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Being a Graduate Student Instructor: What do I need to know?
Types of GSI Positions in Physics
Grader
A GSI in this role will be responsible for grading the majority of the assignments in a course. They may also oversee an undergraduate grader, be required to hold office hours, and/or attend the lecture for the course they are assigned.
Instructor
The primary responsibilities for this GSI will rest in teaching, either by leading a lab, running discussion sections, or co-teaching a lecture with a faculty member. They could also do grading, hold office hours, prepare lecture materials, create assignments/exams, and perform other course duties.
Assistant
Assistants help in the administration of a course by preparing lecture materials, managing Canvas, or creating exams and other assignments. They will have little to no teaching responsibilities. They may perform some grading and/or oversee undergraduates hired for the course.
LEAD GSIs
The Physics Department is allocated two Lead GSI positions for our Introductory Labs. One Lead GSI oversees the General and Honors Physics Labs (141/241) and the other oversees the Life Sciences Labs (151/251). The Lead GSIs work closely with faculty lab coordinators and the Introductory Labs Manager to oversee all aspects of instruction for each course. Lead GSIs typically need a minimum of two years of experience teaching in the intro labs before being considered for the position. If you are interested in this role, speak with one of the Lead GSIs or the faculty lab coordinator for the courses you're interested in.
IS THERE A TEACHING REQUIREMENT IN PHYSICS?
No, there is no departmental teaching requirement for our graduate students. However, if you are considering pursuing a career that involves teaching, we encourage you to research any possible teaching requirements institutions may have. One example being some smaller teaching colleges. We also encourage you to discuss any requirements with your advisor to make sure you’re on track for fulfilling your career goals. Teaching may be required to meet your funding needs at various times throughout your academic career.
What Happens First
The Physics Students Services Manager will collect the funding plans for each student at three different times of the year: in July (for Fall); in November (for Winter); and in March (for Spring/Summer). An email will be sent out to faculty and they will have about three weeks to submit the information. At the same time, you will receive an email from the Graduate Program Coordinator indicating that you should speak with your advisor about how you will be funded in the upcoming term. The Graduate Program Coordinator will then also email asking that the students needing to GSI in the next term fill out a form with their availability and teaching preferences.
What Happens Next
Once the deadline for funding plans passes, the Graduate Program Coordinator will work with the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies and the Student Services Manager to place students into available GSI positions. Faculty will often be consulted during this time, too, about the best fit for positions within their course.
The Paperwork
Once the placement of students for a course is complete, the Graduate Program Coordinator works with LSA Human Resources to create and distribute paperwork to students. When assigned to a course, you will be given a Fraction Calculation Form and an offer letter. Your offer letter will explain the terms of your position. The Fraction Calculation Form provides a rough hourly estimate of how your job responsibilities will be broken down. You are required to sign both the Fraction Calculation Form and the offer letter. You must return both signed documents to the Physics Student Services Office by the stated deadline. If paperwork is not signed and turned in by the stated deadline, your GSI position is forfeited and can be given to another student. The department then has no responsibility to place you into another position. When signing the documents, know that Human Resources will accept a hand signature or an e-signature. Digital signatures (i.e. typed versions of your name) are not accepted. Paperwork can be scanned and emailed to physics.sso@umich.edu or returned in person to 1440 Randall Lab. Any Student Services staff member is able to accept your paperwork. If you have questions about your appointment, you can speak with the Graduate Program Coordinator or the Student Services Manager.
University of Michigan Employee: As a GSI, you are officially considered an employee of the University of Michigan. As such, you are expected to conduct yourself in a professional manner and fulfill the responsibilities of your position to the best of your ability.
The Training Required for Your First Appointment
All Physics GSIs are required to attend two trainings before beginning their first appointment in the department. The first training session is hosted by the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT). Their GSI Teaching Orientation (GSITO) is held in late August for those who will GSI for the first time in Fall term; their other training session is in early January, for those who will first GSI in Winter term. GSITO typically spans two days and Physics GSIs must attend the full session. The Graduate Program Coordinator will register each first-time GSI for GSITO. Students will then receive attendance information from CRLT and be able to choose which workshops they'll participate in during the event.
The second training that first-time GSIs will undergo is at the department level. Nearly all GSIs in Physics begin in our introductory labs. A training is held by the two Lead GSIs and the Introductory Labs Manager the week before classes begin (typically in the same week as CRLT). GSIs will tour the lab spaces, learn about the equipment, how to troubleshoot issues, how to best answer undergraduates' frequently asked questions for each lab, receive guidance on how to give a lab lecture, and several other helpful tips/tricks. First-time GSIs will enroll in PHYSICS 993 and receive academic credit for their training and the weekly meetings they will have with supervisors.
Students continuing in GSI positions are not required to attend any further formal training. But, they should reach out to their assigned faculty supervisor upon receiving their appointment paperwork to learn more about their responsibilities and to see if any readings, meetings, or trainings are needed before classes begin.
International Students: International students whose native language is not English and who have not received a Bachelors degree from an English-speaking institution are required to have their language skills assessed by the UM English Language Institute before their first appointment. If you meet this criteria, the Graduate Program Coordinator will notify you and register you with ELI for an assessment. Most international students will need to take ELI 994, a course meant to assist non-native English speakers with communication skills for the classroom. More information is available on their website. At the conclusion of ELI 994, participants will take the Oral English Test and must pass with a score of 4 or higher to teach for the College of LSA.
