INFORMATION for TEACHING ASSISTANTS
Last Updated 6-15-10
a. Who gets What
4. Helpful Links for New TAs -- Especially for Summer Instructors
SUMMARY
-- BASIC DUTIES for Various TA Assignments
TA for PSY
200 Introduction to Psychology:
TA
responsibilities usually include taking attendance at the lectures,
setting up audio-visual equipment, assisting in the proctoring of
exams, keeping grade rolls, holding some office hours, etc.
Depending upon the situation and the Primary Instructor, an
opportunity to present a guest lecture may be available.
Primary
Instructor
Primary
Instructors have full responsibility for a specific course or
section. (This assignment involves more than just
serving as a Discussion-Leader or support staff).
Although a Primary Instructor may certainly seek help/advice
from appropriate faculty members, the Primary Instructor does have
the duty to organize the course, prepare the syllabus, teach the
class (using whatever methods best fit the course content), hold
office hours, provide evaluation procedures (e.g., exams, term
papers, projects, etc.), grade student products, provide feedback,
and submit final grades in a timely fashion at the end of the
semester.
Primary
instructors are also responsible for ordering whatever textbooks will
be used in their class(es). The
following link lets the bookstore know what book(s) you wish students
to buy, and approximately how many copies should be on hand at the
start of the semester:
http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/ncsubookstores/departments/textbooks/requests.html
(After you have ordered your materials, please print a copy of
the order form and provide it to the receptionist in Poe 640, so that
we have a record of books for all courses.)
If you need to
obtain an instructor's copy/desk copy from the publisher, you can
usually contact them directly (by phone or via the web).
If you have not requested such desk copies previously, the
publisher may call the main office to confirm your teaching status. The requested materials should then be sent
directly to you. Occasionally,
there is a problem receiving requested texts, but this does not
happen often.
Auxiliary-Support
Assignments:
The
Coordinator/Director for your "concentration" will be responsible for
identifying your specific duties. Those duties may involve
assisting a particular faculty member with a course that can use some
extra help, but which does not normally have a TA, or they might
involve helping the faculty member with his/her scholarly activities.
Alternatively,
your assignment could involve providing short-term assistance to
several different faculty members during the semester.
Another possibility would be assisting with administrative
work relevant to operating the program itself.
Usually, such
auxiliary assignments make up no more than half of a TA’s total
commitment (i.e., approximately 10 hours/week), leaving the remainder
of the 20 hours for handling other duties (e.g., working for a PSY
200 Instructor).
In a few cases,
it may be necessary to modify an auxiliary assignment to accommodate
some new or unexpected special need of the department. If such a situation should arise, all parties (TA,
Program Coordinator, etc.) will be contacted as soon as possible.
Assistance
for Upper-Level Courses
PSY 307 is our
undergraduate I/O Psychology course.
TA responsibilities may include taking attendance at the
lectures, setting up audio-visual equipment, assisting in proctoring
exams, keeping grade rolls, holding some office hours, etc.
For the Distance Education class, TAs often handle
correspondence with students. Your
specific duties will be explained in more detail by the Primary
Instructor(s) for the course. Depending upon the Primary Instructor,
an opportunity to present a guest lecture may be available.
PSY 311 is our
undergraduate Social Psychology course.
TA responsibilities may include taking attendance at the
lectures, setting up audio-visual equipment, assisting in proctoring
exams, keeping grade rolls, holding some office hours, etc.
Your specific duties will be explained in more detail by the
Primary Instructor(s) for the course. Depending upon the Primary
Instructor, an opportunity to present a guest lecture may be
available.
Laboratory
TAs for the Stats/Methods Courses (the PSY 240-243 sequence)
TAs assigned to lab sections in the statistics/methods sequence also have a responsibility to work with the person in charge of the lecture class to which that lab is attached. This responsibility may include attendance at the lectures, assistance in proctoring exams, etc. The Primary Instructor for the main lecture has overall responsibility for the entire course, including labs. The Lab TA is primarily responsible for running her/his assigned lab section, presenting problems and answering questions, grading any homework and (often) providing a grade for student performance in the Lab.
