Finding and Hiring a TA Assistant

Verify Your Eligibility for a Teaching Assistant (TA) 

Check the "eligibility requirements to request TA Support" on the Employing Students webpage on Inside Carey. 

Finding a TA

OPTION A:  Invite one of your top students to be a TA. If they are interested, proceed to "Initiate the Hiring Process" to verify eligibility.

OPTION B:  Enlist the help of Carey.TA. In your email, please include the Course and term, and any prerequisites (e.g., the student must have taken the course, received a specific grade, and/or has relevant work experience). 

OPTION C:  Post an advertisement in SMILE, a Johns Hopkins platform for student hiring and experiential learning managed by the university. 

• Click "Employers" on the SMILE homepage Login with your JHED ID 
• Select which type of position you would like to post (paid campus internship or student job) 
• Specify the details of the position (description, pay rate, hours per week, work location, open to undergrads/grads/both, etc.) 
• Submit your position (positions will be reviewed and approved within 48 hours). 

Initiate the Hiring Process 

Once you have identified a TA, begin the hiring process by completing the Online Request Form. Please allow 2-3 weeks for processing. As a reminder, your TA cannot begin work until you receive an email from HR confirming eligibility and providing a hiring confirmation. 

Train Your TA 

If you hire a first-time TA, or if your TA would benefit from a "refresher," email Carey.TA to request they be enrolled into the TA Resources site in Canvas. This site contains several resources for TA-specific tasks. You are also encouraged to invite your TA(s) to pre-term Canvas training or any offered trainings for faculty!  

Training Recommendations 

A.  Based on your needs, discuss the TA’s level of skill. Contact Carey.TA for Just-In-Time Training. 

B.  Define your expectations. 

C. Review the elements of the course and syllabus together to determine what needs to be done and when. 

See more information in the next section, Working With Your Teaching Assistant. 

Be Available for Questions 

Set up a weekly meeting time for review.  

Working With Your Teaching Assistant

When you hire a TA, you become an employee supervisor.  The following information will help you develop your communication plan and classroom management strategy to get the most out of your TA. TAs cannot work more than 20 hours per week in total. 

General Information 

Training Your TA in Canvas 

Your TA may be new to Canvas and therefore need initial training. Teaching & Learning's Canvas Team will work with your TA to train them in the LMS.  Once your course is available in the SIS section (prior to the course going live for students), please reach out to Carey.TA@jhu.edu to request arrangements for Canvas training.

In your email, please include the name of the course, the name of the TA, the TAs email address, and the TAs role and identify any other technical training they may need for your classroom (e.g., proctoring software, Pearson, iDecisionGames, Microsoft Teams). 

If your TA does not need training, please follow these steps to set them up in your course: 

1. Navigate to your course menu and locate People 
2. After you have selected People, you will see a +People button on the right side of the screen.  
3. Choose Add User by SIS ID.  At JHU, this is our JHED ID.  
4. Enter the JHED ID (e.g., flast1) in the Email Address (required) field.  You need only  to enter the JHED.  
5. Choose the appropriate role (e.g., TA).  
6. Click Next, 
7. Choose Add Users to complete the process.  

Communications 

Once you have hired your TA please make time to review with them your expectations regarding the following areas: timesheets and time tracking, feedback, meetings, tutoring, office hours, grading, accessibility, attendance, monitoring Q & A discussions or Zoom chats, and Canvas calendar.   

Schedule regular communication meetings throughout the term. Here are some meeting suggestions: 

Kick-Off Meeting 

• Exchange contact information exchange and determine response times 
• Identify acceptable methods of contact (e.g., email, text, phone call, Microsoft Teams, Slack, WhatsApp) 
• Give an overview of the purpose of class/ learning objectives 
• Classroom Ethics 
  • Grading Approach - Will you use anonymous grading? 
  • Academic Integrity - Will Turnitin be reviewed by your TA?  What guidelines do you want your TA to follow? 
  • Tutoring Parameters - Can your TA assist with homework assignments? 
• Roles in the classroom 
  • Prior to the course start, TA(s) can do the following: 
    • Review and QA the Canvas site 
    • Review for clarity and grammar 
    • Using Student View, check the links and make sure all sections are visible. 
      • Post announcements and set up groups 
  • Answer Canvas-related questions 
  • Answer content-related questions 
  • Assist in the Zoom classroom 
  • Learn and assist with other classroom applications 
• Grade and provide feedback (Note: TAs cannot grade Assurance of Learning assignments) 
• Determine timelines/ deadlines (Note: please see our Classroom Management Document) 
• Schedule tutoring sessions and/ or office hours (if applicable) 
• Review Learning Tools and Technology 

