TA Posting System Instructions for Administrators

The TA Posting System is just one of the systems used in the TA Appointment Process.  This part of the website provides step-by-step instructions for administrators to help manage the TA job posting process.

Please note: The links to the webpages are all linked to the live pages. If you want to link to the CMS pages, replace "oise.utoronto.ca/" with "oise.utoronto.ca/preview" in all instances.

Step 1: Confirm Roles in the Role System  (week of Feb 23)

As part of the planning exercise, administrators should verify that the role system is updated with accurate names of administrators, approvers, and unit heads that will need to access the system. The data that is updated should reflect the members of the roles as of the new academic year for which you are planning.

To update the Role System for the TA Posting System:

1. Go to the TA Posting System (Administrator) webpage
2. Click on the Groups tab
3. Click on the role for which you would like to verify or make changes (i.e., Admin, Approver, Unit Head, etc.).  This will take you to the Role System website.
4. Verify the names in the left hand side of the screen under XXX visible Members
5. If you need to add a member to this role, click on Add Member...
6. Under Search All People: put the name (next to by name:) or email (next to by attribute:) of the person you want to add and press Search
7. Select the person you want to add in the results list
8. Click on <

 PLEASE NOTE: It is only possible to be a Unit Head for one unit at a time. 

Step 2: Communicating with Unit Heads/Chairs to request TA job postings  (week of Feb 23)

As part of the TA hiring process, Unit Heads/Chairs are asked to communicate the TA job posting process to their faculty members. 

Communication with Chairs:

• During the week of Feb 23, administrators should send Unit Heads/Chairs a draft email that they could send to their faculty to inform about the TA job posting process. [Sample text]
• It is advisable to also send a copy of the message to your Graduate Office to keep them informed of the process.

Step 3: Administrator changes configuration on the Posting System (March 20)

In order to post jobs for the next year, the configuration must be changed to that year. 

To change the configuration:

1. Go to the The TA Posting System for Administrators CMS webpage
2. Click on the Configuration icon (looks like a wheel) next to Job Posting System
3. Under Global Application Configurations change Year to 2015
4. Change the Fall Start and End dates
5. Change the Winter Start and End dates
6. Click on Save Configuration
7. Approve the Configuration by going to the top left hand of the screen and clicking on Approve
8. Select the change by checking the box next to index.conf under Teaching Assistantships (TA) >> Administrators Pages >> TA Posting System Instructions >> index.conf
9. Click on Approve Selected Changes
10. Click on Make Changes live.  Once you make the changes live, refresh the live webpage to see the changes.

Step 4: Supervisors submit TA jobs online  (March 2- 20)

Supervisors have three weeks to post their jobs online.

To submit a TA job online:

1. Go to the The TA Posting System for Supervisors webpage
2. On the Jobs tab, click on  + Add New Posting and ensure that the year indicated it the appropriate year of the assignment.
3. A new window will open.
4. Answer the questions What is  your overall Graduate Program Responsibiity and Reasons for requesting a TA" in the text boxes below each question.
5. Under Unit:, choose the appropriate unit
6. Under Supervisor, choose your name.  The Supervisor here indicates the person who will go through the hiring process (i.e., review application, possibly interview, make final ranking decisions)
7. Under Course Number and Title: select the course in which the TA will be working. If the course is not listed or the TA will be working in multiple courses, select the blank field (at the top of the list) and use the next field "Course Option:"
8. If you will be using Course Option:, list the course number and title for the position.  (For example, "ABC123H Psychological Foundations").
9. Under Per Course Enrolment (estimated):, indicate the number of students in the class.
10. Under Number of Positions:, indicate the number of positions
11. Under Dates of Appointment:, indicate Sept 1 YYYY - Dec 31 YYYY for the Fall term, Jan 1 YYYY - April 30 YYYY for the Winter term, and Sept 1 YYYY - April 30 YYYY for a Full Year.
12. Under Delivery Mode:, select Face-to-face.
13. Under Duties may include:, list the duties for which the student will be responsible.  These are typically the duties that are listed (in more detail) on the DDAH form.
14. Under Qualifications (Special Skills, Interests, Experiences expected):, list the qualifications of the applicant.
15. Click on Preview Job Posting
16. Review the details of your job.  If you are satisfied with the job posting, click on Save Job Posting.
17. If you want to edit it more, click on Edit Job Posting, make your changes and then Preview Job Posting again.

