Purpose

Students appointed to a Teaching Assistant (TA) position in the School of Information are to assist a faculty member with his or her instructional responsibilities. Such appointments provide an opportunity for students to develop mentoring relationships and specialized research or technology skills.

TA Pool

1. Teaching Assistantships are considered a financial award, and for this reason students must meet certain academic standards of maintaining a 3.5 GPA and not have any incompletes.
2. The Admission and Awards Committee selects iSchool students to be part of a TA pool, from which faculty can select their TA. Preference is given to iSchool students. Certain exceptions will be made if a faculty member is teaching a course or conducting research that requires a special skill set.
3. Faculty may expect assistance before the formal appointment period begins due to variations in first class day. The appointment periods are as follow:
   Fall, Sept 1 to Jan 15
   Spring, Jan 16 to May 31
   Summer I, June 1 to July 15
   Summer II, July 15 to August 31
   Entire Summer, June 1 - August 31
   

Responsibilities

TA’s can have a wide range of responsibilities depending on their assignment. TA’s working in a graduate school are not to do grading of other graduate students. Responsibilities can include leading review sessions and holding office hours, to leading field trips, and generating course web sites and other instructional material. Because responsibilities range so widely, as soon as you are notified of your TA appointment, arrange to meet with your supervisor to make plans for the semester.

Job Description and Expectations

Request that your supervisor prepare a job description and discuss specifically with your supervisor their expectations for the semester. The chart on the other side of this document offers suggestions for discussing these expectations.

Job duties form (doc)

TA Evaluation

The Admissions and Awards committee will distribute a TA evaluation form to faculty members at the end of the semester. This information will be helpful to the committee as they select students for the TA pool for upcoming semesters.

Miscellaneous Information

1. Obtain copy code and office supplies from Kathleen Adrian.
2. Request an office key from Dona Kurtz.
3. Obtain pay scale information and if you qualify for tuition enhancement from Dona Kurtz
4. Information on resident tuition entitlement.
5. Information on Library proxy cards