Touch-Base Meetings (Weekly) 

• Review any issues (e.g., Canvas, technical, student) 
• Reconfirm tasks for the next week (e.g., announcement posts, publishing content for student view, monitoring participation, sharing answer keys for grading) 
• Review Q & A from students 
• Keep notes on changes/improvements/suggestions for the next iteration of the course 

Course Debrief Meeting 

• Review and update notes for the next iteration of the course to share with the course lead and/or Teaching & Learning. 
• Gather feedback from your TA on their experience 
• Consider inviting TA back for the next course offering 

Resources 

Here are some tools that you can use and share with your TA: 

• Faculty-TA Initial Calibration- a check list of important topics to review. 
• Classroom Management Template - a spreadsheet that outlines assignment due dates, expected grading completion and classroom tasks. 
• Zoom Classroom Session Checklist 
• Canvas Roles and Permissions Guide 
• Canvas FAQs 

Timesheets and Approvals for Your Teaching Assistant 

As the supervisor, you will need to review and approve timesheets for your TA(s) weekly. For a more efficient review process, please ask your employees to record hours worked and task(s) completed on their timesheet. Carey uses two online timekeeping applications for recording and approval of TA working hours: TimesheetX and Harvest. TimesheetX is used for all current student employees at Johns Hopkins University. Harvest is used for TAs who are casual employees. 

General Information 

The work-week is defined as Monday-Sunday. TAs should submit their hours by Sunday of each work week. As their supervisor, you will review/approve timesheets no later than noon on the following Monday. 

There is no sick, vacation, or holiday pay for student or casual TAs. 

Pay is issued on or about the 15th and 30th of the month. 

TAs cannot work more than 20 hours per week in total. As a reminder, your TA may be working for more than one supervisor. 

Resources 

Payroll Schedule 2024 

TimesheetX (you may have to login with your JHED to access) 

Harvest 

Pitch your ideas, put your business skills to the test, and compete in a case competition

Participating in a business-related case competition is one of the best ways to develop critical business and presentation skills, gain practical real-world industry experience, and network with experts and potential employers. Partner with Carey faculty to fine-tune your presentation and case analysis skills. And then put your theories to the test and present to leading executives around the world. With competitions hosted at Carey and funding available to register and travel to outside competitions, at Carey Business School you can compete and win in some of the most prestigious case competitions worldwide.

2025

CFA Institute Research Challenge

Five Carey students took home first place at the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area CFA Institute Research Challenge in February 2025, advancing to the sub-regional round of the global competition. This achievement marks Carey’s sixth win in the last eight competitions in which they had a competing team.

2024

2024 iOme Challenge

A team of four first-year MBA students and two MS in Finance students won the 2024 iOme Challenge. The iOme Challenge is a prestigious national student competition that tasks participants with analyzing the current state of retirement policy in the United States and proposing viable policy solutions to address the needs of their generation. Participating teams respond to the annual iOme Challenge question with an essay and public policy proposal. The six Carey students wrote their response paper titled, “Investing in Our Future: A Transition to Sustainable Retirement Security.”

2024 Venture Capital Investment Competition

A team of four Carey students won first place at the 2024 New England Regional Finals of the Venture Capital Investment Competition in Boston. This marks the first win in Carey history at the regional round of the competition. The VCIC is a competition where teams of participants act as venture capitalists for the day and evaluate startups for potential funding. The teams conduct extensive research, draft a term sheet for their selected startup, and present findings to a panel of professional venture capitalist judges.

2023

Howard University’s 27th Annual MBA Exclusive Conference: 18th Annual Minority Case Competition 

A team of Carey students took home first place and $12,000 at the 18th Annual Minority Case Competition, held during the MBA Exclusive Conference at Howard University. This year’s competition was sponsored by the NobleReach Foundation and themed “Leveraging Innovation and Entrepreneurship for National Competitiveness.” The case focused on the United States’ response to substantial adversarial investments in digital infrastructure and the need to create a mission-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem to remain competitive. The Carey team developed a comprehensive strategy to build the ecosystem, aligning entrepreneurs, investors, universities, students, communities, and government agencies. The strategy aimed to ignite a wave of innovation that would transform the entrepreneurial landscape, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable and responsible society. Students had a week to plan, strategize, and solve the case to then present their ideas to a panel of judges.

