' essays and final examinations are due at roughly the same time that your own assignments are due.
GTA Contracts
All GTAs and the supervising professor must complete an Assignment of Work Agreement form that details the position expectations, grading deadlines, etc. The outline of your duties should be as detailed as possible and must be submitted to the home department's GPA within seven (7) days of the commencement of your employment.
Follow your contract as closely as possible throughout the semester.
A full-time GTA appointment requires 140 hours of work over approximately 14 weeks. On average, a full GTA is expected to work 10 hours a week and a half GTA is expected to work 5 hours a week.
GTAs at the University of Guelph are unionized. Review the collective agreement between the University and CUPE 3913. Under the terms of the collective agreement, GTAs cannot work more than 28 hours in any one week.
Carefully track the hours you work, and if you are approaching the 140-hour maximum in any course, notify the professor immediately.
Online Courses Required for new GTAs
First-time GTAs are required to take three online courses:
- Accessible Service Provision
- Health and Safety
- Making Education Accessible
Completion of these courses should take no more than three hours in total. The hours for these courses are factored into your GTA Assignment of Work Agreement.
When you have completed each course, please forward the certificate of completion to the GPA.
Other Sources of Financial Support
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Department of Political Science make every effort to provide financial support for graduate students. Upon admission, some students will be awarded a Board of Graduate Studies Research Scholarship, Dean's Scholarship, Graduate Excellence Scholarship, Graduate Tuition Scholarship and others.
In addition to the scholarships, the departments offer GTAs and, occasionally, graduate research assistantships (GRAs). You will be informed of any awards in your offer of acceptance.
There are a number of University/College scholarships and awards as well as external awards, such as the Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS) and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship, for which you can apply. Students in the thesis option are required to apply for SSHRC and OGS awards.