Expectations and Responsibilities of Graduate TAs
Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA) are critical to the Department. Graduate students should regard their GTA appointments as jobs as well as apprenticeships to gain valuable supervised teaching experience. The following describes Departmental expectations and responsibilities of GTAs.
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GTAs are expected to conduct their classes with utmost professionalism and treat students and professors with respect.
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When a GTA is leading a Discussion Section (DS), the GTA is expected to communicate with the primary instructor regarding the individual expectations and responsibility of the particular assignment on a regular basis starting at least one week before the appointment starts. All special requests regarding classroom conduct (such as change of schedule, dress, appropriate and inappropriate classroom behavior, and so on) and course content (i.e., material to be covered, textbooks, homework, and so on) should be consulted with the primary instructor of the course.
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When a GTA is conducting an independent course (i.e., teaching a section or a separate course without any specific faculty’s supervision), classroom conduct and content will be supervised by the Chair of the Department.
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Any expected absence from regular duties should be approved by the primary instructor or the Chair. Any unexpected absence should be reported to the Departmental office (414-229-4811) as soon as possible.
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33% (42%) appointment means 14 hours (17 hours) per week is spent on teaching, grading, and preparation.
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Any outside appointments (e.g., teaching at other UW institutions or part-time jobs) should be reported to the Graduate Program Director and Chair.
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GTAs should communicate on matters regarding their appointments with their primary instructor or the Chair.