Teaching Assistants

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Teaching assistants are part of the educational foundation in the Richard and Loan Hill Department of Biomedical Engineering. These dedicated graduate students help support instruction and educational services as employees of the University of Illinois Chicago.

While working for the university, teaching assistants may lead class discussions, hold lectures, create course materials, conduct exam preparation, proctor and grade assignments or exams, and much more. They are critical members of the community and their impact can be seen throughout the department.

Graduate Student Policy Guide Heading link

TA appointments are made first by a nomination from a core faculty member, and each faculty member is limited in how many students they can nominate based on the current number of RA students in their lab.

Reappointments to following semesters are based on faculty nominating the student again.

If the number of TA assignments is less than the TA nominations from core faculty, additional TAs are recruited from the PhD student pool on an as-needed basis. The additional TAs are selected by emailing the PhD students and picking the TAs best matched to the courses that are short of TAs.

If this does not meet demand, the MS student pool is emailed for applications to TA lines. Reappointments are not made from these additional TAs, but excellent performance is noted when future needs arise.

2a. Course enrollments and TA assignments

  • Lecture course taught by BME faculty with less than 39 students = 0.5 TA
  • Lecture course taught by BME faculty with more than 59 students = 1 TA
  • Lecture course taught by BME faculty with more than 79 students = 1.5 TAs
  • Lecture course taught by BME faculty with more than 99 students = 2 TAs
  • Lab courses are assigned 0.5 TA per section

2b. Assignment of TAs to courses

TA assignment is done by matching the needs of the courses, the abilities of the TA, and the needs of the advisor of the TA. Needs of the advisor means priority is given to assigning TAs to courses where their advisor is the instructor, but this is not possible for every TA.

Below are roles and responsibilities for course TAs.

A 25-percent TA is expected to work no more than 10 hours per week, and a 50-percent TA is expected to work no more than 20 hours per week. Within those hours, they are expected to be involved with the course as outlined below.

3a. Exams

TAs should not generate exam content, but may grade exams provided that the instructor gives them a detailed grading rubric. They are allowed to proctor exams.

3b. Homework

TAs may generate homework content in collaboration with the instructor, but they may not be the sole creators. They are allowed to grade homework assignments.

3c. Lectures

In some rare instances, TAs can deliver a lecture, but no more than 5 percent of a semester (1 or 2 lectures), and only if mutually agreed upon by the instructor and TA. It is the instructor’s responsibility to deliver lectures, generate content, find appropriate guest lecturers, or record lectures via lecture-capture software if traveling.

3d. Must be at labs and prepare for labs

TAs must be at labs if assigned to a lab section. In addition, they need to prepare for the lab by setting up equipment and ordering necessary supplies with input from the instructor.

3e. Attend lectures

Some courses with lots of in-class activities require TAs to attend. In addition, if the TA has not taken the course before as a student, then they are expected to attend the lectures. Otherwise, lecture attendance is optional.

3f. Office hours

TAs must schedule two office hours per week to answer student questions. In some instances, longer or more frequent office hours will be needed and should be discussed with the instructor.

3g. Answer student emails

TAs should answer student emails in a timely manner, but not to the point of excess or overwhelm. They should discuss with the instructor if this becomes a problem.

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