Duties and Responsibilites

The primary responsibilities of the Instructional Lab Assistant (IA) are to work directly with instructors and technical staff to support the provisioning of instruction using TAs and departmental infrastructure that are central to delivering undergraduate Computer Science and Software Engineering courses. They are an integral member of the instructional support team, collaborating with faculty, teaching assistants (TAs), and systems analysts to ensure computing tools, environments, workflows and presented labs meet instructional requirements.

The IA plays a central role in supporting SoCS’s large courses, which enroll 300–600 students per lecture section and require coordination across dozens of lab and tutorial sections. These courses often rely on complex software tools (version control, automated grading, containerized environments), large-scale lab exam infrastructure, and the coordination of the efforts of multiple teaching assistants.

Instructors and TAs rely on the IA for assistance with the deployment of autograders, setup of course-specific tooling, and coordination of TA logistics and teaching delivery. The IA develops and maintains operational documentation, assists with the delivery and invigilation of makeup exams, assists with the coordination and teaching consistency of the potentially large groups of TAs across courses and ensures that infrastructure for assessment delivery and academic integrity tools is properly configured and supported.

• The IA liaises with Student Accessibility Services (SAS) on behalf of faculty to implement infrastructure accommodations and support AODA compliance. They also monitor tool performance and recommend continuous improvements to ensure reliable and equitable access to course infrastructure. The IA must remain current with technical tools and pedagogical technologies and support the instructional team in creating a responsive, inclusive, and high-quality experiential learning experience for students.