Teaching Mission Statement

The Mission of the Department of Statistics and Applied Probability is, in part, to provide education and training to UCSB students in the areas of statistics, data science, actuarial science, financial mathematics, and applied probability. We seek to educate and prepare the future workforce of data scientists and quantitative thinkers.

Our graduate students are given the opportunity to work as Teaching Assistants, Graders/Readers, and Teaching Associates in order to help further these educational goals. Our TAs work together with faculty, instructors, and colleagues to provide a broader reach to our teaching, to give additional perspective and context to classroom material, and to interact more closely with students. A Teaching Assistant position is also a key part of graduate student training in that it brings greater understanding of the key material in statistics and applied probability as well as preparing the next generation of teachers.

Our graduate students come from diverse backgrounds that strengthen our department as a whole. To this end, Teaching Assistants are encouraged to bring their own unique personal histories and perspective to their roles in ways that contribute to educating our students. They should also reach out across categories and intersectionalities to support every student who comes to our classes.

Official policies and procedures for TAs in PSTAT are available in the Dept. of Statistics TA Handbook

 

Applying for TA Positions in PSTAT

All Graduate Students in the Department of Statistics and Applied Probability should complete the annual TA Application form each year. This will usually be due the beginning of July. This form is important to communicate your teaching preferences for the year ahead.

Students from outside the department may email studentaffairs@pstat.ucsb.edu for information about possible TA positions in the Department.

We do not expect to be hiring any additional TAs for Fall quarter 2025.

 

TA Training

All new TAs must complete the University Orientation (Monday, Sept. 22nd 6:00 pm and Tuesday, Sept. 23rd 9:15 am).

The online modules will become available the week of September 15-22nd.

New TA Training Information

All students who wish to be a Teaching Assistant must enroll in PSTAT 501, the TA training course during their first year. This is a one-unit course which meets for one-hour each week in Fall and Winter quarters.

PSTAT 501 is aimed at getting new TAs quickly up to speed on running discussion sections at UCSB. It provides practice in teaching statistics and probability and reviews what TAs need to know about university and department policies. This course encourages students to join the community of educators in the Department of Statistics and Applied Probability.

 

Teaching Associate Opportunities

At UCSB, a Teaching Associate is a PhD student who is given full responsibility to teach a course. Teaching Associates must have already completed a MA degree. Each Teaching Associate will be assigned a Faculty mentor to help guide them in the planning and teaching process.

Most of the opportunities to be a Teaching Associate occur during the Summer quarter. Applications for the Summer Teaching Associate positions will be sent out near the end of Fall quarter.

 

TA Policies and Procedures

Official policies and procedures for TAs in PSTAT are available in the Dept. of Statistics TA Handbook

Additional Resources for TAs:

Course Catalog: https://catalog.ucsb.edu/departments/STATS/courses

Schedule of Classes, Class Search: https://my.sa.ucsb.edu/public/curriculum/coursesearch.aspx

Classrooms Website: https://classrooms.ucsb.edu/