Graduate Assistant – Computer Science bei Concordia University, Chicago

Graduate Assistant - Computer Science (GA)

Number of Hours: 19 hours/week

Location: Concordia University Chicago (on-campus; occasional evenings/weekends for events)

Reports to: Director of Computer Science Programs / Course Instructors

Position Summary

The Graduate Assistant (GA) in Computer Science supports instruction, student learning, and program activities across CS courses and co-curricular initiatives. The GA assists with labs, grading, tutoring, course materials, programming team practices, and STEM4NE1 mentoring/outreach, helping foster an inclusive, high-impact learning environment aligned with CUC's mission.

Duties/Responsibilities

• Instructional Support: Assist with labs, recitations, demonstrations, and in-class activities for CS1/CS2 and related courses (e.g., Data Structures, Operating Systems, Databases, Networks).
• Grading & Feedback: Grade assignments, projects, and exams using provided rubrics; offer constructive, timely feedback; maintain gradebook accuracy.
• Tutoring & Office Hours: Hold weekly drop-in hours; provide one-on-one and small-group support for programming concepts, debugging, and toolchains.
• Course Materials & LMS: Help prepare examples, sample code, slides, and walkthroughs; post/organize resources and announcements in the LMS.
• Lab & Tooling: Support software installs (IDEs, compilers, SDKs), version control workflows (Git), and Linux/terminal usage during labs.
• Academic Integrity & Documentation: Model proper citation, testing practices, and professional coding standards; assist with rubric-based evaluations and record-keeping.
• Student Engagement: Assist student clubs (e.g., programming teams) and competition prep (e.g., IEEE Xtreme); help coordinate practice sessions and code reviews.
• Outreach & Events: Support STEM4NE1 mentoring clinics, workshops, and showcases (setup, check-in, logistics, photography/sign-in, post-event summaries).
• Program Support: Collect attendance/feedback data; prepare brief reports and suggestions for continuous improvement.
• Other Duties as Assigned to support the educational mission of the department and university.

Required Skills/Knowledge

• Education: Bachelor's degree in computer science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or a closely related field.
• Enrollment: Must be enrolled full-time in a CUC graduate program.
• Technical Foundations: Proficiency in at least two of the following: C++, Java, Python; comfort with Linux/Unix, terminal, and basic shell scripting.
• Core CS Competencies: Solid grasp of CS1/CS2 topics (data types, OOP, arrays/pointers, data structures, algorithms, testing, debugging).
• Tools: Experience with Git/GitHub (branching, pull requests), IDEs (e.g., CLion/VS Code/Eclipse), and basic build systems.
• Professional Skills: Excellent oral/written communication; organization; ability to prioritize multiple tasks and meet deadlines; collaborative mindset.
• Mission Alignment: Enthusiastic supporter of Lutheran higher education and the mission, vision, and core values of Concordia University Chicago.
• Inclusion: Demonstrated ability to work effectively with diverse student populations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior TA/tutoring, lab leadership, or peer-mentoring experience.
• Experience with Operating Systems, Databases (SQL/JDBC), Computer Networks, or Android/Kotlin.
• Familiarity with AWS or cloud tooling; comfort producing short instructional demos (e.g., code walkthroughs, quick screencasts).
• Competition or club involvement (e.g., programming contests, hackathons).

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required; enrollment in a Concordia University graduate program required.
• Ability to work up to 19 hours per week while maintaining good academic standing (minimum GPA per graduate policy).
• Must uphold confidentiality (FERPA) and academic integrity standards; background check as required by university policy.
• Availability for occasional evenings/weekends tied to events or competitions.
• The GA will be provisioned with a limited Blackboard role (e.g., Grader/TA) for assigned sections, must complete FERPA training, and handle student records only within approved university systems.

Application Information

Interested individuals should submit an online application that includes:

• Cover Letter (highlighting teaching/mentoring experience and technical strengths)
• Résumé/CV
• Three references (name, title, contact)
• Optional: Unofficial transcript and/or a GitHub/portfolio link showcasing relevant projects