Applicability
Teaching Assistants
Policy purpose and description
Monies allocated by the College for teaching assistant stipends are paid to those graduate assistants involved in instruction. Their activities may include grading, leading discussion sections or laboratory sections, preparing instructional materials, or teaching stand-alone introductory courses with enrollments of 40 students or less. Graders typically are assigned only to tenured or tenure-track faculty, to distinguished senior visitors with heavily enrolled courses, or to other visiting faculty who have teaching assignments at least 50% greater than those of tenure-track faculty. Assigning a TA to a course at the 3000 level or above requires special permission from your area Associate Dean.
Procedure
Use of TAs as Primary Instructors
When assigning a TA to deliver the primary instruction in a course, the DEO must make certain that the assignment is appropriate. TAs should be primary instructors only in lower-division courses with small enrollments in which students are expected to do extensive writing or recitation. It is not appropriate to assign a TA to teach a lecture course or any course with an enrollment over 40 students.
Supervision of Teaching Assistants
The DEO must see that every teaching assistant is supervised by a faculty member. The course supervisor ensures that the course meets departmental and collegiate standards and that departmental and collegiate policies are adhered to. The course supervisor’s name must appear on the course syllabus.
Key contact
If you have questions, please contact your Area Associate Dean.
Last date reviewed or updated
July 2026