Teaching Assistantships

Although the precise duties will vary depending on the course for which an offer/appointment is made, in general TAs can expect to perform the following duties:

• Laboratory Assistance – providing instruction, guidance, and supervision for laboratory experiments, maintaining a safe and professional laboratory, assisting students with troubleshooting equipment, ensuring laboratory equipment and supplies are used appropriately and put away at the end of each session, marking of laboratory reports.
• Tutorial Assistance – assisting in or leading tutorial sessions, marking of assignments, preparing written solutions, reviewing of assignments with undergraduates.
• Marking – marking of assignments.
• Invigilation of Exams (Mandatory) – is required. All TAs must be available for the full exam period of the term in which they are hired as a TA. TAs may be assigned to invigilate course(s) other those for which they TA.
• MECH Training (Mandatory) – New TAs and returning TAs must participate in the MECH TA training program and safety orientation. The training is designed to help ensure that TAs are as successful as possible in their roles and properly oriented to our teaching labs/spaces. More information on training will be provided with your offer letter.

About the Application Process

UBC hires on the basis of merit and is committed to employment equity. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply. At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

In order to be eligible to work as a TA, you must be available to attend the mandatory departmental safety and TA training, as well as the appropriate lab orientations, before the start of term.

Training is scheduled for Imagine Day for new TAs and the second week of September for returning TAs.  

NOTE: If you have not completed the Lab Orientation segment, you must attend if you are applying to TA positions that include lab portions.  

We suggest that anyone interested in working as a TA attend the entire MECH TA Training session (including the Lab Orientation) as there may be additional TA opportunities that become available throughout the year. There will be no further training sessions beyond those scheduled, nor is there the opportunity to have individual training. 

TA offers will be sent out as early as end of May and will continue until all positions are filled (which can extend into the start of the academic year). You must respond to TA offers in a prompt manner. Failure to accept an offer within ten (10) working days of receiving the offer via email will be seen as a decline on your behalf, and will result in the position being offered to the next most qualified candidate.

TA positions in our department are employment opportunities, and we expect applicants to act professionally and treat it as such. 

• Withdrawing from a TA position after you have previously formally accepted the post is not an acceptable practice. 

• In accordance with the CUPE 2278 collective agreement, you must inform the department of additional TAships to ensure that appropriate hourly limits are not exceeded 

Qualifications

• Mastery of the course academic material and subject matter. 

• Possess excellent oral and written English communication skills. 

• Ability to help students learn actively and explain course content in a clear and logical manner. 

• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own. 

• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion. 

Application Requirements

• Must be a full-time student or recent graduates of UBC 

•  Recent graduates are those who have completed their degree requirements within eight (8) months of the term they are being hired for.  

• Cannot be on leave from your graduate program during the appointment. 

• Must have valid working status 

• International students must hold and provide an active study permit and SIN for the entirety of their TA appointment. 

• New TAs who do not have an active study permit and SIN cannot TA in the first term.  

• Have an understanding of and will agree to comply with WorkSafe BC, UBC and Departmental Safety Regulations. 

• Must be willing to perform on-campus work for the entire period of the appointment. If you will be out of town for a significant portion of the term, please do not accept a TA position in that term. 

• Must live within British Columbia for the period of the appointment. 

• Must be available to complete the mandatory departmental safety and TA training, as well as the appropriate site-specific lab orientations, before the start of term. Please see training dates listed in the above section. 

• Follow the naming conventions required for the CV upload and Safety uploads 

All candidates wishing to be considered for a Teaching Assistant position will need to submit a general application, in which they will indicate the courses they are interested in being a TA. Those who are interested in being a TA for MECH 2 courses must apply to that portal separately. Although we appreciate the interest of all applicants, only the successful candidates will be contacted with further details. Please note the Department is not in a position to consider financial need in the process of TA appointments 

Complete Mandatory Departmental Training Courses

Before applying, you need to complete the following online training courses per UBC employment requirements, and save a copy of your completion certificate for upload during your TA application. Please ensure that you have saved your certificates as a PDF file, using the required naming conventions or your application will be discarded.

Your certificate should be named in the following format:

 Last,First-########-CODEHERE-YYMMDD.pdf

• • • ######## should be replaced with your student and/or employee ID number.
    • CODEHERE should be replaced with the letters corresponding to each training course (noted for each course in the list below).
    • YYMMDD is the year, month, and day the course was completed.

