Assistantship in Instruction
Depending on the teaching needs of their departments, assistants in instruction may be involved in some combination of classroom teaching, laboratory supervision and grading in undergraduate courses. (Graduate students are not regularly appointed to teach in graduate-level courses.) A full appointment of six semester-hours per term normally requires approximately 20 hours of work per week: six classroom contact hours plus additional hours of preparation. In 2008-09, assistants in instruction on full, six-hour appointments for each of the two terms of the academic year receive compensation of $22,950 if they have not passed the general examination and $24,700 if they have passed the general examination. Students holding non-Princeton fellowships may be appointed as assistants in instruction and are paid at standard assistantship rates. In such cases a teaching assistantship cannot exceed a six-semester-hour appointment per year. Such supplementation is not encouraged, and departments should plan to use teaching services of students when they are not holding such fellowships. Compensation of assistants in instruction is taxable. Students enrolled in absentia may not hold teaching assistantships.
When a department requires less than full-time teaching assistance, partial assistantships in instruction may be offered, and the compensation is prorated according to the amount of time devoted to teaching. An assistantship in instruction always replaces, in full or in part, a previously awarded University fellowship maintenance allowance.