Teaching Assistant Resources
The Fall 2024 Teaching Assistant application is now open. Please submit your application no later than SUNDAY, JUNE 9 at 11:59PM EASTERN.
LINK TO APPLICATION: https://forms.gle/TnshzffHKpHyMVhS7
Graduate Teaching Assistantships at the College of Nursing
Many PhD students at UMass Amherst College of Nursing also work as Graduate Teaching Assistants. Teaching Assistantships offer an opportunity for PhD students to develop their leadership skills in a variety of teaching and learning settings including simulation labs, clinical sites, and in-person and online classrooms.
Teaching Assistantships often include the benefit of a waiver of tuition and curriculum fees for the semester, with some restrictions. Most involve working within nursing prelicensure programs located on either the main campus in Amherst or in the UMass Tower in Springfield. You can learn more about Teaching Assistantships in the CON Graduate Handbook under Graduate Assistantships.
Graduate Assistantship contracts are negotiated through the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO).
New Graduate Employee orientation and on-boarding is handled through the UMASS Graduate School's Human Resources Department.
For questions regarding availability of Graduate Teaching Assistantships, contact the PhD Program Director.
Teaching Assistant Orientation & Training
TA Preparation Checklist: All graduate TAs for the EMCON are asked to complete this checklist at the start of any new TA assignment, and email confirmation of checklist completion to Dr. Rae Walker (r.walker@umass.edu) no later than September 12.
Click here for TA Preparation Checklist
An overview of the Graduate Teaching Assistant role in the College of Nursing, including resources and software specific to CON programs, is included in the PhD student orientation held at the beginning of each new academic year.
The UMASS Amherst Graduate School's Office of Professional Development offers TA training and support throughout the year, via their online Teaching Academy.
Here are links to training videos covering content from previous Teaching Academies:
*If you have any difficulty accessing these videos, please check out this technical advice first.
Graduate Teaching Assistants are also trained in laws and policies protecting the privacy of students in the classroom, such as FERPA. Learn more about that here.
Additional Resources from the online Teaching Academy can be found here.
The UMASS Center for Teaching and Learning offers numerous additional trainings and resources, including Teaching Tips and Teaching Workshops.
The Instructional Design, Engagement, and Support Group (IDEAS) maintains numerous online tutorials and other resources related to software and platforms commonly used in courses offered by the College of Nursing. These include:
To access the full list of resources & tutorials, click here.
For technical assistance accessing or installing any of these platforms, Graduate Teaching Assistants can contact the IT Service Desk by email (itservicedesk@umass.edu) or via the Information Technology Services website.
Strategies for Success as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the College of Nursing
The courses to which Graduate Teaching Assistants are assigned are usually supervised by a faculty member who is ultimately responsible for managing and supervising the course, with whom the TA will collaborate. Graduate Teaching Assistants are not assigned to teach courses on their own.
In addition to taking advantage of resources and training listed above, we encourage Graduate Teaching Assistants in the College of Nursing to consider the following strategies when embarking on a new assignment/collaboration:
Connect with faculty for your assigned course(s) & introduce yourself. Learning a bit about you and the other work you’re engaged in can help faculty better understand and anticipate how decisions they make over the course of the semester may impact you as well.
Inquire about faculty’s preferred modes & frequency of communication throughout the semester (email, weekly meetings, shared folders etc.), share your own, and establish a plan for communication
Block weekly time for TA-related responsibilities throughout the semester on your calendar at the beginning of the semester (this may involve a discussion with faculty to determine if there times during the semester when workload such as grading may be more intense – if you know this ahead of time, often you can negotiate with faculty to create a plan that will work for everyone)
Verify you have access to required & relevant course materials, such as textbooks, course shells, etc. This is something course faculty should be facilitating for you.
Discuss and set mutual goals & expectations with assigned course faculty, including whether there are possibilities to lead and to be mentored in the teaching role, such as giving a class lecture, creating a case study or online module, or developing evaluation materials. Graduate TAships can be an excellent opportunity to grow your teaching portfolio, and negotiating specific opportunities to do so ahead of time can really help.
Determine how you would like to give & receive constructive feedback from learners & assigned course faculty throughout the semester, and discuss this with faculty in advance, so hopes and expectations are transparent and understood by all parties, keeping in mind that contractually, official methods of evaluation and supervision of Graduate Assistantships are negotiated through the Graduate Employee Organization, who may be able to provide additional guidance with regards to questions in this arena.
If you are new to the Graduate Teaching Assistant role and interested in being matched with a mentor who is more experienced in the role, please contact the PhD Program Director. Students who are interested in serving as mentors to other TAs should also contact the PhD Program Director.