4. TEACHING RESPONSIBILITIES AND EVALUATION

4.1 Teaching Responsibilities

All doctoral students will be teaching assistants (TAs) sometime during their graduate career. Teaching is an important professional responsibility, and all TAs are expected to take their assignments seriously. The responsibilities of all TAs include:

1. The TA must know the concepts and course material well. To achieve this purpose, the supervisor may require the TA to attend lectures, do experiments, and/or do readings.
2. The TA must be familiar with and adhere to course standards, set by the supervisor.
3. TAs must complete departmental safety training. Lab TAs are responsible for the safety of their students and must enforce safety standards set by the instructor.
4. The TA must be reliable: 100% attendance is expected in classes, staff meetings, and proctoring assignments. In the event of an unavoidable absence, the TA is responsible for obtaining a substitute acceptable to the supervisor. In planning any travel during the semester or during Finals Week, the TA is responsible for confirming that travel dates do not conflict with teaching expectations.
5. The TA must be prepared for all staff meetings and classes.
6. The TA must treat students with uniform courtesy regardless of sex, race, or ethnicity. (see Stony Brook Policies P105 and P106)
7. Personal relationships with students that might compromise the objectivity and integrity with which instructors discharge their responsibilities are inappropriate. Use of the student-teacher relation to seek such relationships is an abuse of power and prohibited. Examples include romantic, sexual, or financial relationships. (see **Section 2.3**, Stony Brook Policy P208)
8. The TA must have English skills sufficient for two-way communication with the students.
9. The TA must grade consistently and fairly according to course standards.
10. The TA must complete grading and other assignments promptly according to course requirements. If a problem arises with any of the above, the instructor will discuss it with the TA, make appropriate suggestions for improvement, and make clear what the consequences will be if ignored.

4.2 Teaching evaluation

Grading standards for TA performance

• No problems, excellent performance: ......................................................... A
• Minor problems, generally good performance:........................................... A
• Minor problems, performance fair but lower than above: ......................... B+
• Some problems, performance acceptable, needs improvement: ................. B
• Marginal performance: ............................................................................... B
• Major problems, performance unacceptable: ............................................. C or F

Note: Any student receiving TA grades of B- or below in two semesters will be considered "not in good standing", and will be ineligible for future TA support until the problem has been remedied (see **Section 11**).