Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) are full-time graduate students who also serve as part-time employees of the University. A full-time teaching assistantship is considered by University Payroll a 0.50 Full Time Equivalent (FTE), or employment assignment of 20 hours per week. School of Dance (SOD) GTAs will be expected to fulfill a workload that averages up to 20 workload hours per week.

Much of the work GTAs undertake is cyclical and, as a result, not all weeks in a semester will require precisely the same number of hours (for example, some weeks may require more time committed to production assignments while others may require more time for teaching). The 20 workload hours per week should be considered as an average across the academic year.

Since the time commitment and focus expected for the pursuit of an MFA degree is intense, GTAs are discouraged from taking on additional work or commitments outside of the University that might inhibit their ability to successfully complete coursework, research projects, and workload assignments. To maintain employment at the University (including the Tuition Benefit waiver, payroll stipend, and health insurance eligibility), GTAs are expected to prioritize their coursework and GTA assignments over outside/off-campus endeavors and should consult with the Director of the School and the Director of Graduate Studies before committing to external projects or employment. GTAs are invited to indicate their preferred workload assignments, with the understanding that the SOD may not always be able to accommodate every request. All workload assignments are at the discretion of the SOD Director who makes workload assignments, prioritizing the needs of the SOD.

GTA assignments will be communicated during the summer prior to the academic year. Any GTAs who have concerns about their assignment should contact the SOD Director immediately.

TYPES OF GTA WORKLOAD ASSIGNMENTS

TEACHING

GTAs may be assigned to teach various types of classes (studio, lecture, online, etc.) and may be assigned as the lead instructor, co-instructor, or as a teaching assistant.

Workload for courses is calculated based on the average “time-on-task” per week for each course. Time-on-task includes time GTAs spend in class with students (“Contact Hours”), syllabus revision, preparation time, grading, meeting with students outside of class, and any other activities necessary to meet the course objectives. For the purposes of this policy, all outside-of-class activities listed above are referred to as “Prep Time”.

Teaching Workload Formulas 

In general, “time-on-task” is an average across the semester, as different weeks may require more or less Prep Time. Average Prep Time is determined by the course type. It is expected that certain types of courses, such as lecture and seminar courses, will require significant work outside of class for syllabus and assignment development, lecture preparation, and grading. Courses that are more practice/studio-oriented may require less Prep Time outside of class. Lab/workshop courses may require a blend of lecture and practice-based approaches, thus may require less Prep Time than a lecture course and more Prep Time than a studio/activity course.

Workload for these assignments is typically formulated as follows:

• Studio/Activity course (as Lead Instructor)

  • workload hours = Contact Hours x 2

• Lecture course (as Lead Instructor)

  • workload hours = Contact Hours x 2.5

• Teaching Assistant (assisting another instructor)

  • workload hours = Contact Hours x 2

  • GTAs are expected to track their hours throughout the semester and communicate clearly with the course instructor(s) about the amount of time they are allocated to work (contact hours x 2). Course instructors are expected to be attentive to the GTA workload allocation and not request work that exceeds the allocated workload. GTAs should contact the SOD Director immediately with concerns about any assignment that appears to exceed the workload allocation.

  • Note that this type of assignment is typically only for large lecture-based courses, and the workload is reflective of the time in class and the time spent outside of class grading. On occasion, a teaching assistant may be needed for studio courses, and workload for those assignments will be decided by the SOD Director based on the time-on-task for the particular assignment. 

Per this policy, no one stand-alone course assignment will be valued at more than 8 GTA workload hours..

Teaching Workload Considerations

• Enrollment and Effect on Assigned Workload - For courses with fewer than 10 students, the assigned teaching workload for the course may be adjusted below the formula value of the class. Given the workload associated with preparing a class, regardless of the number of students enrolled, this will typically occur only with 3-credit hour courses. Similarly, classes with more than 35 students and without an assistant or co-instructor may be adjusted above the formula value of the course. Such adjustments are at the discretion of the SOD Director based on the needs of the SOD. If a GTA notices either low or high enrollment (per the class roster), they should notify the SOD Director early so that appropriate workload adjustments may occur or additional support may be allocated.

• Co-Instructors - For courses taught by multiple instructors, the workload will typically be divided equally among the instructors. For example, a 3-credit course taught by three instructors would result in each instructor receiving 1/3 of the workload. This division is decided on a case-by-case basis between the SOD Director and instructors based on instructor scheduling, the needs of the course, and the demands on instructor time.

• “Meets With” Courses - The SOD occasionally schedules courses to “meet with” each other, sometimes referred to as “stacked” courses. If no additional prep time is required to accommodate the stacked courses, the instructor will be assigned the regular workload according to the formulas above. (Note: this may be adjusted to a lower or higher load depending on enrollment. See above section on Enrollment and Effect on Assigned Workload.) Alterations to the typical workload assignment for “meets with” courses may be made as needed at the discretion of the SOD Director.

• GTA Experience – The SOD makes every effort to ensure that GTAs are successful in their GTA assignments. As such, the SOD Director considers carefully each individual GTAs experience and comfort level in the range of potential assignments. GTAs who may be assigned to teach a course for the first time and/or with little or no support may be allocated additional workload for necessary prep work. Such alterations of the workload assignment are at the discretion of the SOD Director.

PRODUCTION

Concert production is a significant component of the SOD’s educational mission and is part of the core curriculum for our undergraduate majors. As such, GTA contributions to these endeavors are vital. GTAs may be assigned workload for serving as an assistant to the Concert Director (typically a fulltime faculty member) and/or as a Rehearsal Assistant for a specific choreographer/stager (typically a guest).

Production assignments are typically concentrated in a specific part of the semester and may result in a short period of time where GTAs work more than 20 hours per week. (Note: the 20 workload hours per week should be considered as an average across the academic year.)

Assistant to Concert Director

(For a description of the responsibilities associate with this role, please see SOD Production Roles & Responsibilities.)

Assignments for serving as an Assistant to the Concert Director will typically count as 5 hours of workload but, in unusual circumstance, may be adjusted to reflect a more appropriate load considering the time-on-task. Five hours of workload is the equivalent of a total of 75 hours in one semester.

Rehearsal Assistant

(For a description of the responsibilities associate with this role, please see SOD Production Roles & Responsibilities.)

Assignments for serving as a Rehearsal Assistant will typically count as 4 hours of workload. For SOD concerts, a typical rehearsal period is approximately 5 weeks with up to 15 hours of rehearsal time per week, resulting in potentially 45 hours of time invested in rehearsal. The 4 hours of workload means that GTAs may be expected to work up to a total of 60 hours. While not all production assignments may require the full amount of time in rehearsal, this workload also reflects the additional time devoted to prep and other production expectations, such as production meetings, meetings with designers, concert attendance, and teaching warm-up classes for concerts.