PhD students are required to serve as a GTA at least once prior to their third year of study. They are also required to complete a TA development course — CETL 8802 — during their first semester as a doctoral student. This course is offered Fall and Spring and is 2 credits.
Center for Teaching and Learning (CETL)
This course will support students in meeting their teaching requirement. Students may utilize OMSCS courses to meet their GTA requirement.
PhD GRA students are paid to GTA with the expectation of 20 hours of work per week including exam week.
PhD students are required to complete CETL 8802 during their first semester as a doctoral student. The requirement is that all incoming PhD students take the course in their first fall. They are then available to begin as a GTA in their first spring. CETL 8802 is only taught in fall and spring.
Exemptions from taking the CETL TA class will be granted only in exceptional circumstances (such as someone with many years full time teaching experience), and are at the discretion of the PhD Associate Chair. Exemptions are not granted from the GTA requirement itself.
Q: Must the classes for which a student GTAs be taught by an IC faculty member during the academic year?
Yes, the class must be in IC, because it is IC that is providing the back-up funding for the student. Summer school GTAing does not count for a similar reason, because IC is not financially involved in summer school payment of faculty or GTAs.
Q: Do students normally GTA for a course taught by their advisor?
Yes, this is the norm but is not required. A student might benefit by GTAing some other course.
Q: Are there limits on the class size of the class being GTAd in order for it to count?
Yes, the size must be 25 or more unless explicit prior approval for a smaller class has been given.
Q: Does being Instructor of record count as a TAship for this requirement?
Yes, teaching a course rather than being GTA satisfies the GTA requirement.
Q: Would a student who is either a GTA or an instructor of record who has considerable prior teaching experience in high school, college or other venues still have to take the appropriate CETL TA class?
Almost certainly yes. See the CETL 8802 section above for the exemption policy.
Q: Is there an expectation that the TA provide at least one lecture to the class?
This is not required, but some faculty may choose to do so, and GTAs should request to do so if they want to have this experience.
Q: Does TAing an undergrad course count? Is there a preference, at least, for TAing grad courses?
Yes it does count. There is a preference that PhD students GTA graduate level courses, since MS students often are able to GTA undergrad courses.
Q: If I GTA in the summer does it meet my teaching requirement?
Yes, if the course is taught by a GT faculty member.
Q: What happens with CETL courses in the summer?
CETL 8802 is only taught in fall and spring; see the CETL 8802 section above for the timing requirement.
Students looking to teach a course in the summer must:
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