The Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 3902 Unit 1 (CUPE 3902 Unit 1) represents University of Toronto students (undergraduate and graduate students) and some postdoctoral fellows working as Teaching Assistants, Teaching Laboratory Assistants, markers, graders, and course instructors. These positions are governed by the CUPE 3902 Unit 1 collective agreement.
To view a list of currently available Unit 1 positions across the University, please visit the Human Resources & Equity CUPE 3902 Job Board.
Within the Department of East Asian Studies, Summer positions are posted early in the calendar year, on or before March 15. Fall positions are normally posted in the early summer, on or before June 30, and Winter positions on or before October 31. Positions may be posted earlier than these dates, and emergency positions may be posted outside these timelines.
Course Instructor Postings
The Department of East Asian Studies invites applications from students interested in the Course Instructor position for the Summer 2025 session. Applicants must submit a cover letter, an abridged syllabus, curriculum vitae, and previous teaching evaluations (if applicable).
Applications should be addressed to the EAS Hiring Committee and submitted by email to eas.grad@utoronto.ca with the subject line: Unit 1 CI Application. Please save documents in one file with the naming convention “EASXXXH1F_Unit 1_CI_Application_ Last Name, First Name”. e.g., “EAS396H1F_CI_Application_Chai, Donna”. Receipt of your application will be acknowledged with an email response. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within one week of submission, please follow up to ensure your application has been received. Thank you.
Teaching Assistant Postings
The Department of East Asian Studies invites applications from students interested in the TA positions for the Summer 2025. Applicants must submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae and an EAS TA Application Form (WORD version).
For general information about TA positions, please refer to this handbook: EAS TA HANDBOOK 2024.pdf
Applications should be addressed to the EAS Hiring Committee and must be submitted by email to eas.grad@utoronto.ca with the subject line: Unit 1 TA Application. Please save documents in one file with the naming convention “EASXXXH1F_Unit 1_TA_Application_ Last Name, First Name”. e.g., “EAS396H1F_TA_Application_Chai, Donna”.Receipt of your application will be acknowledged with an email response. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within one week of submission, please follow up to ensure your application has been received. Thank you.
Teaching Assistantships (TA) FAQs
Students holding teaching assistant (TA) positions provide a variety of services to undergraduate courses including marking assignments and running tutorials sessions. These positions are considered both a source of funding and a form of professional training.
Students with a TA component in their base funding package who do not apply for TA positions, or who decline positions they are offered, are considered to have forfeited this funding and will have their total funding reduced accordingly.
The department assigns students to their subsequent appointments in May/June for the following academic year.
Once subsequent appointments are assigned, the department will circulate remaining available TA positions and application instructions to incoming and current students in July.
Additional positions may be posted throughout the year and are circulated to students as they become available.
Please contact Undergraduate and Graduate Administrator, eas.grad@utoronto.ca.
Please contact Business Officer, paul.chin@utoronto.ca
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any of us; we’re happy to help!
Notices announcing positions to be filled are available via the East Asian Studies TAships website (under "Employment Opportunities"). There, you will find information about available TA positions (including the submission deadline) and a link to the department TAship system where you will be able to submit your application online. You will need to log in with your UTORid and password. Clicking on the "Application" link will allow you to complete the application form.
If you do not yet have a UTORid (which is to be activated on campus at Robarts library), you can use the JOINId that you received approximately 3-5 days after you submitted your online application for admission in an acknowledgement email from U of T. Once you have activated your JOINid, you can use it to log onto the TAship system and start applying to positions. View SGS resource for more information on JOINids.
TAship postings are also distributed on the Graduate Listserv and on the Central HR & Equity Job postings website.
Fall/Winter session: TA positions to be filled are announced by end of June; TAship offers are made no later than the mid-August.
Summer session: TA positions to be filled are announced by mid-March; TAship offers are made no later than end of April. There are also emergency positions advertised throughout the year.
The Department of East Asian Studies considers the following when making appointments:
- the minimum threshold qualifications required for a posted position
- academic qualifications
- previous experience, and, for continuing students, previous satisfactory employment under the provisions of the Collective Agreement.
As stipulated by the Collective Agreement, students who have lapsed are ineligible for a TAship appointment.
Primary appointments are made for the Fall/Winter Session (September–April), for Full (Y) courses and/or Half (F or S) courses.
There are also a few positions available for the Summer Session (May–August), for Full (Y) courses and/or Half (F or S) courses.
Students who accept TAships should be available for the entirety of the term in which the course is running, from the first day of classes up until the term ends and/or the university closes.
Yes. If you are a tutorial Teaching Assistant, TAs have the opportunity to request evaluations for the tutorial sections they are leading. The undergraduate office will send a link to the evaluation to students registered in the tutorial/lab section. Once grades have been submitted for the course, the evaluation results will be sent to the TA.
Marking Teaching Assistants do not get course evaluations.