Teaching Assistant Work Policy

Department of Statistics and Data Sciences Teaching Assistant Workload policy (revised June 2021)

Global expectations:

• Work done by the Teaching Assistant (TA) will vary from week to week. Thus, the 20- or 10-hour appointment should be interpreted as the average per week over the entire semester.
• The TA is responsible for coordinating his/her schedule to ensure that the time commitment as a TA as detailed in this document is met. Any known conflicts should be discussed with the instructor several weeks in advance.
• The TA will attend all required trainings by the department and college, be willing and able to perform duties on campus as required, and act in a professional manner when completing any duties related to their TA position. Additionally, they will respond to emails within 48 business hours and use an official University of Texas managed email account for all course correspondence.

SDS 301

TA appointment is 20 hours per week. Duties are as follows:

• Attend class lectures (3 hours per week)
• Hold office hours (3 hours per week; submit room request form via SDS webpage)
• Coordinate and assist with grading homework assignments (hours per week will vary)
• Grade in-class activity assignments (hours per week will vary)
• Coordinate with instructor and undergraduate teaching assistant to ensure grading across assignments is similar and prompt (hours per week will vary)
• Help with proctoring and grading class exams and quizzes (hours per week will vary)
• Grade final project assignments (hours per week will vary)
• Respond to student emails about course issues
• Help with administrative tasks: entering grades, updating rubrics, etc. (hours per week will vary)
• Please note the following regarding this assignment:
  • The list above represents the typical duties for this course; however, reasonable time trades are acceptable, so long as both the instructor and TA are clear and in agreement about the change.
  • The TA is not released from duties until the instructor has submitted final grades, or upon mutual agreement between instructor and TA.

SDS 302F (formerly SDS 302)

TA appointment is 20 hours per week. Duties are as follows:

• Attend class lectures (3 hours per week)
• Lead lab sections (3 hours per week)
• Hold office hours (3 hours per week; contact Course Coordinator for a room assignment)
• Coordinate and oversee homework and lab assignment grading (meet with undergraduate graders and inspect grading across sections) (hours per week will vary)
• Help with proctoring and grading class exams and quizzes (hours per week will vary)
• Grade final project assignments (hours per week will vary)
• Respond to student emails about course issues
• Help with administrative tasks: entering grades, updating rubrics, etc. (hours per week will vary)
• Please note the following regarding this assignment:
  • The list above represents the typical duties for this course; however, reasonable time trades are acceptable, so long as both the instructor and TA are clear and in agreement about the change.
  • The TA is not released from duties until the instructor has submitted final grades, or upon mutual agreement between instructor and TA.

SDS 321

TA appointment is 20 hours per week. Duties are as follows:

• Attend class lectures (3 hours per week)
• Hold office hours (3 hours per week; submit room request form via SDS webpage)
• Grade homework assignments (hours per week will vary)
• Help with proctoring and grading exams (hours per week will vary)
• Help with administrative tasks: entering grades, updating rubrics, etc. (hours per week will vary)
• Please note the following regarding this assignment:
  • The list above represents the typical duties for this course; however, reasonable time trades are acceptable, so long as both the instructor and TA are clear and in agreement about the change.
  • The TA is not released from duties until the instructor has submitted final grades, or upon mutual agreement between instructor and TA.
  • Contact SDS Admin (stat.admin@austin.utexas.edu) for textbooks.

SDS 322/392, SDS 335/394, SDS 374C/394C

  TA appointment is 10 or 20 hours per week, depending on enrollment. Duties are as follows:

• Provide grading assistance (hours per week will vary; submit room request form via SDS webpage)
• Hold office hours if requested to do so by the instructor (3 hours per week)
• Help with proctoring and grading exams or quizzes (hours per week will vary)
• Help with administrative tasks: entering grades, updating rubrics, etc. (hours per week will vary)
• Please note the following regarding this assignment:
  • The list above represents the typical duties for this course; however, reasonable time trades are acceptable, so long as both the instructor and TA are clear and in agreement about the change.
  • The TA is not released from duties until the instructor has submitted final grades, or upon mutual agreement between instructor and TA.
  • Contact SDS Admin (stat.admin@austin.utexas.edu) for textbooks.