CAN I GSI FOR ANOTHER DEPARTMENT?
Yes! Students regularly teach for other departments as a means to diversify their teaching portfolio. To be considered for positions in other units, you should reach out to their Graduate Program Coordinator and ask about their application process. Like our department, they will first place their own students into positions, but then they will open any leftover positions to students from other units. Sometimes, units reach out to Physics with their available positions; in this instance, the Physics Graduate Program Coordinator will advertise them via email out to the graduate students. If you are applying to a position outside of Physics, let the Graduate Program Coordinator know. That way, we can track your application with that unit and note what course you're assigned to if hired. Note that you can only GSI for up to 10 terms as an LSA student; appointments in other units do count towards that 10 term rule.
Accommodations for GSIs: As part of your employment, you can request accommodations to meet any physical or medical needs that you may have. To initiate this process, you can begin by contacting Physics Student Services or by working directly with Rackham Graduate School. For more information, visit this website.
Additional GSI Information
Additional GSI Information
Appointment Hours
As a GSI, you will be appointed in one of three fractions: 25% (.25), 35% (.35), or 50% (.50). The hourly expectations for these positions are detailed here under "Understanding Appointment Fractions." It is recommended that you track your time spent carrying out your responsibilities and talk with your faculty supervisor if you ever find yourself regularly under the weekly allowance or regularly over it. You are not required to report your hours in any centralized way. It is generally accepted that you are working the amount allocated to you, and you are paid accordingly. GSIs are paid on the last business day of the month, with some deviation in months where this day conflicts with holidays. If there is ever an issue with your pay, you can speak with the Graduate Program Coordinator or the Student Services Manager. University Payroll is also available, since you are a UM employee when appointed as a GSI.
The Physics Help Room
The Physics Help Room is located on the first floor of Randall Lab, in the same corridor as the Student Services Office. It has set hours that it is open each term; please consult the placard outside of the Help Room or speak with the SSO Intro Course Coordinator, who manages the Help Room. The Physics Help Room is meant to be a location where undergraduates can go to receive tutoring for their physics coursework, particularly the introductory courses. It is also open to GSIs who must conduct office hours (see below) and need a space to meet with students. GSIs assigned to 100- or 200-level courses often have required hours to work in the Help Room. If your appointment has this requirement, it will be found on the Fraction Calculation Form and will indicate the specific number of hours you are required to have each week. The Intro Course Coordinator will email everyone who is required to hold Help Room hours two weeks before the start of the term, asking them to sign up for specific times during the week. You will also be required to attend a short one-hour orientation with the Help Room faculty supervisor before the start of the term. Expectations for working in the Help Room will be covered as part of this orientation.
Office Hours
Some GSI positions require office hours. If your appointment has this requirement, it will be noted on the Fraction Calculation Form and will state just how many need to be done each week. Your office hours should be consistent, fall on weekdays, and be advertised to the students enrolled in the course. It is generally recommended that your office hours take place within either Randall or West Hall; holding your hours in the Physics Help Room is completely acceptable. Holding office hours in very public places (i.e. coffee shops) is generally discouraged, as sometimes students come to talk about the difficulties they are having in a course and privacy can be unattainable in those environments. If meeting in a semi-private/private place (i.e. your office) it is recommended that you leave the door open when meeting with a student.
Faculty Supervisors
Each course in Physics has an assigned faculty supervisor who is responsible for overseeing your work. Your faculty supervisor can be found in your offer letter. The intro labs faculty supervisors will reach out directly to their GSIs once placements are complete and before the term starts. For all other appointments, GSIs should take the initiative to reach out to the supervisor, introduce themselves, and request a pre-term meeting to go over responsibilities and expectations. Most appointments in Physics require weekly meetings with a faculty supervisor; this will be noted on your Fraction Calculation Form. Although rare, some students can experience conflicts in expectations with their faculty supervisor. If you are having difficulty working through these challenges, please speak with the Student Services Manager as soon as possible.
Student Accommodations
Sometimes students require accommodations to be able to fully participate and/or be given a chance to succeed in a course. The Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) is responsible for working with students on what accommodations they need and then drafting what is called a VISA form that details these accommodations to instructors. If you are an instructor on a course, a student should make you aware of their accommodations in the first two weeks of class. You should review the VISA form, note which accommodations are applicable for your course, and discuss with the student how they will be met. If you are unsure how to meet an accommodation, you can talk with the SSO Intro Course Coordinator, the Student Services Manager, or contact SSD directly. Know that you must reasonably meet all accommodations applicable to your course; an instructor cannot refuse to meet the accommodations. You should require a student to present a VISA form before meeting accommodations that they request from you.
GSI Appointment Preferences, Requests, and Placements
Many students want to teach in a specific course. While Student Services can take requests for placements and do our best to honor those requests, we cannot guarantee GSI placement in a preferred course. Students are placed in GSI positions based on a variety of factors including course scheduling, student availability, level of funding need, teaching experience, instructor preference, and more.
SEVIS/MRV Fee Reimbursement: All international students are required to pay the Student and Exchange Visitor and Information System (SEVIS) fee and the Machine Readable Visa (MRV) fee. As an international graduate student working as a GSI under the contract negotiated by GEO, you have the right to have the University reimburse you the amount of each fee. You may only be reimbursed for each fee once. To request the reimbursement for either fee, provide a copy of your receipt(s) and fill out the SEVIS/MRV Fee Reimbursement Form. Send both documents via email to physics.sso@umich.edu for processing.
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