2022

BioNJ Health Equity in Clinical Trials MBA Business Plan Case Competition

A team of Johns Hopkins Carey Business School students took home the first-place prize, winning $10,000, at the BioNJ’s inaugural MBA Business Plan Case Competition. The Carey team, consisting of five MBA/MPH students, developed a business plan that outlined a new health equity solution in clinical trials. The competition is designed to promote next-generation innovators and to identify new methods and models to strengthen clinical trial diversity and expand health equity.

MIT Sloan Operations Simulation Competition

A team of Carey students took first place, winning $2,000, at the 18^th annual MIT Sloan Operations Simulation Competition, held virtually on April 20-22, 2022. This marks the third win by a Carey team in the last four competitions, making Johns Hopkins the best-performing business school (tied with MIT Sloan) in competition history.

CFA Institute Research Challenge

A Carey student team placed first in the annual local DC/Baltimore CFA Institute Research Challenge. The competition requires students to research and analyze a publicly traded company, write a report, and present a buy, sell, or hold recommendation to a panel of industry experts.

Case competitions Carey participates in

CFA Institute Research Challenge

The annual CFA Institute Research Challenge is a global competition requiring students to research and analyze a publicly traded company, write a report, and present their buy, sell, or hold recommendations to a panel of industry experts. Teams are judged based on their research, analytical, valuation, report writing, and presentation skills.

Danaher Case Competition

The annual Healthcare Business Association case competition is sponsored by global science and technology innovator Danaher Corporation. Student teams from universities across the nation traveled to Baltimore to compete for the $7,500 first-place prize, on a case judged by a panel of Danaher Health IT subject experts and business leaders.

Graduate Consulting Club Case Competition

The Johns Hopkins Graduate Consulting Club Case Competition’s annual competition brings together students and fellows from across the country to work on some of the most pressing challenges in today's health care sector. Interdisciplinary teams comprised of students from across multiple schools, programs and departments. 40 schools competed in the April 23, 2021 case competition sponsored by HighMark Health.

MIT Sloan Operations Simulation Competition

This intense, 48-hour simulated competition requires teams to improve the efficiency of a hypothetical near-bankrupt firm. Graduate students from top business schools across the globe aim to run the most profitable factory with rankings based on their ending cash balances.

Venture Capital Investment Competition

In this annual competition, student teams play the role of venture capitalists who are looking to invest in one of the startups presenting at the event. Student teams are assessed on the investment opportunities and pitching an investment strategy to the judges. The winning team of the local (Carey students only) competition win a spot in the regionals.

Past case competitions

2021

Danaher Case Competition

Carey students placed second in the 2021 virtual Danaher Case Competition. This competition focused on the rapid growth of at-home lab testing and issues related to effectiveness, efficiency, and inequities in access.

KeyBank Ohio State University Minority MBA case competition

A Carey Business School team took first place, winning $10,000, in the KeyBank Ohio State University Minority MBA Case Competition.

Arthur Page Society - Student Case Competition

Carey student, Rhianna Taniguchi, placed first in the business school category with her submission, "Turning a Moment into a Movement: Why the NBA said 'Black Lives Matter.'"

UNC/Duke Case Competition

Carey students placed third in the UNC/Duke Case Competition. The competition brings together graduate students (Master’s, PhD, JD, MD) and provides the opportunity for teams to apply their analytical skills and creativity in a real-world context, by solving a real-world business problem.

2020

MIT Operations Simulation Competition

For the second consecutive year, a Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School student team took the top prize at the annual MIT Sloan Operations Simulation Competition.

Amazon Case Competition

The Carey Business School team took the top spot at the 2020 Reaching Out MBA conference— the largest gathering of LBGTQ+ business students and alumni.

Harvard Global Case Competition

A team of Johns Hopkins students placed third in Harvard University’s annual Global Case Competition on April 25, 2020. The team, which included four Carey students, team faced off against 160 other teams from around the world.

2019

Kellogg Biotech and Healthcare Case Competition

A four-member team of Johns Hopkins University students, including two from the Carey Business School, has won first place in the 16th annual Kellogg Biotech and Healthcare Case Competition.

MIT Operations Simulation Competition

A Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Global MBA team took top prize in the 15th annual MIT Sloan Operations Simulation Competition, held April 7, 2019, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.