Increasingly, universities look for documented teaching excellence in the graduate students they hire into faculty positions. For this reason, working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant is... Click for more

Increasingly, universities look for documented teaching excellence in the graduate students they hire into faculty positions. For this reason, working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant is not a small thing in terms of your career. For many students it is their first line of authentic professional activity that will be recorded on a Curriculum Vitae. It is therefore essential that you treat it like the real job that it is, pursue it with enthusiasm and commitment, strive for excellence by learning new strategies, and document your work (e.g., with a portfolio) as you would any other type of professional activity. Equally important, use the experience as an opportunity to connect with those faculty members who will eventually write letters of support for you, describing both your effectiveness as an instructor and your potential to become a faculty colleague. If you have full course responsibility, you will want to have a look at all of the Teaching Resources provided on this website. If you are working directly under a professor, the links below are focused on the role of graduate student as course assistant or grader. Click for less