Part 1: Rights and Responsibilities

Teaching Assistants'Rights

Teaching assistants and course directors are a team that is charged with teaching the material in a particular course as well as improving student skill levels and critical abilities. If all goes well, the TA-course director relationship can be mutually beneficial and enjoyable. Course directors may be asked to evaluate your teaching abilities on future scholarship and job applications. If problems occur, there are certain dispute resolution mechanisms with which you should be aware.

Conflicts with the Faculty, Department, or University

Ifyou should come into conflict with your course director or department, you have several options. If you signed a contract, consult it. If you belong to a union, contact your union representative and examine a copy of the collective agreement. If there is no collective agreement, ask to see the university's regulations governing university/employee relationships. These can be obtained from the personnel office. Most universities also have a graduate student association that may have some experience in mediating the type of problem you face.

You may also want to make your fellow TAs and your specific history department aware of the "Teaching Assistant Statement of Rights," which was approved by the Graduate Students' Committee of the Canadian Historical Association (CHA) at the CHA's annual meeting in 1991. A copy of this declaration is appended at the back of the booklet.

Training and Time Management

In general, universities have an obligation to provide you with adequate training for your role as a teaching assistant. This training should be completed to a basic level before you meet your first class. Of course, like any employee, you are entitled to limit your work to the hours assigned and paid by the university. Remember that you are not simply an employee, but also a graduate student who must fulfill the university’s degree requirements. If you find that you require more time than there are hours allotted, discuss the problem with the course director. If this does not work, speak to the department chair and, if all else fails, you can follow the university grievance procedure.

In addition to training time, you are entitled to an appropriate amount of time to prepare lectures and conduct seminars. Occasionally, TAs are told that they will be paid for preparation time, but the time allocated is insufficient to do an adequate job. If this occurs, you may tend to feel that you yourself are inadequate; this, however, is rarely the case. Consult with your colleagues and see how long they are spending on preparation. If you are not spending an unusual amount of time, see if you can renegotiate your hours. For example, you may want to hold fewer office hours at certain times of the semester. Frequently, teaching assistants are also asked to mark major assignments. If this is the case, you should be informed at the start of the semester when exams/papers will be handed in and how long before they must be returned.

Grievances

If you find that a dispute arises between you and the course director over hours, conditions of work, grading standards, or harassment, it is important to deal with these questions immediately. The first stage in dealing with most of these disputes is to bring them to a meeting with the course director. Prior to this meeting, it is a good idea to confer with your fellow TAs. If the issue cannot be resolved on a personal level, you may want to pursue the issue through your university's grievance procedure. This will include a first appeal to the department chair. You may wish to explore this avenue before instigating a formal procedure. Another option is to go through your union, if you are unionized.