STT Teaching Assistants

The Department of Statistics and Probability sometimes hires graduate students from outside its doctoral program to work as Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) in some or all of the following courses (varies by semester): STT 180 (Introduction to Data Science), STT 200 (Statistical Methods), STT 201 (Statistical Methods), STT 231 (Statistics for Scientists), STT 315 (Introduction to Probability and Statistics for Business) and less commonly some other undergraduate and master’s-level courses. GTAs will work for approximately 20 hours/week doing some combination of the following activities: 

1. Facilitating student learning during in-class sessions 
2. Assisting students with questions, conceptual issues, and programming syntax in the statistics learning center and by email
3. Participating in weekly instructor meetings 
4. Reviewing all upcoming course materials prior to weekly meetings 
5. Assisting lead instructors with reviewing classroom experience and improving classroom materials 
6. Assisting in the grading of assignments 

Applicants must demonstrate good interpersonal skills; strong oral and written communication skills; an eagerness to learn; and the ability to work in a self-directed manner and as part of a team. Although no prior work experience is required; applicants must be enrolled in a graduate program at MSU and have an academic background that prepares them to be successful in a GTA position. International students must demonstrate proficiency in the English language via a sufficiently high score on the MSU Speaking Test or other equivalent measures.

We cannot guarantee that there will be open slots each semester. However, if we have open positions, we will review your application and contact you as needed.

• GTA Application

NOTE: To help in your preparation, this application will ask questions related to the following: 

• Name and email
• Program of study, prior teaching experience, prior coursework, and comfort with various programming languages used in our courses. 
• Prior employment at MSU, STT and any prior experience as a GTA. 
• Of the activities described in this application, which are you the most interested in doing? 
• Why do you want a position as a graduate teaching assistant in STT? And what do you think are important parts of being a good GTA? 
• What are your ultimate career goals? (i.e., research, teacher certification, work in industry, etc.) 

To ensure that you would be available for at least one or more sections of the courses that you are interested in serving as a GTA for, make sure to review the MSU schedule and section information.
 
If STT is not able to offer you a position for the semester that immediately follows the semester during which you apply, we will keep your application on file and will reach out if you appear to be a good candidate for future openings. We will do our best to notify you of our decision on your application, but if you do not hear from us and would like to know the status of your application, please contact the STT Graduate Program office at stt.gradoffice@msu.edu.