Teaching Assistant Hiring Guidelines
Teaching Assistants (TAs) play a vital role in classes across the Law School. This page provides an overview of policies and procedures for TA hiring and the general scope of the TA role. The Associate Dean of Academic Programs determines TA guidelines and may implement changes as needed.
Some of the information on this page may not apply to clinic, negotiations, CLR, or MSL classes. Please contact your program administrator or the Law HR Team directly if you have questions about TA guidelines.
2. Which classes are eligible to have TAs? How many TAs are permitted?
4. What do faculty members need to do to hire TAs?
5. What do students need to do to be hired as TAs?
7. What if I have other questions?
1. What is the job of a TA?
In general, TAs attend class meetings and hold review sessions and office hours. We encourage faculty to consider having a TA attend each online class meeting, provide technical support, and act as a backup if the faculty member should encounter problems with Internet connectivity during online instruction.
TAs may not be involved in any way in grading that determines a student’s final grade.
2. Which classes are eligible to have TAs? How many TAs are permitted?
All class sections taught by residential faculty are eligible to have one TA.
Required 1L doctrinal classes (Contracts, Torts, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Property, and Criminal Law) are eligible to have up to two TAs.
Each approved TA role may be occupied by only one student. It is not allowable for two or more students to share the responsibilities and/or pay of one approved TA role.
3. How much are TAs paid?
With the exception of some programs, all TAs earn $2,000 total for the semester. TA stipends are paid in equal monthly installments over the course of the semester and may be prorated if the TA is active for less than the full semester. Please note that TA stipends for the MSL program may differ from this model.
4. What do faculty members need to do to hire TAs?
Faculty members who wish to hire a TA must respond to the email sent from Law HR by the posted deadline prior to each semester. The email communication from Law HR also provides faculty members with an option to request job postings for their TA roles in order to consider a wider pool of interested students.
For Spring 2022, the deadline to request to post a TA job is October 18. The deadline to confirm final TA hiring selections is November 23.
In considering their TA roles, faculty are expected to embrace the Law School's values of inclusivity and equity and to make TA hiring decisions that are reflective of the diversity of our student community.
Please note that TAs must be current Northwestern Pritzker School of Law students.
5. What do students need to do to be hired as TAs?
Students interested in becoming TAs are encouraged to speak with professors to discuss opportunities and may also view and apply to TA job postings on the career center jobs page.
Students selected to work as TAs must complete all University-required hiring actions as noted on our Student Hiring and Payments webpage. Upon receipt of the TA request from the professor, Law HR will email all students selected to serve as TAs to guide them through the hiring process.
A student who receives multiple TA job offers may serve as a TA for two classes in the same semester, provided the student and professors are comfortable with the expectations and workload. Like all student employees, TAs should work no more than 20 work hours per week (across all NU jobs combined) while taking classes.
6. Is TA training available?
Students who are selected to serve as TAs will receive email communication with information about an information session they must attend to get familiarized with their responsibilities as student employees and alert them to appropriate resources. In addition, TAs will be provided technical training on Zoom and its class-related functions.
7. What if I have other questions?
Please don't hesitate to ask. For question about hiring paperwork, getting paid, or where to go for other matters, contact the Law HR Team.