Step 4: Chairs/Unit Heads approve TA jobs online  (March 23- 27)

Unit Heads/Chairs review and approve TA job posting requests based on programmatic needs.

To approve a TA job online:

1. Go to the The TA Posting System for Unit Heads webpage
2. Confirm that the year 2015/2016 is selected next to Select Year; A list of all jobs posted will appear
3. For each job, click on the JobID on the left hand side of the list
4. A pop-up window will appear showing the details of the job.  Review the details.
5. Under Job State select one of the following:

• Approved if the job posting is approved
• Not Approved if the job posting is not approved
• Pending if the job posting has been reviewed but more information is needed

Step 6: Approver, Unit Heads and Administrator review approved jobs and confirmed continuing TA to make matches  (March 30 - April 3)

During a working meeting, the Approver, Unit Heads and the Administrator will match continuing TAs with subsequent appointments and approve remaining jobs as new TA postings for the year.  By this meeting a list of all confirmed continuing TAs and a list of approved jobs should be available.

Setting the Job Posting State to Available Subsequent or Posted indicates that the approver has approved this job from a budgetary standpoint.

To mark approved TA postings as Available Subsequent, Posting or Not Posted:

1. Go to the The TA Posting System for Approvers webpage
2. Confirm that the year 2015/2016 is selected next to Select Year; A list of all jobs posted will appear
3. For each job, click on the JobID on the left hand side of the list
4. A pop-up window will appear showing the details of the job.  Review the details.
5. Under Job Posting State, all jobs that have been posted with show as Submitted.  Based on the decision, select one of the following:

• Available Subsequent if the job posting is approved and intended to be matched with a continuing TA
• Posted if the job posting is approved to be posted as a new TA postion; enter the Post Start Date and Post End Date (note: that the Collective Agreement requires the job to be posted for 20 working days)
• Not Posted if the job posting has not been approved to be matched

Step 7: Administrator makes Available Subsequent Assignment matches  (April 7 - 10)

Following up from the planning meeting, the Administrator matches Continuing TAs with Available Subsequent Assignments. 

To match continuing TAs with Available Subsequent Assignments:

1. Go to the The TA Posting System for Administrators webpage
2. Confirm that the year 2015/2016 is selected next to Select Year
3. For each Available Subsequent Assignment that needs to be matched, click on the Add Student to Job icon (looks like a plus sign on the right hand side of the list)
4. Find the student who will be matched under the Available Students list
5. Drag the student's name into the Successful Students column
6. Go to the top of the screen and click on Back.  This will bring you back to the list of TA postings.
7. You can check if the student was matched correctly by clicking on the View Applicants icon on the right side of the list under Actions.  The student's name will appear in a list with Successful under State.

Step 8: Update the TA Pre Applicants Role in the Role System  (April 10)

Continuing TAs that are not matched will have the opportunity to view any Available Subsequent Assignments that have not been matched and show their interest.  In order for the Continuing TA to access the system, they must be a member of the TA Pre Applicant Role in the Role System.

To add a continuing TA to the TA Pre Applicant Role:

1. Go to the TA Posting System for Administrators webpage
2. Click on the Groups tab
3. Click on the role TA Pre Applicants.  This will take you to the Role System website.
4. Clear the names in the left hand side of the screen under XXX visible Members by selecting the name, then clicking on Remove Member
5. Add all continuing TA who needs access to the jobs to this role by clicking on Add Member...
6. Under Search All People: put the name (next to by name:) or email (next to by attribute:) of the person you want to add and press Search
7. Select the person you want to add in the results list
8. Click on <

Step 9: Administrator adds a Posting Start and End Date to unmatched Available Subsequent Assignments  (April 10)

Any jobs that are not matched and are made available for continuing TAs to view need to be posted.  To post these, the administrator needs to set a posting start and end date.

To set a Post Start Date and a Post End Date:

1. Go to the The TA Posting System for Administrators webpage
2. Under the Jobs tab, confirm that the year is 2015/2016
3. For each job that needs to be posted for Continuing TAs click on the JobID on the left hand side of the list
4. At the bottom of the job posting screen, set the Post Start Date and the Post End Date
5. Click Close

Step 10: Continuing TAs not matched indicate their interest in posted Available Subsequent Assignments  (April 13 - 17)

Any continuing TA that was not matched will have the opportunity to view the available subsequent assignments exclusively for the week.  They will show their interest in any of the positions by submitting their cv and cover letter.  Students must login with their UTORid to view and apply for any available subsequent assignments.

