Can TAs be assigned more than a 1.0 work assignment?
Academic units assign work on the basis of Levels of Consideration (LoC) (see: Overview of the Assessment of TA/GSA-1 Applications).
LoC 4 requires that candidates who have already been assigned a full 1.0 work assignment (normally equaling 140 hours) in their home academic unit have to wait to be assigned additional work over candidates in Levels 2 and 3 who have not reached the equivalent of 1.0.
For example, if two candidates apply for a .5 work assignment:
- Candidate 1 holds a .75 work assignment in the academic unit and is in Level 2 consideration.
- Candidate 2 does not have a work assignment in the academic unit and is in Level 3 consideration.
Normally, if both have equal qualifications, Candidate 1 would be the successful candidate (because they are in Level 2). However, since Candidate 2 does not have a work assignment, and assigning another work assignment to Candidate 1 would put them over 1.0, Candidate 2 would be the successful candidate.
The bottom line: TAs cannot be assigned work assignments totalling more than 1.0 until qualified applicants in LoC 2 and 3 also have work.
NOTE: Applicants will now have the option of indicating on their application whether or not they would like to be considered for work assignments greater than 1.0. This will aid academic units in assigning work to candidates.