The Graduate Student Association Teaching Committee has compiled the following suggestions to guide departments that are looking to improve appropriate matching of students to Teaching Fellow positions and student satisfaction with the process.  These suggestions are drawn from comments on a survey of representative students from departments across the university.  We recommend that concerned students, faculty members, or registrars evaluate the TF assignment process in their department for policy clarity, student involvement, and use of student input on preference.

Policy clarity:
-    Improvement of policy clarity can come from the design and distribution of a set of rules or guiding principles for TF assignments. This could be a part of the department handbook for graduate students.  A written policy can be helpful both in communicating procedure to students and faculty and in providing continuity in times of change within a department.  However, some departments find that not having a written policy gives a desirable flexibility to the process, and a policy document can still be written in a way that provides this flexibility.  Points that a policy may address are:
    •    any priority for students who have not yet completed the teaching requirement.
    •    any priority among students based on seniority.
    •    if teaching again for a class a student has already taught is prohibited or allowed.
    •    any priority based on students' research areas.
    •    how student preference is weighed.
    •    how faculty preferences are considered.
-    Clear requirements for the number of times and level of classes a student must teach can help make the assignment process more transparent.  If the need for TFs changes over time due to changes in course offerings, trends in undergraduate course enrollment, the number of graduate students within the department or other factors, the requirement should be updated and clearly communicated to students. 
-    Some departments use a specific sequence of what classes, or what types of classes, a student will TF.  In some departments, this takes the form of a set progression of increasingly rigorous teaching responsibilities over time.
-    Assignments can be affected by changes in the numbers of TFs needed when final course enrollment numbers are determined.  Departments should consider making a clear policy for how re-assignments will be handled to maintain consistency in how assignments are made.

Student involvement:
-    In some departments, a student advocate serves on the department committee that is responsible for overseeing TFs.  The student advocate acts as a liaison between students and the faculty and administrators making TF assignments, especially if the student advocate is given an active role.  Advocates can also help communicate and resolve individual and general grievances.
-    A registrar or DGS who knows the students well contributes positively to appropriate matching of students to TF positions.  Registrars and DGSs can reach out to students to understand their teaching interests by informal means, regular meetings with students, or questionnaires.  Such communication can be beneficial in helping to assign students to classes that fit their interest.  Additionally, these channels of communication are useful in conveying the reasoning of the faculty in cases where student requests are not followed, such as when assignments are made to broaden students' ability to teach a range of subjects.

Use of student input on preference:
-    The department registrar and DGS are often critical in determining the extent to which student input is heard in the assignment process, as discussed above.  As such, students should make an effort to communicate clearly with registrars and DGSs about their needs and preferences.
-    Students should also communicate with advisors to express interest in teaching certain classes as well as with professors in charge of classes.