Once they have chosen the jobs they want to be considered for, they should rank the jobs in order of preference.  Ranking their job preferences will help you offer them the best possible job if they have been selected for more than one position.

For students to show their interest in the position:

1. Go to the The TA Posting System for Students webpage
2. Under the Jobs tab, confirm that the year is 2015/2016
3. Click on the View/Apply link to view the details of the TA position
4. Review the details of the position
5. To apply to the position, click on the Yes checkbox next to Would you like to apply?
6. In the Cover Letter box, students provide a brief explanation and description of their skills that demonstrate that they are a suitable candidate for the position. This is essentially their covering letter.
7. Upload their resume by clicking on Browse... to select a file from your computer.  Please note that you may only upload the following formats:  pdf, Word, rtf and txt files
8. Click on Submit & Apply to submit their application
9. If they do not want to submit their application, click on Cancel/Close.  This will discard any information that they entered.
10. Once they apply for a job, the job will disappear from the Jobs tab and show up in the My Jobs tab.

There is no maximum number of jobs for which they can apply. However, once they have submitted an application to a position they cannot change or delete it. You should, therefore, encourage them to review the position and their application details carefully before submitting their application.

To rank their jobs:

1. Go to the My Jobs tab
2. Click anywhere on the job line of the job they want to rank
3. Drag the entire line up or down depending on where they want to place it in the rank order
4. Release the line. Once they release the line, the rank list will be updated.

Communication:

• Send the continuing TAs who need access to the system an email with links and instuctions on how to indicate their preferences online. [Sample text]
• Update the TA Posting System for Students with the proper dates
• My Teaching Assistantships (TA) Appointments website, Current Step in the Processand Next Step in the Process sections. [Sample text]
• Update the My Teaching Assistantships(TA) Supervisions website, Current Step in the Process section [Sample text]

Configuration: Change the configuration to allow Continuing TAs to review and indicate their interest for the Available Subsequent Positions.

To change the configuration:

1. Go to the The TA Posting System for Students CMS webpage
2. Click on the configuration icon (looks like a wheel) next to Job Posting System

• Under Global Application Configurations:
  • Change Year: to 2015
  • Change the Fall Start and End dates
  • Change the Winter Start and End dates
• Under Student Configuration:
  • Change Enable job postings to pre applicants to Yes
  • Change Students can view job postings: Start and End dates
  • Change Students can apply to Yes
  • Change Students can rank to Yes
• Click Save Configuration

Step 11: Supervisors review, interview, and rank continuing teaching assistants for remaining Available Subsequent Assignments (April 20 - 24)

During this week, supervisors will have the opportunity to review the qualifications of the continuing teaching assistants who indicated an interest in the remainaing subsequent assignments.  They may also interview them, if necessary.  At the end of this step, unit heads will be asked to rank the students that indicated a preference for their positions.

Communication:

• During the week of April 13 - 17 , send Supervisors an email notifying them about the process of reviewing and ranking applications. [Sample text]
• Update the Teaching Assistantships(TA) for Supervisors website, Current Step in the Process section [Sample text]

To review the candidates' submissions:

1. Go to the TA Posting System for Supervisors website.
2. On the Jobs tab, click on the view applicants icon (top left image) under "Actions"
3. A list of the applicants will appear below the assignment line
4. Click on the Student Name to open their cover letter
5. Click on "Download Resume" to download their resume
6. Review all applicants

To rank candidates' submissions:

Once you have reviewed all the applications and are ready to rank them,

1. Go to the TA Posting System for Supervisors website.
2. On the Jobs tab, click on the view applicants icon (top left image) under "Actions"
3. A list of the applicants will appear below the assignment line
4. Under "Rank", click on the drop down menu.  Initially the drop down menu will only include three options: "Not Ranked"; "Not Qualified"; and "1"
5. Select the most qualified person for the assignment and mark them as "1".  Once you rank the first applicant, more numbers will appear in the drop down menu.
6. Select the next qualified person as "2", and so on.
7. Select any person that is not qualified as "Not Qualified".
8. The system will automatically re-sort the list from the most to least qualified.

