UCCS History Department Teaching Assistantship (TA)
Policy and Guidelines
History Department Teaching Assistants (TAs) must be regularly enrolled in the History
Master’s Program. Provisional graduate students are not eligible to apply. TAs work under the
supervision of a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member. The History Department
normally assigns TAs to 1000-3000 level classes with higher student enrollments. TAs must
sign official contracts with UCCS. Each student is responsible for working with the
department’s Program Assistant to ensure that the proper paperwork has been completed prior to
the start of the semester they are TAing.
Responsibilities of Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants’ duties vary depending on the preferences of the individual History
faculty member, the requirements of the course, and student needs. Typically, TAs are expected
to attend every class meeting and read all required materials. To assist students, TAs hold office
hours (1-2 hours per week). Faculty may ask TAs to give one or two lectures to the class (on a
mutually agreed upon topic) at some point during the semester and/or cover a class meeting if the
professor is absent. These arrangements are at the discretion of the supervising faculty member
and the graduate student. Beyond the basics stated above, the primary responsibilities of
teaching assistants are to assist students with their writing (drafting and revision), to work with
students requiring additional support in the course, and to help the lead faculty member grading
the assigned work for the course.
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TAs often grade and comment on some portion of the mid-term and/or final exams,
and/or written assignments with faculty mentor oversight. Faculty members and graduate
students should discuss the grading criteria for each assignment before it is graded. Ideally,
faculty should provide TAs with some kind of grading rubric as well as grading scale/ criteria.
TAs should expect to help students with writing. Writing support includes helping
students understand concepts or ideas, select topics, and locate sources. TAs can also support
students in understanding and developing a thesis, organizing their ideas into a paper, and
providing thoughtful substantive criticism of rough drafts. TAs may choose to conduct review
sessions for students prior to exams. They should be available to review test results and corrected
essays or other graded work with students.
Teaching assistants are professional representatives of the Department of History as well
as the university. As such, the History Department expects teaching assistants to deal equitably
and professionally with students at all times, avoiding the appearance of favoritism or
discrimination of any kind. TAs, like all UCCS students and faculty, are accountable to the
campus Civility Code and other policies related to academic honesty.1 TA work with students
also falls under FERPA guidelines. TAs should only discuss the specifics of a student’s work
with that student, or the faculty mentor.2 TAs should guard against exclusively negative or
sarcastic comments when providing verbal or written feedback to students. A TA’s job is to
assist and support, not to judge, belittle or berate
If teaching assistants need additional support knowing how to best explain their
observations or comments to students, they should consult their supervising faculty mentor. The
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Links to many of these policies can be found on the History Department website under the Research tab:
http://www.uccs.edu/history/research/uccs-policies-on-academic-honesty-and-civility.html
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FERPA guidelines can be found on the UCCS website and in the Academic Catalog under Student Rights and
Responsibilities:http://catalog.uccs.edu/content.php?catoid=9&navoid=394http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fp
co/ferpa/index.html
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Writing Center (located on the third floor of Columbine Hall) is also an excellent resource for
support. Consultants at the Writing Center can help TAs think through the grading criteria
provided, and/or how to best guide students in writing.
Responsibilities of the Faculty working with TAs
The central role of the faculty mentor in the faculty-TA relationship is to be a guide,
mentor, and supporter of the TA. Teaching assistantships are professional development
opportunities for the Department’s graduate students as well as vital support mechanism for
tenure and tenure-track faculty members. As such, faculty should think about their relationship
with the graduate TAs as that of a mentor. Faculty mentors should meet with their assigned
Teaching Assistants prior to the start of the semester to review and discuss their specific roles,
expectations, and duties, as outlined above. Ideally, faculty should provide TAs with all
necessary class materials in a timely fashion, including copies of the required books, a course
syllabus, course schedule, and grading rubric/criteria. TAs are not expected to go it alone,
particularly when grading student work; faculty should provide guidance, feedback, and support.
Faculty members have an obligation to monitor and assist TAs in grading and tutoring students.
As TAs develop proper teaching techniques, they should be able to meet with their faculty
mentor to discuss problems and successes with their professor, who can offer valuable insight
and advice.
Last Revised Fall 2013
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