French and Italian Appointment Procedures

Hiring Policies and Practices for Teaching Assistants

1. All applicants to our graduate programs who check off the appropriate box on the Graduate School application form are automatically considered for Teaching Assistantships at the time their applications are reviewed. The review is carried out by the Graduate Admissions and Awards committee of the department and the Graduate Program Director.

2. Students admitted to our programs are ranked by the GAA committee and the GPD for the purposes of awarding TAships. In general, criteria used for ranking are the sames as those used to determine admissibility to the program: undergraduate records, personal statement, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, work experience - especially teaching, or other work involving use of the target language(s), and foreign study in target language(s). For the purpose of awarding TAships, relevant work and foreign study experience weigh more preponderantly than in the overall admissions decision.

3. Students may be offered either a "full" or a partial TAship. A "full" TAship involves teaching three course sections (or equivalent) in an academic year. Partial TAships involve teaching one or two course sections (or equivalent) in an academic year.

4. Students awarded a full or partial TAship upon admission normally have the TAship renewed, subject to satisfactory academic progress (a 3.5 GPA) and teaching evaluations. At the Master's level, students are normally renewed for one additional year; at the doctoral level, students are renewed for two additional years after the year of admission, or for a total of three additional years beyond the Master's level if the Master's degree was completed in our program. A "year" consists of two semesters, beginning with the semester of first entry into the program (e.g. a student who enters the program and begins a TAship in the Spring semester would have her/his second year begin the following Spring semester).

5. In cases where a partial TAship is awarded upon entry into the program, the department makes every effort to award a full TAship in subsequent renewable years.

6. In cases where a student enters the program in the Spring semester, it is often the case that a TAship cannot be commenced until the following Fall, given budgetary restrictions. The awarding of the TAship is made at the time of admission, however, and is not subject to ranking among those meeting the spring admission deadline and entering the program the following Fall.

7. In cases where a student voluntarily chooses to defer admission to the program to a semester other than the one for which s/he is admitted, the application for a TAship is ranked and reconsidered along with applicants for the semester in which the student intends to actually enter the program.

8. In the fall, graduate students are asked to indicate whether they would be interested in teaching during Wintersession. Normally, applications are due by the end of October and decisions announced by Thanksgiving. In the spring, students are asked whether they would be interested in teaching during the summer. Normally, applications are due by the beginning of Spring break and decisions are announced by the end of March. The GAA committee and the GPD review applications and recommend assignment of teaching responsibilities to the department Chair. Seniority, competence based upon teaching evaluations and faculty classroom visits, and experience are the principal selection criteria for these intensive courses. Accordingly, students whose normal TAships have expired may be given hiring priority for winter and summer sessions.