Currently, graduate instructors teach three courses over two semesters to fulfill their assistantship. During the first year, they teach within the Introductory Writing Program. After the first year of teaching, opportunities broaden to include a variety of teaching experiences:

In Fall 2003, first-year composition began a transition from two three-hour courses to one four-hour course. This course will meet four times per week with one of those meetings in a computer classroom. Graduate instructors teaching the new course will teach two four-hour courses per year for their assistantships.

Teaching in computer networked environments is available in most of the writing programs. All business and technical writing classes, for example, are taught in such environments.

Other computer assignments are available in support of distance learning efforts, the Online Writing Lab (Purdue OWL), the Online Writing Instructor, and teaching in networked classrooms.

Graduate instructors are also eligible for positions in writing program administration and teacher preparation. Several advanced graduate instructors serve as assistants to the directors of first-year composition, professional writing, and the graduate program in rhetoric & composition. Advanced graduate instructors may also serve as mentors of new teachers of writing.