Please note: You only need to rank applications for jobs that were "Posted"

Step 12: All Available Subsequent Assignment matches are finalized on the TA Posting System (April 27 - May 1)

Once supervisors have ranked the continuing teaching assistants, the administrator makes final matches based on both the instructors ranking of the student and the student's ranking of their preference under the direction of the Associate Dean and Unit Heads.

To view list of candidates and the ranking from the Unit Heads:

1. Go to the TA Posting System for Administrators' webpage
2. Under the Jobs tab, confirm that the year is 2015/2016
3. For each Available Subsequent Assignment that needs to be matched, click on the View Applicants icon (top left icon under Actions).  If there were any continuing TAs that were interested in the postion, the icon will be dark blue.  If there was no interest, the icon will be light blue. A list of students will appear.  The Unit Head's ranking of the student will appear under Rank.

To match continuing TAs with Available Subsequent Assignments:

1. Go to the The TA Posting System for Administrators' webpage
2. Confirm that the year 2015/2016 is selected next to Select Year
3. For each Available Subsequent Assignment that needs to be matched, click on the Add Student to Job icon (looks like a plus sign on the right hand side of the list)
4. Find the student who will be matched under the Available Students list.  You will be able to see how they ranked this job by looking at the first number in the parentheses next to their name.
5. Drag the student's name into the Successful Students column
6. Go to the top of the screen and click on Back.  This will bring you back to the list of TA postings.
7. You can check if the student was matched correctly by clicking on the View Applicants icon on the right side of the list under Actions.  The student's name will appear in a list with Successful under State.

Step 13: Unmatched Available Subsequent Assignments are reposted as a New Assignment  (May 4 - 5)

Assignments that were not matched with a continuing teaching assistant is reposted as a new teaching assistant position, open to any student to apply. By re-posting this job as a new job, the unit head is able to edit any details about the job (i.e., the number of positions, the supervisor, etc.)

To repost a job:

1. Go to the TA Posting System for Unit Heads website
2. On the Jobs tab, click on the repost icon (looks like an arrow) on the right under Actions
3. Review and edit any information as needed
4. Click on Preview Job Posting
5. Review the job posting
6. Click on Save Job Posting

Step 14: New TA Job Postings are approved by Associate Dean (May 6 - 7)

Once the job has been reposted, the Associate Dean must approve the job and set the Job Posting State to Posting

To approve the re-posted job as a new Posting:

1. Go to the The TA Posting System for Approvers webpage
2. Confirm that the year 2015/2016 is selected next to Select Year; A list of all jobs posted will appear
3. For each job, click on the JobID on the left hand side of the list
4. A pop-up window will appear showing the details of the job.  Review the details.
5. Under Job Posting State, all jobs that have been posted with show as Submitted.  Select Posted.
6. Enter the Post Start Date and Post End Date (note: that the Collective Agreement requires the job to be posted for 20 working days).  The posting dates can also be set by the Administrator after the job has been approved to be posted.
7. Click Close

Step 15: New TA job postings are open for all graduate students to apply (May 8 - June 5)

All new TA Assignments that were approved for posting are posted to all graduate students for 20 working days, as per the Collective Agreement. Unit Heads review applications, rank and successful matches are made.  As part of the approval process, the posting dates will have been set for these dates.

Instructions for students to submit an application:

1. Go to the The TA Posting System for Students webpage. 
2. You must login with your UTORid to view and apply for any available TA positions.
3. Once you login in, you will see a list of available TA positions below in the Jobs tab.
4. Click on the View/Apply link to view the details of the TA position
5. Review the details of the position
6. If you want to apply to the position, click on the Yes checkbox next to Would you like to apply?
7. In the Cover Letter box, provide a brief explanation and description of your skills that demonstrate that you are a suitable candidate for the position. This is essentially your covering letter.
8. Upload your resume by clicking on Browse... to select a file from your computer.  Please notet that you may only upload the following formats:  pdf, Word, rtf and txt files
9. Click on Submit & Apply to submit your application
10. If you do not want to submit your application, click on Cancel/Close.  This will discard any information that you entered.
11. Once you apply for a job, the job will disappear from the Jobs tab and show up in the My Jobs tab. 