Note that PSY 240-243 is being replaced by a one-semester course that will be taught in a large lecture section. Although this new course will continue to require TA support, the exact duties of such TAs will probably be different than the typical duties in the previous "Labs." It is not possible as of this date to be specific, because the entire course will be taught for the first time in Fall 2009.
Discussion
Leaders
TAs assigned to
discussion sections for the PSY 376 Developmental Psychology class
also have a responsibility to work with the person in charge of the
lecture to which that discussion section is attached.
This responsibility may include attendance at those lectures,
assistance in proctoring exams, etc.
The Primary Instructor for the main lecture has overall
responsibility for the entire course, including discussion sections. You will be primarily responsible for running the
indicated discussion sections. Note
that no separate grades are given for the Discussion Sections;
students receive one overall grade for the course as a whole.
Advising
Office
Assignment is
to provide assistance in the Advising Office, Department of
Psychology, under the supervision of Dr. Karen Young, Coordinator for
Undergraduate Advising. You should discuss issues such as specific
duties and the scheduling of your activities with Dr. Young.
She will serve as your supervisor and will submit the usual
performance evaluation to me at the end of each semester.
Orientation
Class plus Advising Office
PSY 220 is our
Orientation to Psychology class.
TA responsibilities usually include taking attendance at the
once-per-week classes, setting up audio-visual equipment, keeping
grade rolls, holding some office hours, etc.
The Primary Instructor will describe your specific
responsibilities in more detail and will submit the usual performance
evaluation to me at the end of the semester.
The second half
of your assignment is to provide assistance in the Advising
Office, Department of Psychology,
under the supervision of Dr. Karen Young, Coordinator for
Undergraduate Advising. You should discuss issues such as specific
duties and the scheduling of your activities with Dr. Young.
She will serve as your supervisor and will submit the usual
performance evaluation to me at the end of each semester.
I anticipate
that each part of your assignment will take approximately 10
hours/week, but -- within the overall 20-hour expectation -- any
distribution of time is OK, as long as it best serves the needs of
PSY 220, the Advising Office and Dr. Young.
Lead-TA for
PSY 200
The position of
Lead-TA requires some prior experience as a regular Intro-TA. The
Lead-TA is responsible for advising both Intro-TAs and new faculty on
the details of running the large sections of PSY 200 -- software for
keeping track of attendance, where to get exams graded, handling of
make-up exams, etc. It also involves the ability to handle details
with care, consideration and confidentiality, as the situation
requires. The Lead-TA may be
responsible for instructing both TAs and faculty in using SONA -- the
system for scheduling volunteers for student/faculty research. The
day-to-day operation of the system, however, is the responsibility of
a departmental staff member.
Applied
Psychology Support
PSY 495 is the
primary course associated with our second undergraduate major –
the concentration in Applied Psychology.
It provides academic credit for the variety of non-traditional
activities that make the Applied Psychology option unusual.
Several different duties may be involved in providing
assistance to the Primary Instructor and she will describe the
necessary details.
School
Psychology Support
This assignment
involves providing general support for the School Psychology
program.
The specific work schedule will be determined by mutual
agreement between the TA and the supervisor – usually, the
Coordinator/Director for School Psychology.
ROLE
of the SUPERVISOR or TEACHING SUPERVISOR(S)
Every TA is assigned a Supervisor – who is responsible for providing an overall evaluation of her/his performance at the end of each semester.
For a TA serving as a Primary Instructor , the
"Teaching" Supervisor is usually either a faculty member who
frequently has charge of the same course or a faculty member who is
familiar with the course content.
You should feel free to call upon your Teaching Supervisor as
necessary when you have questions or concerns about the course.
If you have duties that place you in front of a class, to
lecture or lead a discussion, etc., then your supervisor should
attend at least one class during the semester (two, if this is your
first semester teaching) and provide you with feedback.
A standard observation form is available for this purpose.
In the
event that an “assisting-TA” is assigned to help a Primary
Instructor who is him/herself another graduate student, an additional
supervisor will be appointed. This will be a faculty member
who can serve as a mediator, should there be any dispute between the
assisting-TA and the Primary Instructor.