SDS 325H, SDS 358.1

, SDS 352

, SDS 353

When available, TA appointment is 10 hours per week, based on enrollment. Duties are as follows:

• Grade homework
• Hold office hours if requested to do so by the instructor (not to exceed 20% time — i.e. 2 hours per week for a 10-hour appointment)
• Help with administrative tasks: entering grades, updating rubrics, etc. (hours per week will vary)
• Please note the following regarding this assignment:
  • The list above represents the typical duties for this course; however reasonable time trades are acceptable, so long as both the instructor and TA are clear and in agreement about the change.
  • The TA is not released from duties until the instructor has submitted final grades, or upon mutual agreement between instructor and TA.
  • Contact SDS Admin (stat.admin@austin.utexas.edu) for textbooks.

SDS 320E (formerly SDS 328M)

TA appointment is 20 hours per week. Duties are as follows:

• Attend class lectures (3 hours per week)
• Lead lab sections (3 hours per week)
• Hold office hours (3 hours per week; contact Course Coordinator for a room assignment)
• Coordinate homework grading (when undergraduate graders are assigned) (hours per week will vary)
• Help with proctoring and grading class exams and quizzes (hours per week will vary)
• Grade final project assignments (hours per week will vary)
• Respond to student emails and monitor discussion boards (hours per week will vary)
• Help with administrative tasks: entering grades, updating rubrics, etc. (hours per week will vary)
• Please note the following regarding this assignment:
  • The list above represents the typical duties for this course; however, reasonable time trades are acceptable, so long as both the instructor and TA are clear and in agreement about the change.
  • The TA is not released from duties until the instructor has submitted final grades, or upon mutual agreement between instructor and TA.
  • Contact SDS Admin (stat.admin@austin.utexas.edu) for textbooks.

SDS 322E (formerly SDS 348)

TA appointment is 20 hours per week. Duties are as follows:

• Attend class lectures (3 hours per week)
• Lead lab sections (2 hours per week)
• Hold office hours (3 hours per week; submit room request form via SDS webpage)
• Coordinate homework grading (when undergraduate graders are assigned; hours per week will vary)
• Help with proctoring and grading class exams and quizzes (hours per week will vary)
• Grade final project assignments (hours per week will vary)
• Respond to student emails and monitor discussion boards (hours per week will vary)
• Help with administrative tasks: entering grades, updating rubrics, etc. (hours per week will vary)
• Please note the following regarding this assignment:
  • The list above represents the typical duties for this course; however, reasonable time trades are acceptable, so long as both the instructor and TA are clear and in agreement about the change.
  • The TA is not released from duties until the instructor has submitted final grades, or upon mutual agreement between instructor and TA.

SDS 324E (formerly SDS 322)

TA appointment is 20 hours per week. Duties are as follows:

• Attend class lectures (3 hours per week)
• Hold office hours (3 hours per week; contact Course Coordinator for a room assignment)
• Grade homework assignments (hours per week will vary)
• Help with proctoring and grading exams (hours per week will vary)
• Help with administrative tasks: entering grades, updating rubrics, etc. (hours per week will vary)
• Please note the following regarding this assignment:
  • The list above represents the typical duties for this course; however, reasonable time trades are acceptable, so long as both the instructor and TA are clear and in agreement about the change.
  • The TA is not released from duties until the instructor has submitted final grades, or upon mutual agreement between instructor and TA.

SDS 380C, SDS 380D

TA appointment is 20 hours per week. Duties are as follows:

• Class attendance: before the first class day confirm your instructor's expectations regarding attendance
• Hold office hours (3 hours per week; submit room request form via SDS webpage)
• Grade homework assignments (hours per week will vary)
• Help with proctoring and grading exams (hours per week will vary)
• Help with administrative tasks: entering grades, updating rubrics, etc. (hours per week will vary)
• Please note the following regarding this assignment:
  • The list above represents the typical duties for this course; however reasonable time trades are acceptable, so long as both the instructor and TA are clear and in agreement about the change.
  • The TA is not released from duties until the instructor has submitted final grades, or upon mutual agreement between instructor and TA.

SDS 383C, SDS 383D, SDS 384.2, 

SDS 384.3

, SDS 384.4, 

SDS 384.6

, SDS 384.7, 

SDS 385, SDS 386D, SDS 387