Department of Political Science | University of Massachusetts Amherst
DESCRIPTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES
Faculty
You are teaching an undergraduate course to which Teaching Assistants (TAs) or graders have been assigned.
Their assignment is a 20 hour per week position for 19 weeks. For the 2019-2020 academic year the Fall
appointment begins September 3, 2019 and ends January 11, 2020, and the Spring appointment begins January
12, 2020 and ends May 23, 2020. It is your responsibility to supervise your TAs or graders in duties pertaining to the course. TAs and graders are not to be asked to carry out duties unrelated to the course.
Key Responsibilities with regard to Teaching Assistants
1. Provide your TAs with your contact information, and indicate your preferred mode of communication
(email, cellphone, landline, etc.) in the event of an emergency.
2. Coordinate the timing of your office hours with those of your TAs.
3. Meet at the beginning of the semester with TAs to establish common expectations about scheduling,
assignments, the conduct of discussion sections, and any other aspects of the course you deem
necessary.
4. Meet with your TAs on a regular basis during the course of the semester to monitor TA performance,
discuss section lesson plans, and facilitate communication concerning student learning in the course and
across sections.
5. Establish with your TAs shared standards for grading each type of assignment to assure fairness and
consistency.
6. Communicate expectations for grading in a timely manner.
7. Be available to TAs in the event that they encounter problems in a section or with a particular
undergraduate student. If a TA is unable to resolve a problem, intervene in a timely fashion.
8. Provide general mentoring on teaching as needed.
9. Encourage, if appropriate, your TAs to lecture to the entire class as part of a teacher development plan.
In this circumstance, you are expected to inform your TAs early in the semester of this plan, and provide
mentorship in lecture preparation.
10. Fill out end-of-term TA evaluation forms by the date determined by the Graduate Program Director.
11. Meet immediately with a TA in the event that he or she is not fulfilling basic TA responsibilities. If this
intervention does not resolve the problem, contact the Graduate Program Director.
Key Responsibilities with regard to Graders
1. Provide your graders with your contact information, and indicate your preferred mode of communication
(email, cellphone, landline, etc.) in the event of an emergency.
2. Coordinate the timing of your office hours with those of your graders.
3. Meet at the beginning of the semester with graders to establish common expectations about scheduling,
assignments, and any other aspects of the course you deem necessary.
4. Establish with your graders shared standards for grading each type of assignment to assure fairness and
consistency.
5. Meet with your graders on a regular basis during the course of the semester to monitor performance.
6. Be available to graders in the event that they encounter problems with a particular undergraduate
student. If a grader is unable to resolve a problem, intervene in a timely fashion.
7. Provide general mentoring on grading as needed.
8. Fill out end-of-term grader evaluation forms by the date determined by the Graduate Program Director.
9. Meet immediately with a grader in the event that he or she is not fulfilling basic grader responsibilities.
If this intervention does not resolve the problem, contact the Graduate Program Director.