There is no maximum for which you can apply. Once you have submitted an application to a position you cannot change or delete it. We, therefore, encourage you to review the position and your application details carefully before submitting your application.

Instructions for students to rank jobs by preference:

The original order of jobs will be the order in which you applied for the positions. You have the option of ranking them in order of job preference. Ranking your job preferences will help the administrators offer you the best possible job if you have been selected for more than one position. 

To rank your jobs:

1. Go to the My Jobs tab
2. Click anywhere on the job line of the job you want to rank
3. Drag the entire line up or down depending on where you want to place it in the rank order
4. Release the line. Once you release the line, the rank list will be updated.

Communication:

• Send all graduate students an email with links to the TA Posting System for Students (that has instructions on how to apply), deadline dates and any instructions on activating their JoinID or UTORid.
• Update instructions on the TA Posting System for Students as needed.

Step 16: Supervisors review, interview, and rank applicants for new TA Postings (June 8 - 19)

Supervisors will review, possibly interview and rank applicants for each new TA posting.  Supervisors should be advised to make notes regarding the interview details.

To review applicants:

1. Go to the TA Posting System for Supervisors website
2. On the Jobs tab, click on the View Applicants icon (top left image) under Actions
3. A list of the applicants will appear below the assignment line
4. Click on the Student Name to open their cover letter
5. Click on Download Resume to download their resume
6. Review all applicants

In order for supervisors to rank the applicants, the configuration needs to change.  To change the configuration:

1. Go to the The TA Posting System for Supervisors CMS webpage
2. Click on the configuration icon (looks like a wheel) next to Job Posting System

• Under Faculty/Supervisor Configuration:
  • Next to Faculty can rank: Start: select the date in which the supervisors can start to rank their applicants
  • Next to Faculty can rank: End: select the last date in which the supervisors can rank their applicants
• Click Save Configuration
• Make Changes Live

To rank applicants:

Once supervisors have reviewed all the applications and are ready to rank them,

1. Go to the TA Posting System for Supervisors website
2. On the Jobs tab, click on the view applicants icon (top left image) under Actions
3. A list of the applicants will appear below the assignment line
4. Under Rank, click on the drop down menu.  Initially the drop down menu will only include three options: Not Ranked; Not Qualified; and 1
5. Select the most qualified person for the assignment and mark them as 1.  Once you rank the first applicant, more numbers will appear in the drop down menu.
6. Select the next qualified person as 2, and so on.
7. Select any person that is not qualified as Not Qualified.
8. The system will automatically resort the list from the most to least qualified.

Please note: You only need to rank applications for jobs that were Posted

Communication:

• Send all supervisors with a job that is posted an email with links to the TA Posting System for Supervisors with instructions on how to review and rank the applicants.
• Update instructions on the TA Posting System for Supervisors as needed.

Step 17: All New TA jobs matches are finalized on the TA Posting System (June 22 - 26)

Once supervisors have ranked the applicants, the administrator makes final matches based on both the instructors ranking of the student and the student's ranking of their preference under the direction of the Associate Dean and Unit Heads.

To view list of candidates and the ranking from the Supervisors:

1. Go to the TA Posting System for Administrators' website
2. Under the Jobs tab, confirm that the year is 2015/2016
3. For each Posted job, click on the View Applicants icon (top left icon under Actions).  If there were any applicants to the postion, the icon will be dark blue.  If there no applicants, the icon will be light blue. A list of students will appear.  The Unit Head's ranking of the student will appear under Rank.

Step 18: Successful matches in the TA Posting System are transferred into the TA Tracking System (June 29)

All successful matches made on the TA Posting System are transferred into the TA Tracking System.

To transfer successful matches to the TA Tracking System:

1. Go to the TA Posting System for Administrators' website
2. Go to the Export tab
3. Select 2015/16 next to Select Year to Export
4. Click on Export Successful matches to Tracking System

Once you click on Export Successful matches to Tracking System, the following happens:

1. Assignments for continuing TAs who already have an active Appointment on the Tracking system (i.e., not expired) are added to the appointment.
2. All Successful matches on the TA Posting system are changed to Offered on the Posting system.
3. The Tracking system creates a new appointment for NEW TAs (i.e., no active Appointment exists on the Tracking system) and attaches the new assignment to that Appointment.