Job description and duties:
This application is for Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) positions in first-year engineering (FYE) courses (ENGR 13000, 13100, 13200, and 13300) at both the West Lafayette and Indianapolis locations.
GTAs are primarily hired to fulfill classroom responsibilities. If an offer is extended to you, it will identify your key role on the team. Please see below for further descriptions.
Key classroom support responsibilities:
- Support an instructor in the successful execution of the ENGR 13000/13100/13200/13300 course. Duties range from maintaining your assigned sections’ Brightspace and Gradescope pages (posting materials, keeping dates current, etc.), reviewing student work, proctoring exams, uploading/ maintaining grades and managing in-class logistics.
- Lead a team of 5–6 undergraduate teaching assistants (UGTAs) to support the instructor with classroom management, grading homework and projects, helping with exams (both proctoring and grading) and assisting with team activities in the classroom.
Qualifications and skills:
- Actively pursuing master's (with thesis) or PhD degree in engineering, STEM education or related field. Professional master's students do not qualify for FYE GTA roles.
- MATLAB and Python programming proficiency or experience is required. Experience with other languages is a plus.
- Power user in Excel; proficiency with Microsoft Office.
- Capable of managing difficult classroom/student situations with poise and professionalism while exercising remedies in a proactive, fair way that is consistent with course policies and protocol.
- Willingness to learn new tools, methods and approaches for classroom instruction and student engagement.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills. (International students must be certified in Oral English Proficiency or be able to pass Purdue’s Oral English Proficiency Test. See OEPP website for further information.)
- Must enjoy working with people from different backgrounds and at all levels.
- Work well as part of a team and can easily switch between leading and supporting others.
- Positive attitude and patience.
- Excellent organizational and time management skills. Ability to be proactive with tasks.
- Able to work independently with little supervision.
- Attention to detail and highly organized; can keep the Learning Management Systems (Brightspace and Gradescope) accurate and up to date.
- Ability to problem-solve, function under pressure, meet deadlines and demonstrate creativity.
- Able to work 100% of established work hours onsite in Dudley and Lambertus Hall or Indianapolis.
Other skills – nice to have:
- Knowledge of the basic engineering design cycle.
- At least one semester’s experience in research, classroom instruction, developing instructional materials or equivalent life experience demonstrating skills and capabilities around course instruction, project management, classroom management or active learning.
- Extended teaching/mentoring/instructional experience.
- First-hand knowledge of ENGR 13000/13100/13200/13300 or other first-year engineering courses.
Key course and employment details:
- GTA appointments are half time (20 hrs/week) and involve responsibility for two course sections.
- Each course section is conducted twice a week and are two hours long (for a total of four hours/week). GTAs are expected to arrive 10-15 minutes ahead of class time and stay as necessary to address student questions and fulfill classroom logistics. Course sections may include up to 120 students.
- GTAs attend a weekly instructional meeting to discuss course topics and workload (average two hours/week).
- GTAs work evening Help Sessions (minimum of two hours every week).
- GTAs attend mandatory training during the week prior to the start of classes, each semester. You will be notified of training dates in advance. Participation is required.
- This position is paid on a fixed biweekly rate based on appointment.
- For half-time time appointments, you will qualify for an annual medical insurance premium contribution which pays a portion of the graduate staff Insurance.
- Graduate tuition remission is provided to cover your tuition costs. However, you are still responsible for specific fees.
- Appointments are by semester. Reappointment for future semesters is dependent on job performance and departmental need.
Other requirements to be considered for a graduate assistantship:
- You must be a current registered graduate student of Purdue University or accepted your offer of admission to Purdue University.
- You must be in a qualifying master's or PhD program (professional master's and some non-thesis programs do not qualify per university policy).
- You must have completed relevant undergraduate and/or high-level STEM course work.
- You must be dependable and willing to fulfill your obligations in a timely manner.
Application timeline:
- Application deadline is end of day March 31, 2026.
- All complete applications received by the deadline will be considered for fall 2026 semester positions. Spring extensions will be considered after the fall semester.
- Interviews and initial offers will begin after the application deadline, on a rolling basis.
- GTA offers are targeted for completion by May 10. Exact section assignments may not occur until early August.
- The semester contract period starts the week before classes and extends through the week after finals. GTAs are required to attend training and to be available throughout the contract period.
- While we do our best to match all qualified students with open positions, all offers of employment are contingent on your schedule of availability matching our available positions.
- If we have a need, we may accept applications throughout the semester on an ad hoc basis.
How to apply:
We do not accept applications via email or in person. Apply online.
Note that the below is required for your application to be complete:
- CV / resume. The Qualtrics application will require you to attach your CV / resume to be complete.
- Applicant endorsement from your Purdue faculty advisor. If you are a new graduate student without an advisor, we will accept the endorsement from the graduate chair for your program at Purdue. In the application, you will be asked the name and email of your Purdue faculty advisor. Once the application is submitted, an email will automatically be sent to the advisor you listed with a notification you have applied for our position and requesting they complete the applicant endorsement survey. For any questions regarding how to find the right contact for your Purdue faculty advisor, please contact fye-opscenter@purdue.edu.
You may forward additional employment inquiries to the FYE Operations Center: fye-opscenter@purdue.edu. Please allow three business days for reply.