Coordinators and Teaching Assistants / Fellows, 1

[Natalia Pylypiuk]

Dear Colleagues,
     My questions pertaining to the role of Coordinators / Language 
Program directors in the selection of teaching Assistants, etc.,  
elicited six responses. I will post these now in separate e-mail 
messages, devoting one per question. All identifying markers have been 
removed.  I sincerely thank the respondents and hope that their 
comments are useful to all colleagues who coordinate language courses 
and train graduate students.
     Kind regards,
     Natalia Pylypiuk, U of Alberta

> (Question 1)  Who in you department is responsible for assigning 
> Teaching Assistantships  and/or Teaching Fellowships to Graduate 
> Students -- the Course Coordinator or the department's graduate 
> office? Does anyone else have a voice?
>

Respondent 1.
WE HAVE A COMMITTEE MADE UP OF ABOUT HALF THE FACULTY (ABOUT SIX ON THE 
COMMITTEE), INCLUDING THE CHAIR, THE GRADUATE STUDIES ADVISOR, THE 
LANGUAGE COORDINATOR, AND REPRESENTATIVES FROM LITERATURE AND 
LINGUISTICS.  INSTRUCTORS OF THE NON-LANGUAGE COURSES THAT HAVE 
GRADUATE STUDENT ASSISTANT INSTRUCTORS (DISCUSSION LEADERS AND GRADERS) 
ARE AMONG THOSE PRESENT.

Respondent 2.
The decision to offer grad students a Teaching Assistantship is made by 
the graduate studies committee (of which [the language coordinator is 
a] member because [s/he has] a tenured appointment).
      The assigning of a specific person to specific teaching duties has 
primarily been [the coordinator's]  responsibility with the consent of 
the chair. If we are giving TAships to new students, [the coordinator] 
will usually try to interview them in [Slavic language] before the 
offer is made.  If they are international students then the university 
requires us to certify their ability to speak both English and the 
language to be taught by a committee of no less than three people, one 
of whom must be a student.

Respondent 3.
The decision is made jointly by the chair and the language program 
coordinator.  The graduate students also have a voice (in stating their 
preferences for what kind of teaching), and faculty members who are 
going to have a TA (e.g., for large enrollment general education 
classes) also give input as to who they will work with.

Respondent 4.
Few Slavic Departments have either a course coordinator or a graduate 
office.  [Our multi-lingual dept.] has a language program coordinator 
[who] has the voice in the process.  [The coordinator] used to serve on 
the admissions and fellowship
committee but stepped down when [the coordinator] became [an officer] 
of the department. [The coordinator] still interviews prospective grads 
to assess their spoken [Slavic language]  with an eye to teaching 
assignments.  [The coordinator]  also makes the decision as to who can 
teach at what level.  We have a rigorous language testing program for 
grads:  if they don't have strong enough [Slavic language], they can't 
(and don't) teach.

Respondent 5.
At  [our university]  we appoint a committee chaired by the Graduate 
Student Coordinator. The Committee evaluates the applications and ranks 
them; this ranking is given to the rest of the faculty who approve or 
disapprove the ranking at an open meeting. It should be noted that we 
have all applicants submit to a written exam in [Slavic language] and 
we conduct phone interviews to determine oral fluency if there is any 
doubt. Then the Chair awards one, two, or three quarter TAships 
according to that year's needs in the four levels of [Slavic language] 
we offer. The actual coordinator of first and second year [Slavic 
language] then directs the orientation of the TA's and continually 
evaluates their teaching throughout the year.

Respondent 6.
TAship decisions are made at a departmental meeting at which all 
faculty have a voice, including the coordinator. But if a student has a 
multi-year aid package, it is clear in advance that they have a 
TAship--just not which course they are doing. [The coordinator] has a 
lot of input about which TAs get to do which courses, unless there is a 
particular wish to have a certain TA get a turn at the literature 
courses in translation.

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