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Fall GTA Orientation: 

Fall GTA Orientation

Purpose: 

Purpose To advise new graduate students on how to serve as a responsible and happy GTAs To describe the common responsibilities of GTAs Provide advice from experienced GTAs

Who is a Graduate Assistant?: 

Who is a Graduate Assistant? Research Assistant: A GRA is funded to assist a professor in research or to conduct her own research. Teaching Assistant: A GTA is funded to assist in the classroom or laboratory and may eventually be a “teacher of record” (TOR).

Who is a GTA?: 

Who is a GTA? GTAs have diverse responsibilities and varied experiences. Senior Learners* Colleagues in Training* Junior Colleagues* GTAs may have diverse relationships with their supervising professors E.g.. Employer-employee, Trainer-Colleague in training, Collaborating Peers *Jody D. Nyquist and Donald H. Wulff, Working Effectively with Graduate Assistants, Thousand Oaks, Ca.: Sage Publications, 1996

Working with “The Professor”: 

Working with “The Professor” Starting out Right: Introduce yourself Responsibilities Introduction to Students Clarification & Deadlines Office Hours

Working with “The Professor”: 

Working with “The Professor” Know Your Environment: Room & Technology Dress Code Printing When things don’t go well Intra-departmental politics

Campus Communication: 

Campus Communication E-mail : Daily, Official correspondence Copy (Cc) the professor to all official correspondence Cell-phones

Common Responsibilities: 

Common Responsibilities Attend Classes Read Textbook/assignments Maintain Seating chart Take attendance Take class notes Maintain office hours

Other Possibilities: 

Other Possibilities Editing work Proctor exams Prepare Mid-Semester Reports: Athletes Conduct Field Trips Research for Profs; Acquisition of materials …

Teaching Responsibilities : 

Teaching Responsibilities Sub Lecturing Tutoring / Review Sessions Grading

Substitute Lecturing: 

Substitute Lecturing Clarify expectations w/ Prof Balancing style Structuring your lecture Confidence Technology issues Access to room Expect to submit lecture notes to your Prof

Tutoring / Review Sessions: 

Tutoring / Review Sessions Frequency Location Content

Grading: 

Grading Allot hours at the end of the semester - do your own papers early. Grade and enter grades quickly; ask about expectations. Providing Reports: to students and prof Familiarize yourself with the Scantron machine.

Research Tools: 

Research Tools Library Webpage Two Libraries: Moody and Jones BearCat: http://www3.baylor.edu/Library/ OsoFast: ILL at Baylor, https://illiad.baylor.edu/illiad/logon.html Electronic Resources: https://www1.baylor.edu/ERD/Search/AdvancedSearch.aspx BearSpace: Storing Information, https://bearspace.baylor.edu

Student Issues: 

Student Issues Ethical Behavior (honesty, plagiarism, cheating, doing homework) http://www.baylor.edu/honorcode/ Special Services (OALA): http://www.baylor.edu/oala/

SET: 

SET Seminars for Excellence in Teaching Improves quality of undergrad education Assists departments in preparing teachers Documents SACS required training

SET: 

SET Requirements for TORs Prior to or during your first semester of teaching: Core Workshop 1 (180 minutes) Core Workshop 2 (120 minutes) Each subsequent semester you teach: One elective workshop (60 minutes)

“Working as a GTA”Q&A with a Panel of Senior GTAs: 

“Working as a GTA” Q&A with a Panel of Senior GTAs Lydia Cooper, English Ph.D. Michelle Porter, Spanish M.A. Alicia Myers, Religion Ph.D. Bracy Hill, Religion Ph.D.