Although the day-to-day operation of a course is the
responsibility of the Primary Instructor, regardless of whether that
person is a faculty member or a graduate student, in the rare case of
serious conflict, the back-up, faculty supervisor will make any final
decisions, based upon what appears necessary for the well-being of
the class.
GSSP
BENEFITS AND NOTIFICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY CASHIER
Who gets What?
As part
of the Graduate Student Support Plan (GSSP), your TA appointment may carry any or all of the
following benefits:
---
student health insurance
--- a
waiver of in-state tuition
---
full coverage of the additional tuition required for non-resident
students.
Important
Notes:
(1)
Any TA earning at least a minimum stipend (e.g., $8,000 or
above, per calendar year) and enrolled for at least the specified
minimum course-load (see below) receives health insurance coverage
under the Graduate Student Health Plan. If a TA is covered by a
comparable policy (as through a spouse’s employment), it is
possible to waive the TA coverage.
(2)
Generally, if the same conditions of stipend level and
enrollment are met, TAs receive full-time tuition at the in-state
rate for each of their initial years in the program.
If a TA continues to be awarded assignments in later years,
tuition coverage will eventually cease. Generally, a student
entering with a relevant prior masters degree is allowed up to four
years of tuition coverage; a student entering with a BA/BS may
receive tuition for up to five years. In certain cases, one extra
year of tuition coverage is possible, if approved by the Graduate
School. Such extensions must be requested and always require that the
student have completed all of his/her planned course-work (i.e., all
courses listed on the "Plan of Work") and must have already passed
the Preliminary Qualifying Exams. Once a TA has exceeded these time
limits -- whether or not he/she has received actual support during
the previous semesters -- tuition support is no longer possible and
we have been asked to refrain from requesting it.
(3)
A TA who is eligible to become a NC resident for tuition
purposes is expected to perform the necessary “residentiary
acts” (such as changing one’s driving license, car
registration, voter registration, financial institutions, etc.)
immediately upon arrival, so that he/she may apply for in-state
status before the second year. During
the initial semesters as a non-resident, the GSSP package will
include coverage of the full non-resident differential tuition, as
well as the base (in-state) tuition.
If a student is legally barred from becoming a NC resident,
then the non-resident portion of the tuition charges will continue to
be covered under the GSSP, for the same duration as coverage of the
base tuition.
To be
eligible to receive the teaching assistantship and the associated
GSSP benefits, a TA must be registered for a full-time load --
usually, at least nine credit hours each semester. One exception
occurs if ALL of the requirements on the student’s
doctoral Plan of Work have been
completed AND the student has passed Prelims.
The TA is then eligible to register for three hours of PSY
899, while retaining full-time status.
Please note that no other courses may be combined with this
registration; enrollment must be for exactly 3 hours of PSY 899.
The
above statements are summarized.
To be certain of detailed rules, ALL TAs SHOULD BE FAMILIAR
WITH REQUIREMENTS OUTLINED IN THE GSSP Handbook, available at: http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/grad_financialService/
Telling the Cashier -- Avoiding Schedule Cancellations!
Prior
to the start of each semester, all students receive bills from the
university for the upcoming academic session.
TAs should follow the procedure below, to avoid unintentional
cancellation of their class schedules.
When
you receive your Tuition Bill, be sure to go to the Cashier's Office
website (http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/cashier/forms/sponsor.asp)
and complete the Notice of Sponsorship form by the due date shown on
your semester’s bill. Indicate
"GSSP" as your third-party sponsor. For the third-party sponsor contact information
(name, phone number and e-mail address), put “Katie Lester,
515-4429, and Katie_Lester@ncsu.edu.” For "amount," enter the
on-campus tuition rate for the total hours registered (see http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/cashier/tuition/gradtuition.asp)
and indicate that your sponsor (GSSP) will pay for tuition
only. You will also need to submit payment for your own
fees; fees are not paid by the GSSP.
INFORMATION FOR FIRST-TIME INSTRUCTORS (especially for Summer TAs):
To be Revised; the new Student Information System (SIS) has probably altered some details.
