8.2 Guidelines for the role of Teaching Assistants in the COVID-19 context
This content was developed by the UBC Provost Working Group reviewing the topic of TAs in online teaching.
Teaching assistants are invaluable contributors to education at the University of British Columbia, and their roles change in the context of online teaching and learning. The purpose of this document is to identify areas of potential concern, and to provide recommendations to consider for Teaching Assistant appointments in the context of COVID-19.
There are several teaching assistant roles covered by the Collective Agreement between UBC and CUPE 2278: Senior TA (STA), Grad TA I (GTA I), Grad TAII (GTA II), Undergrad TA I (UTA I), Undergrad TA II (UTA II), and Markers. See also “Hiring a Student” on the HR website, and a summary of changes to the collective agreement that will begin Sept. 1, 2020. There are references throughout this document to the Collective Agreement between UBC and CUPE 2278, and links to an agreement that held from 2014-2019. A new agreement has been ratified but a full text is not yet available; there is only a summary of key changes. We indicate in the document where information can be found in that summary, and where it cannot we refer to the old agreement, lacking any other document to refer to. Please contact UBC HR if you have specific questions about what is or is not changed in the new agreement.
Most of the principles below will hold for all UTA and GTA roles; where there are differences they are noted in what follows. Because Markers are only assigned to mark tests or exams of an objective nature many principles will not be applicable to them (e.g., principles having to do with doing synchronous class meetings).
The vast majority of TAs are graduate students; for GTAs the teaching assistant role needs to be compatible with research and learning commitments that these students may have, which are widely variable depending on the Faculty and stage in graduate school (between early Masters and PhD Candidacy).
The principles are grouped by three topics: general guidelines, training in online course design and preparation, and course delivery conditions and invigilation. A number of these guidelines hold in all contexts, but they reflect issues that have been raised in the current context where many courses will be delivered in an online format for the near future.
General Guidelines in the COVID-19 context
- Units must hire students into the correct role for the duties assigned. For example:
- Graduate Academic Assistants may be hired to support course and curriculum design, and may work on several courses within a unit. GAAs should not be hired to engage in duties that fall under the roles of a UTA or GTA, such as teaching activities within courses, interactions with students, or marking (See “Hiring a Student Worker” for a list of TA duties).
- GAAs may work to support course and curriculum design, but designing courses and curriculum is a TA duty, and falls under a new description of the Senior TA role (see next point, below).
- Recent changes to the collective agreement between the university and CUPE 2278
Links to an external site. [pdf] have expanded the Senior TA role (effective Sept. 1, 2020). If a unit is hiring students after Sept. 1 with duties that fall under the new STA role, they should be hired as STAs. STAs may work on design and development of new curricular materials along with other TA duties, but generally do so in connection with a course for which they are hired as a TA.
- Graduate Academic Assistants may be hired to support course and curriculum design, and may work on several courses within a unit. GAAs should not be hired to engage in duties that fall under the roles of a UTA or GTA, such as teaching activities within courses, interactions with students, or marking (See “Hiring a Student Worker” for a list of TA duties).
- TAs may be paid before the official start date of their contracts (September 1 for Winter term 1), such as compensation for hours they spend in training related to online courses. However, those hours may not be considered as part of the TAs’ contract during the term that follows; i.e., TAs must be paid for the extra hours on top of their work during the term, at a pro-rated amount (see the Collective Agreement section 14.01).
- Ensure that TAs can be paid for work assigned to them in a timely manner, keeping in mind that students need to satisfy visa, SIN, and Canadian bank account criteria in order to be employed as TAs by UBC, and current WorkSafe BC and taxation rules do not allow for TAs to perform their work outside Canada. Please contact UBC HR for further details.
- TAs may need to take extra time for new tasks in an online environment that need to be taken into account in allocation of hours, such as facilitating chats in video meetings, running breakout rooms, preparing to invigilate online exams, and more. They may also receive an increased amount of online queries from students (e.g., through discussion boards and emails).
- Plan as well as possible the expected workload and duties for TA positions and advertise accordingly. Remember that a list of duties, including expected hours connected to each duty, must be provided to TAs in writing (see the Collective Agreement [pdf] section 12.02).
- Adhere to the advertised, expected and contracted total workload for TA positions, or compensate for necessary extra hours, while being mindful of students’ need to manage other aspects of their programs.
- Plan as well as possible the expected workload and duties for TA positions and advertise accordingly. Remember that a list of duties, including expected hours connected to each duty, must be provided to TAs in writing (see the Collective Agreement [pdf] section 12.02).
- Consider various priorities when assigning TA positions (e.g. need for completion of program, loss of other opportunities, seniority, etc.), while also following appointment and reappointment provisions in the collective agreement between UBC and CUPE 2278, [pdf] Article 13.01.
- Consider partial TA appointments if the number of TA slots are significantly reduced.
- In circumstances where there may be a shortage of available TAs, a Teaching Assistant may be appointed to multiple assignments as long as the total hours per week do not exceed twenty-four (24).
- The hiring unit (Department, School, or Faculty) should ensure that TAs have access to necessary equipment and technologies to complete their duties in online courses.
- Provide students with clear information about TA availability, as many courses do for faculty. Students in different time zones may have unrealistic expectations about TA availability and turnaround time for queries.
- Invigilation procedures and requirements should be provided by the instructor and not be left to individual TAs to decide and communicate to students. TAs should be provided guidelines on how to address students’ connectivity issues during exams, since students may ask them questions. For example, they should know where students could go for help with troubleshooting, and what to do if connectivity problems mean students have trouble completing exams on time.
- It is recommended that back up plans are in place in case a TA experiences connectivity issues at the time of invigilation.
The above resource was adapted from conversations arising from the UBC Provost Working Group reviewing the topic of TAs in online teaching. Once the full work of this group is made public, we will update this attribution with a link. This content is licensed CC-BY-SA and is exempt from the OTP course license.