TA Expected Responsibilities

These are a set of baseline expectations and responsibilities. Additional tasks based on specific course needs should be added as necessary. Communicating expected duties helps hold TAs accountable for their assigned tasks and hours worked. Templates are below the description of duties.

 

Templates

Based on an academic week timeframe. We recommend allocating hours for UTAs in 2 hour blocks and GTAs in 4 hour blocks.

 

General Role Template

• UTA:
  • Course Assignment Testing (2 hours)
  • Hold either an Office Hours Session (2 hours) and/or Forum Monitoring Session (2 hours)
  • Additional hours opportunities: holding additional Office Hours Sessions or Forum Monitoring Sessions, performing additional duties as assigned (exam or assignment creation) (Max hours per week: 10 hours)
• GTA:
  • Course Assignment Testing (4 hours)
  • Hold Office Hours / PSO Sessions (4 hours)
  • Forum Monitoring Day (8 hours)
  • Content development or Grading (4 hours)

 

Specialized Role Template

• UTA:
  • Forum Only
    • Course Assignment Testing (2 hours)
    • Forum Monitoring Sessions (4 hours)
    • Additional Forum Monitoring up to 10 hours / week total
  • Office Hour Only
    • Course Assignment Testing (2 hours)
    • Hold Office Hours Sessions (4 hours)
    • Additional Office Hours up to 10 hours / week total
  • Content Development Only
    • Course Assignment Testing (2 hours)
    • Performing course content duties as assigned (exam or assignment creation) (4 hours)
    • Additional content development up to 10 hours / week total
• GTA:
  • Grading Only
    • Course grading (20 hours)
    • Duties may be subdivided by dividing grading, running MOSS, etc.
  • Content Creation Only
    • Content creation (20 hours)
    • Duties may be subdivided by content creation, content testing, etc.
  • Coordinator Only
    • Course Coordination (20 hours)
    • Duties may be subdivided by TA organization, event facilitation, etc.
  • Student Interaction Only
    • Forum Monitoring / Office Hours / PSO (20 hours)
    • Duties may be subdivided by any combination of student interaction activities

 

Detailed Expectations & Responsibilities

 

Assignment Testing

• UTA:
  • All UTAs will complete the homework assignments or labs for the course
• GTA:
  • All GTAs will complete all assignments for the course

Forum Monitoring

• UTA:
  • Each UTA, who has signed up to be a forum monitor, will monitor the forum at scheduled times each week. During these monitoring sessions, the UTA will answer questions and respond to student comments as needed.
• GTA:
  • Each GTA will be assigned a day where they are responsible for monitoring the forum. The GTA will be responsible for answering questions the UTAs are not able to handle and ensuring no question goes unanswered.

Office Hours

• UTA:
  • UTAs who sign up for Office Hours will host an in-person or synchronous virtual conferencing session with students.
• GTA:
  • GTAs will host regular virtual conferencing sessions as needed each week.

Grading

• UTA:
  • UTAs may be required to grade low-stakes assignments. They should follow assignment grading guidelines outlined by their instructor and explain the grading policy to students.
  • They should coordinate with their peers and be consistent when grading so that their grading is fair and reliable. If a discrepancy exists between the grade a student thinks he or she has and the grade in the gradebook, they should resolve that discrepancy immediately.
  • Be familiar with the course academic integrity policy.
  • Document all grading.
• GTA:
  • Grade exams, quizzes, and lab assignments. They should follow assignment grading guidelines outlined by their instructor and explain the grading policy to students.
  • They should coordinate with their peers and be consistent when grading so that their grading is fair and reliable. If a discrepancy exists between the grade a student thinks he or she has and the grade in the gradebook, they should resolve that discrepancy immediately.
  • Be familiar with the course academic integrity policy.
  • Document all grading.