Example: If Jane Doe completes the Workplace Violence Prevention course on April 1st, 2023, she should save her completion certificate as:

• • • • Doe,Jane-11111111-WVP-230401.pdf

Completion of all courses below are required to be eligible to TA courses in Mechanical Engineering (only one of either WHMIS" or "Chemical Safety" is sufficient). If you have previously completed a course below, you do not have to repeat it, but you must upload your existing completion certificate as proof of completion. Past certificates can be found by logging into the online course.

Workplace Violence Prevention

• Course: https://wpl.ubc.ca/browse/srs/mandatory/courses/wpl-srs-wpvptr 
• Completion Certificate Naming Convention:  Last,First-########-WVP-YYMMDD.pdf  (e.g. Doe,Jane-11111111-WVP-230401.pdf)

Privacy Matters Fundamentals - Parts 1 and 2

Completion of both Privacy Matters Fundamentals courses is required to be eligible to TA courses in Mechanical Engineering.

• Fundamentals Part 1 & 2: https://privacymatters.ubc.ca/content/training.
• Completion Certificate Naming Convention: 
  • Fundamentals Part 1:  Last,First-########-PM-YYMMDD.pdf  (e.g. Doe,Jane-11111111-PM-230401.pdf)
  • Fundamentals Part 2:  Last,First-########-PM2-YYMMDD.pdf  (e.g. Doe,Jane-11111111-PM2-230401.pdf)

Preventing and Addressing Bullying & Harassment

• Course: https://wpl.ubc.ca/browse/srs/mandatory/courses/wpl-srs-bulhar
• Completion Certificate Naming Convention: Last,First-########-B&H-YYMMDD.pdf  (e.g. Doe,Jane-11111111-B&H-230401.pdf)

New Worker Safety Orientation

If you have previously completed the New Worker Safety Orientation and have had uninterrupted employment with UBC since completion, you do not have to repeat it. Otherwise, applicants must have completed the course within the last 4 years.

• Course: https://wpl.ubc.ca/browse/srs/mandatory/courses/wpl-srs-newsot
• Completion Certificate Naming Convention: Last,First-########-N&Y-YYMMDD.pdf (e.g. Doe,Jane-11111111-N&Y-230401.pdf)

"WHMIS" or "Chemical Safety" Course

• Completion of only one of these two courses is necessary to fulfill this requirement:
  • WHMIS: https://wpl.ubc.ca/browse/srs/osc/courses/wpl-srs-whmis
  • Chemical Safety: https://wpl.ubc.ca/browse/srs/rsc/courses/wpl-srs-chem
• Completion Certificate Naming Convention:
  • WHMIS - for WHMIS training
  • CHEM - for Chemical Safety Training
    • • e.g. Doe,Jane-11111111-WHMIS-230401.pdf
      • e.g. Doe,Jane-11111111-CHEM-230401.pdf

Review the courses that have Teaching Assistantships available below. To apply to a TA position, you can find the Mech 2 application portal and the regular application portal at the bottom of of this page.

Available Courses on Mech 2 Portal

Please note that when you apply in the Mech 2 portal, you are not applying for a specific position but a topic area. However, upon applying for the topic area your application will be considered for all courses in that category.   If you any questions about the application portal, please e-mail studenthr@mech.ubc.ca.

Term 1 and 2

• Admin  

• • Admin TA 

• • Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI) TA 

Term 1

• Practical Skills (Mech 220) **starts 1 week prior to regular start of classes and ends at the end of September  

• • Drafting 

• • Drafting + Marking 

• • Instrumentation 

• • Machining + Marking 

• • Software 

• Circuits (Mech 221) 

• • Circuits Tutorial 

• Mechanics (Mech 221) 

• • Dynamics tutorial 

• • Dynamics lab (Rotation, Vibration, and Impulse) 

• • Solid mechanics tutorial 

• • Solid mechanics lab (Stress Conc and Beam) 

• • Climbing & Do-It-Yourself Labs 

• Materials (Mech 221) 

• • Materials Tutorial 

• Technical Communication (MECH 226) 

• • Technical Communication Tutorial 

Term 2

• Thermofluids (Mech 222) 

• • Thermodynamics tutorial 

• • Thermodynamics lab  

• • Fluids tutorial 

• • Fluids lab 

• Math (Mech 222) 

• • Math Tutorial 

• Design (Mech 223) 

• • Mechanical design 

• • Mechanical design workshop 

• Technical Communication (MECH 226) 

Available Courses on Regular Portal

Please note that the following list is subject to change based on course enrollment and availability. Courses with asteriks (*) beside their name have specific application instructions or requirements. Please see the next accordion (below this text) for more information. If you any questions about the application portal, please e-mail studenthr@mech.ubc.ca.

