Position Description

The University of Virginia Teaching Resource Center employs several Graduate Student Associates to help with Center activities, and especially, to consult with other teaching assistants about their teaching. Each position involves working from mid-August through May—and perhaps also during the summer—for between five and eight hours per week at an hourly wage of approximately $14.00 to $16.00.

TRC Graduate Student Associates (GSAs) participate in developing and offering various programs: August and January Teaching Workshops for U.Va. TAs and faculty; department-specific workshops, seminars, and discussion groups; interdepartmental symposia, workshops, and discussion luncheons; and consultations with individual teachers. When invited by a colleague, Associates conduct Teaching Analysis Polls with students and videotape TAs in their classrooms and then discuss what works, what can be improved, and how to implement changes. GSAs also can suggest improvements in TRC resources, which include a library of video and print material about teaching, sample teaching evaluation forms, a handbook for faculty and TAs (Teaching at the University of Virginia), a newsletter (Teaching Concerns), and occasional papers.

"What exactly do you do?"
Three former GSAs write about their experiences as GSAs.

Benefits

Former GSAs consistently tell us about the positive impact that the position had on their professional careers. Among the benefits they list are these:

In my teaching, being a GSA...

• helped me be a better teacher
• helped me win teaching awards
• introduced me to the scholarly literature on teaching and learning

On the job market, being a GSA...

• helped me to secure a full-time tenure-track professorship
• improved my skill at discussing teaching issues, during the job search and beyond
• prepared me for a presentation for my on-campus visit
• helped solidify my desire to pursue a teaching-centered, academic career
• enabled me to demonstrated my dedication to teaching and the liberal arts mission, despite going to graduate school at a large research university

In the professoriate, being a GSA...

• made my transition from TA to assistant professor much easier
• gave me experience that I am using in a national leadership role
• made me an effective co-chair of a college-wide committee on learning and teaching
• helped me mentor colleagues in all fields
• enabled me to write scholarly articles on teaching in my discipline

Outside of academe, being a GSA...

• prepared me to be an engaged and contributing member of my chosen community
• was a stepping stone towards my current career in which I provide professional development to elementary and high school teachers in the U.S. and internationally
• gave me a different set of professional skills that has helped me to adapt to a major life change

"Why should you consider applying?"
Former graduate students explain how being a GSA has helped them in their careers.

If you have questions or would like to discuss the position, please call 982-2815 or e-mail trc-uva@virginia.edu.