Units 1 & 2: When and where are available work assignments posted?
Work assignments are posted on the University of Guelph’s hiring website.
(https://www.uoguelph.ca/sessional.ta/.)
There are no standardized times that departments or schools must post by, but posting usually occurs mid- to late semester. Your department may send out an email indicating that jobs have been posted, but the Union encourages you to check up regularly on your department or school’s work assignment postings.
Unit 1: What is a Job Security Period (JSP)?
A Job Security Period, or JSP, is a period of guaranteed work as indicated in your Offer of Admission. To fulfill your job security period, you must apply for at least one (1) work assignment in your home department during the semester(s) indicated in the Income/Funding portion of your Offer of Admission; your application must indicate that you are applying within your Job Security Period. For example, if your Offer of Admission states you are guaranteed one GTA per academic year (spanning the fall and winter terms), you must apply for a work assignment during one semester per year, and that application must indicate that you are applying within your Job Security Period. The Level of Consideration given in your application indicates whether your application is being submitted within your Job Security Period.
Unit 1: What are Levels of Consideration?
There are three (3) levels of consideration for GTA work assignment applications.
- Level One (1) indicates that you are applying within your Job Security Period.
- Level Two (2) indicates that you are not applying within your Job Security Period and have not exceeded the prescribed length for your program of study.
- Level three (3) indicates that you have exceeded the prescribed length for your program of study.
Earnings from work assignments completed during your Job Security Period (Level 1 consideration) count towards your guaranteed funding outlined in your Offer of Admission. Earnings from additional work assignments completed outside of your Job Security Period (Level 2 consideration) are paid in addition to your guaranteed funding.
Unit 1: Can I apply for a work assignment in any department?
Yes. However, hiring is based on the ‘Levels of Consideration’ in our CA, meaning that candidates from within the department of a course will be considered before candidates from outside the department.
Units 1 and 2: What are seniority points? How do they work?
Both Unit 1 and Unit 2 members accrue seniority points each time they successfully complete a Work Assignment, and are used in the hiring process to determine which member is to be hired for an assignment. In a case where members applying for a Work Assignment are equally qualified, whoever holds the highest number of seniority points will be offered the position.
Unit 2: What is a Right of First Refusal?
When a Unit 2 (Sessional) member successfully completes a work assignment, they will hold a ‘right of first refusal’ for that course for an additional six (6) semesters.
This means that the department/school must first offer the course to the member if that course is open (i.e. not being taught by a faculty member) for that period of time.
Unit 1: How do I fill out a Work Assignment Form (WAF)?
Your WAF is a formal agreement about what is expected of you in your role. Unit 2 members do not complete and sign WAF’s; they accept an offer for a Work Assignment and the terms of that acceptance appear on the offer.
For Unit 1 members, Work Agreement Forms should include:
- A clear breakdown of how hours are allotted.
- Deadlines for each item to be graded (e.g., if there are weekly labs, there must be a grading deadline for each lab report).
Contracts must be reviewed with your supervisor at an initial meeting (which also counts towards your total working hours!) prior to signing. An example of a Work Assignment Form for Unit 1 is on the following two (2) pages.
Work agreements must be signed by both the TA and the supervisor, and submitted to the department once you’ve had your initial meeting at the beginning of the semester.