Handbook for Teaching Fellows & Teaching Assistants

Chapter One: Teaching Fellows and Assistants at UNT

Who is a Teaching Fellow or Teaching Assistant?

At UNT, a Teaching Fellow (TF) is a graduate student who assumes total responsibility for the instruction in one or more classes. The TF is the instructor of record and is responsible for assigning of grades. A Teaching Assistant (TA) is a graduate student who assists a faculty member in a class or laboratory, but does not have total instructional responsibility for a class.

Payment

Each academic department determines salary. TFs and TAs are classified as exempt employees and do not qualify for overtime pay.

Out-of-state tuition is waived for non-residents of Texas and international students who are employed by the university at least half time in a teaching or research position that relates to the student's degree program. A student is eligible for this waiver only for terms when he or she is actually on the payroll.

Employee Benefits

TFs or TAs whose appointment requires them to work 20 hours or more a week are eligible to participate in the university's group insurance program. Enrollment information may be obtained from the departmental office, the university's Human Resources Office or at http://www.unt.edu/hr/benefits/index.htm

Teaching Load and Required Class Enrollment

Teaching fellows and teaching assistants must be enrolled in a minimum number of semester credit hours during the term they hold an appointment.

• Teaching fellows or assistants who hold a half-time appointment (i.e., with assigned duties that require twenty hours of work per week) must be enrolled for nine semester credit hours in long terms or three semester credit hours in summer terms.
• Teaching fellows and assistants who hold a quarter-time appointment (i.e., with assigned duties that require ten hours of work each week) must enroll for six semester credit hours in long terms or 3 semester credit hours in summer terms.

Individual departments/units may require a higher load than these university requirements, but the total load of course enrollment and teaching assignment may not exceed 16 semester hours in any long semester. Approval of the Graduate Dean is required for loads in excess of this amount, but approval will not be granted for a combined load in excess of 18 semester hours.

With written approval from the College/School Dean and approval of the Dean of the Graduate School, the minimum registration may be reduced to three semester hours for the long term for students who have filed an approved degree plan, have completed all course work, and are either ready to take the qualifying exam and/or registered for thesis or dissertation.

English Language Certification for International Teaching Fellows

An international student must be certified by the International TA/TF Program, sponsored by the Intensive English Language Institute, before being appointed by a UNT academic department as a TF.

The certification program is designed to measure effectiveness in spoken English and to provide training and assistance tailored to individual needs. A detailed description of the International TA/TF Program and the Intensive English Language Institute is given in Chapter 6, "Advice to International TFs." Contact the Intensive English Language Institute to schedule the review.

Continuing as a Teaching Fellow or Teaching Assistant

In some academic units, TFs and TAs can expect to continue in their position as long as they are performing satisfactorily (please confer with academic unit for guidance) and as long as student enrollments and availability of funds are sufficient to allow their classes to make. To continue, TFs and TAs must maintain high academic and teaching performance and make satisfactory performance toward the completion of their degree. Academic performance is measured primarily by the grade point average with 3.0 out of 4.0 as the minimum acceptable average.