This message is directed more toward those who will be teaching for the first time in a summer session, but there may be something useful for many other first-time instructors. Because we have not yet established a regular class or workshop on teaching, as I had hoped to have in place by the coming summer, it will still be the case that the best source for advice on teaching any specific course is one of the faculty who teach the same course during the academic year. If unsure of who normally teaches a particular class, check PackTracks for the most-recent Spring or Fall semester (or, if a class is usually taught by a TA, ask that instructor to identify his/her supervisor).
Beyond that advice, however, here are some items you may find helpful. Note that some of these sites will require your unity ID and PW to enter them. Others are open information.
(1) There is a general handbook for Teaching Psychology at NCSU available at my web page. Note that some of the specific directions at the rear of the handbook -- for copying syllabi or handouts, checking out equipment, etc. -- are in need of revision. Candi Jacobs is no longer with the department; we are in the process of hiring a new staff member; staff locations and responsibilities are in flux. I wish I had exact answers; please ask Chris in Poe 628 or Veronica or Cristina in Poe 640 and they'll try to help, while our new organizational structure is developing. See Qiana Harvey in Poe 640, for information on financial issues. Send me email, if I can help. The URL for the Teaching Psychology is: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~mershon/FDF/Documents To download a copy, you will need to scroll almost to the bottom of the page and then click on the "Here" at the end of the line which reads: "NOTE: For the first two weeks of each semester, this Handbook may be accessed HERE."
(2) Course Syllabus. The university has a web page describing the material that should be included in a syllabus. Again, faculty are often willing to share their syllabi, so that you can have a place to start. You'll find the list of required syllabus content at: http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/courses_undergrad/REG02.20.7.php
(3) A (more-full-than-you'll-want) list of academic regulations is at: http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/sitemap.php#acad-pols_regs
(4) The Disability Services Office is at: http://www.ncsu.edu/provost/offices/affirm_action/dss/
(5) The Office of Student Conduct is at: http://www.ncsu.edu/student_affairs/osc/
(6) The Registrar's Portal is at: http://www.ncsu.edu/registrar/ You will be able to sign in as a faculty member ("Faculty/Staff Access" at the bottom-left), once your name has been entered in the system. This is the entrance you will use for getting your class roll, entering grades, etc.
(7) If you specifically want to see how grades have run in various courses in the past, you can access grade distributions via MyPackPortal, under the heading Guides and Statistics.
(8) Your exam schedule can be found at: http://www.ncsu.edu/registrar/calendars/
(9) Ordering Textbooks. This is often a difficult issue, because there is an unavoidable lead-time requirement to have books on the shelves for the start of classes. Yet, it can take a while before new instructors are entered into the system, so that they may order their texts. Part of the problem, especially for new instructors, is that HR requires we follow a fairly lengthy process. Some steps are required, even for continuing TAs, but for anyone entirely new, we must obtain an employee number before we can enter you into PackTracks as the primary instructor for a given class.
For the present, you may find the following approach quicker. Try going to the older book-request page at:: http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/ncsubookstores/departments/textbooks/requests.html Enter the information on your text and then submit. This page should take your request, even before you are formally listed. (The Bookstore will likely contact the department, to ask whether you are "legit," but we should be able to confirm that and all will be well.) Note, however, that this input-site may be taken off-line unexpectedly at some point in the future.
(10) Once you are listed in PackTracks, you should also have access to either Wolfware or Vista (see below), so that you can set up a web site for your course, if you wish. I'm sorry I have no work-around for getting this access. Keep checking in PackTracks, to see when you're listed. Please note that these systems are being replaced -- by Moodle?
WOLFWARE -- obtain access at: https://webauth.ncsu.edu/wrap-bin/was16.cgi?affil You may then need to use the following URL to actually establish a "locker" for your course: https://wolfware.ncsu.edu/wrap-bin/admintool?task=rnl. Depending upon your browser and system, it might be necessary to copy-and-paste the second URL into your browser, while you are on the "User Authenticated" page. Hitting RETURN should then take you to the necessary location to request the locker. (This works, although short-cuts are probably available. The hassle seems to go away after your first access.)
VISTA -- obtain access at: http://vista.ncsu.edu/ After logging-in with your unity ID and PW, you should be taken directly to the page for setting up your course.
I hope this will get everyone started, and may even include something useful to the "old hands."