Become an ACE Course Assistant

Graduate Student Course Assistantships

ACE Course Assistants play an integral role in the success of our undergraduate students in the School of Engineering. The mission of ACE is to provide our students, particularly those from under-resourced and/or minoritized backgrounds, with the opportunities and support to succeed in their course and in their major. Therefore, you will find the expectations and rewards of an ACE CAship to differ from other Course or Teaching Assistantships. For example, ACE CAs receive additional training and support around inclusive teaching pedagogy and have more opportunities to build a teaching community. ACE CAs will also be expected to develop course-specific content to provide additional support for their (and future) ACE students. 

Graduate and professional students in the School of Engineering are invited to apply to work as ACE Course Assistants (CA). ACE CAs lead weekly sections to support large courses in Math, Computer Science, and Computational and Mathematical Engineering. ACE CAs may also lead additional exam review sessions, individual tutoring, and provide other study resources. ACE CAs report to the Associate Director, Student Learning Programs in the Center for Teaching and Learning.

Terms of Appointment

Under the terms of the appointment, you will:

• Work an average of 20 hours a week in the ACE program per quarter
• Receive a specific course assignment at the beginning of each quarter; the assignment may differ in a different quarter, if appointed for future quarters
• Lead and facilitate weekly sections for the ACE course you are assigned
• Attend all required ACE CA trainings (for first time ACE CAs only)
• Attend weekly ACE CA meetings
• Attend all course lectures
• Incorporate principles of diversity, equity and inclusion in your teaching
• Monitor and facilitate student enrollment for your ACE course
• Make satisfactory academic progress in your degree program
• Be enrolled in 8, 9 or 10 units each quarter
• Receive $12,300 per quarter
• Receive 8-10 units of graduate tuition payment

Please note: If, for any reason, you are unable to fulfill the CA obligations during an assigned quarter(s), the appointment cannot be carried over to another quarter and/or accumulated.

This appointment provides a 50% Assistantship and is subject to Stanford’s limitation on additional work or support. If you receive any other funding offers from Stanford or external sources, you must notify program leadership, so that we can decide how your assistantship may be affected.

Skills We Seek

• Exceptional presentation and teaching skills (over Zoom and in person)
• Strong content knowledge in the ACE course you will be teaching
• Ability to manage your own time and projects with guidance but minimal structure
• Excellent communication skills, including over Slack and email, with both ACE leadership and students
• A desire to learn and grow in your ability to develop and deliver curricular content
• Effectively giving and responding to constructive feedback
• Passion for supporting undergraduate students, particularly those from FLI, URM and under-resourced backgrounds
• Interest in taking the initiative to develop novel or additional curricular content for your ACE sections
• Understanding of diverse communities on campus (including through your own personal experiences as a diverse applicant)

Application Process

1. Application: Complete the online application (which includes submitting a brief statement and CV/resume).
2. First Round Interviews: Qualified candidates will be contacted to participate in a 60 minute interview with the Lead ACE CAs.
3. Finalist Interviews: Candidates who move forward from the first round interviews will be invited to a 20 minute interview with the Associate Directors of Student Learning and Graduate Teaching Programs at the Center for Teaching and Learning. 
4. Admission: All candidates will be informed about a decision no later than two weeks after the interview. Successful candidates will be given 48 hours to accept the offer. Please note that the turnaround time between admission and onboarding is relatively short.

Application Requirements

• Must be an incoming or currently enrolled co-term, masters, or doctoral student in the School of Engineering
• Must be legally eligible to work in the United States
• Current Co-term and masters students must have a minimum 3.5 GPA overall; graduate students must be in good standing with their department/program
• Incoming students must have a minimum 3.5 (or equivalent if on different scale) overall GPA from their undergraduate coursework and must have excelled in courses like or identical to the ACE course they are applying to teach
• Must have a strong commitment to teaching
• Must possess outstanding interpersonal skills, time management skills, and attention to detail

Please note that the ACE Course Assistant position highly encourages applicants who may be minoritized in engineering fields (Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color, womxn, non-binary students, students with disabilities, all spectrums of gender identity and expression and sexual orientation, first generation and/or low income, first in their family to study engineering, or coming from under-resourced schools or environments with limited exposure to engineering curriculum).

ACE CA Application

Applications for Fall Quarter 2022-2023 are CLOSED. However you may apply at any point if you wish to be considered for future quarters.

Fall Quarter 2022 Application Dates

• Applications open: April 11
• First review date: April 29
• Second review date: May 13
• Final review date: May 27

Questions?

Please contact Jae Chung, Associate Director, Student Learning Programs at chungjae@stanford.edu.