• APSC 100 - Engineering Case Studies (T1)
• APSC 101 - Engineering Case Studies (T2)
• APSC 172 - Differential Calculus (T1)
• APSC 173 - Integral Calculus (T2)
• APSC 366 - The Art of the Possible: An Introduction to Engineering for Non-Engineers (T2)
• MECH 226 - Technical Communication (T1&T2)
• MECH 260 - Introduction to Mechanics of Materials (T1)
• MECH 260 - Introduction to Mechanics of Materials (T2)
• MECH 280 - Introduction to Fluid Mechanics (T2)
• MECH 305/6 - Data Analysis and Mechanical Engineering Laboratories (T2)
• MECH 325 - Machine Design (T1)
• MECH 327 - Thermodynamics II (T1)
• MECH 328 - Mechanical Engineering Design Project (T1)
• MECH 329 - Materials for Mechanical Design (T1)
• MECH 358 - Engineering Analysis (T2)
• MECH 360 - Mechanics of Materials (T1)
• MECH 360 - Mechanics of Materials (T2)
• MECH 366 - Modeling of Mechatronic Systems (T1)
• MECH 368 - Engineering Measurements and Instrumentation (T1)
• MECH 368 - Engineering Measurements Instrumentation (T2)
• MECH 375 - Heat Transfer I (T1)
• MECH 375 - Heat Transfer I (T2)
• MECH 380 - Fluid Dynamics (T2)
• MECH 386 - Industrial Fluid Mechanics (T1)
• MECH 392 - Manufacturing Processes (T1)
• MECH 410U - Air Pollution (T2)
• MECH 420 - Sensors and Actuators (T1)
• MECH 421 - Mechatronics System Instrumentation (T2)
• MECH 423 - Mechatronic Product Design (T2)
• MECH 426 - Mechanical Design (T1)
• MECH 431 - Engineering Economics (T2)
• MECH 433/533 - Biofluids (T2)
• MECH 435/535 - Orthopedic Biomechanics (T1)
• MECH 436/536 - Fundamentals of Injury Biomechanics (T1)
• MECH 439 - Biomechanics Research (T2)
• MECH 445/545 - Fuel Cell Systems (T2)
• MECH 457 - Mechanical Engineering Design Project (T1&T2)*
• MECH 460/550P - Advanced Mechanics of Materials (T1)
• MECH 462/514 - Finite Element Analysis (T2)
• MECH 463 - Mechanical Vibrations (T1)
• MECH 464/563 - Industrial Robotics (T2)
• MECH 466 - Automatic Control (T2)
• MECH 467/541 - Computer Control of Mechatronics Systems (T1)
• MECH 468/509 - Modern Control Engineering (T2)
• MECH 469/529 - Dynamic System Modeling (T2)
• MECH 470 - Energy Conversion Systems (T2)
• MECH 473 - Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (T1)
• MECH 478/578 - Internal Combustion Engines (T2)
• MECH 479 - Computational Fluid Dynamics (T1)
• MECH 481/581 - Aerodynamics of Aircraft I (T1)
• MECH 484 - Aircraft Design: Aerodynamics (T2)
• MECH 485 - Aircraft Design: Structures (T1)
• MECH 488 - Introduction to Ship Hydrodynamics (T1)
• MECH 489/582 - Experimental Thermofluids (T2)
• MECH 491/542 - Computer-Aided Manufacturing (T1)
• MECH 495 - Industrial Engineering (T2)
• MECH 496 - Engineering Management (T2)
• MECH 540A - Software Engineering for Mechatronics Application (T1)*
• MECH 540B - Mechatronics Instrumentation (T2)*
• CEEN 525 - Energy Policy (T1)
• MANU 265 - Machine Dynamics (T2)
• MANU 386 - Industrial Automation (T2)
• MANU 485 - Metal Cutting and Machine Tool Vibrations (T2)
• VANT 150 - Sustainability and Engineering Design (T1)*
• VANT 150 - Sustainability and Engineering Design (T2)*

Be advised that Teaching Assistants at The University of British Columbia (UBC) are represented by the Canadian Union Of Public Employees Local 2278 (CUPE2278) and that a Collective Agreement between UBC and CUPE2278 is in effect. All TAs are required to join the Union as a condition of employment. The collective agreement applies to all TA contracts, and selection of TAs will be done in accordance with the requirements of the Union.