Most of the support you receive will most likely be in the form of assistantships, usually teaching assistantships (TAships). Individual faculty sometimes have grants that include money for research assistants.
Teaching Assistantships
Teaching Assistantships are regularly awarded to beginning and advanced graduate students who are qualified to undertake supervised teaching duties within the Department. In addition to a salary, TAships include tuition remission and health insurance benefits. TAs usually have 50% appointments and are responsible for teaching a beginning or intermediate language course, depending on your language proficiency and the needs of the department. More experienced TAs may also have the opportunity of teaching a third-year course. Readers/Graders are also sometimes needed to assist individual professors in teaching large undergraduate courses. These positions are usually 25% appointments.
Selection and Support Limitations
A graduate student in the French program who does not have a fellowship precluding teaching and is in “good standing” will receive support in the form of a Graduate Instructorship appointment as specified in their acceptance letter. A year in the Graduate Exchange programs in Montpellier or Paris does not count as a year of support from the department. Additionally, award of fellowships for at least one semester of support, and usually for a year (FLAS, DDF, IDF, endowed fellowships, etc.), do not count as a year of support from the department and therefore extend the total support time of a student in the graduate program.
When there are fewer Graduate Instructorship positions available than there are reappointees and incoming students, the Department will endeavor to find other means of support including: TAing in other departments; Research Assistantship in the department or outside; or other forms of academic employment. The Letter of Acceptance each student has received and signed stipulates that the Department commits to the years of guaranteed support indicated to the extent that it is in its power to do so.
All Graduate Instructors and P&A staff in French and Italian must attend instructional meetings during Orientation “Welcome Week.” New instructors must take FRIT 5999 and FREN 5995 during their first year within the program.
Assignments
Most first-year graduate instructors will be assigned a section of first semester French (FREN 1001) in the fall. For subsequent semesters, instructors will be asked by the DLI to submit a teaching preferences form. These requests are used as guidelines and will be followed when possible. The DLI, in consultation with the Chair and the DGS, is responsible for TAship assignment.
Graduate Instructor Teaching Load
A Graduate Instructor’s responsibilities for a 50% appointment are defined as: teaching, class preparation, grading and maintenance of grade records, communication with students, providing feedback on assessments, participation in training/orientation, attendance at instructional staff meetings scheduled during the semester, and holding office hours (2 hours per week). Normal workload is not to exceed 20 hours per week on average.
Absence from Teaching
If you know you will not be able to teach your class, please contact your course coordinator as soon as possible to arrange for alternate delivery of your class. We have three options for alternate short-term delivery: offering the class session remotely via Zoom, asynchronously, or through colleague coverage. Each has its own merits and challenges and the choice depends heavily on where we are in the course calendar at the time, so you and your course coordinator will work together to determine which method best meets your needs and the needs of your students.
If you suspect that an absence due to illness may be longer than 3 business days, please also contact the front office on the first day of your absence to arrange for paid substitute classroom coverage beginning on the fourth day of illness preventing performance of teaching duties. In case of substitutions of more than one week, approval of the DLI and Chair must be obtained; the administrative staff must also be notified of any change. For substitution of more than three weeks, the Department will have the option of terminating the instructor's contract for the semester. Non-excused absences by TAs (that is, other than illness and personal emergencies) will affect their Annual Performance Review.
Teaching Evaluation by Students (SRTs)
College policy requires written student evaluation of all courses. Evaluation forms (SRTs) will be distributed each semester via email and Canvas by the Office of Measurement Services (OMS). If collecting paper SRTs (rare circumstances), class time should be set aside for this purpose at the end of the course, before final exams occur.
Graduate Instructor Observation
Graduate Instructors can expect to be observed by the DLI, course supervisor, and possibly other faculty members. The timing of class visits will be determined in consultation with the instructor in advance. Video taping of a class may usually be substituted for a class visit. Following the observation, Graduate Instructors will be invited to a debriefing meeting to discuss strengths noted during the visit as well as areas for continued improvement. The purpose of observation is primarily to provide feedback to the instructor with a view toward improvement of teaching, but also to evaluate the quality of teaching as a basis for future reappointment and the writing of letters of recommendation.