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Appendix A

Code of Professional Responsibilities Governing Relations Between Faculty Members and Teaching or Research Assistants*

Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

GENERAL STATEMENT

Teaching and Research Assistantships must be considered first, part of the professional training of a graduate student, and second, a source of livelihood. As part of his or her professional training in preparation for a career in teaching, the Teaching Assistant (TA) learns how to teach, how to deal with large numbers of students, and learns basic anthropological materials in a pedagogical context. Similarly, the Research Assistant (RA) learns about research.

The assistant is thus a junior professional, an apprentice colleague, as well as an employee.

At the same time, an assistantship is a job, hence the assistant is expected to complete the work in a professional, responsible, and timely manner. Both parties share an obligation to strive to make an exemplary contribution in teaching a class or carrying out research and to manifest exemplary collegial relationships.

Relations between the faculty member and the assistant should be governed by the Principles of Professional Responsibility formulated by the American Anthropological Association, which states: "Anthropologists should be candid, fair, and nonexploitative in their dealings with trainees and students..."

ILLUSTRATIVE DUTIES

As part of his or her professional training, a teaching assistant may properly be assigned duties such as the following (taking the example of an assistant to a teacher of a large class):

1. Reading the materials used in class. In this manner the student is exposed to texts generally used in basic anthropology courses which will serve for future reference in his or her teaching career.

    

2. Attending the lectures as a way of learning how to teach. Attendance of classes exposes the student to different styles of teaching, and what to do or not to do in a classroom to convey the material and stimulate students.

    

3. Holding office hours; when students do not come for consultations, the TA can use the time for reading the class materials or for his or her own studies.

    

4. Holding review sessions in small groups with students before each exam; also conducting a few classes to gain the experience of lecturing on his or her own. This however is optional and depends upon the individual TA and instructor.

    

5. Helping the instructor prepare exams. By assisting in constructing tests the student learns testing procedures in general and how to distinguish between good and bad questions in particular.

    

6. Grading the Exams. In the event that essay exams are given, the professor must review with the TA how to grade the exams, the points to look for, etc. The grading of essay exams exposes the student to making analytical judgment of the materials and instructs the students about how to construct a test covering materials presented in class. When multiple choice tests are given, the TA may simply take the exams to the proper office to be graded and then pick up the graded tests, but also helps construct curves, etc.

Technical duties include:

Keeping records of grades and attendance, if instructor takes attendance; assist with mechanical activities such as setting up of microphones, if microphones are needed, and if audiovisual support services are not available, showing films if and when scheduled.

The above is illustrative and typical but not exhaustive or definitive. Duties will vary with course and situation. For research assistants duties obviously differ, and some special ethical issues arise, too, such as how to credit a research assistant with help in a research project resulting in publication.

II.LIMITATIONS ON DUTIES

The assistant is responsible for working the total number of hours assigned by the Department for that semester. The work should be confined to the period beginning with the first day of classes and ending with the end of the exam period or the turning in of final grades. Within this period, the distribution of work will vary with course or project. However, so far as possible this distribution should be worked out between faculty member and assistant early in the semester; in a course, this means that a syllabus clearly stating assignments is distributed early (see Provost's memorandum, item 7, appendix below), which should permit planning for heavy grading periods. Assistants are pre-professional and not simply 9-to-5 workers; hence scheduling of work must follow demands of their courses or projects, rather than 9-to-5 hours. However, in the spirit of mutual consideration by faculty and students, the following will be observed:

 

1. To the extent possible, assistantship duties and assignments should be performed during the normal hours of the university, at times other than holidays or weekends. Exceptions are a matter of mutual negotiation, with awareness that both faculty and graduate students have demanding schedules, and that heavy grading periods and deadlines may require flexible hours.

    

2. It has been tradition within the department to excuse students from assistantship duties during periods of serious illness or other personal or family emergencies or crises. This type of courtesy is part of the collegial nature of relations in this department.

    

3. Assistants will, in so far as possible, advise the professor well in advance of conflicting responsibilities (i.e., coursework, LTA/RA duties for other professors, personal research demands, Ph.D. exams, fourth semester papers, personal or family illness, etc.) in order to facilitate flexible scheduling and effective utilization of LTA/RA hours.

    

4. Faculty supervisors are reminded that they have to conform to University rules distinguishing Research Assistantships from Teaching Assistantships. TA duties are, however, not necessarily confined to a particular course. For example, a TA assigned to a given instructor may be asked to help prepare a syllabus or coursepack for a course to be given by that instructor in the next semester, if such work does not interfere with the TA's completion of duties for the current course and does not require work in excess of the number of hours assigned.

    

5. The faculty member and assistant will treat each other in a professional, courteous, and fair manner, remembering that faculty generally have more authority and students are more vulnerable.

    

III.EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE

At the end of a course, an evaluation form will be submitted for the student's file and reviewed at the year-end evaluation. Students are reminded that their performance as assistants is a significant part of their evaluation for awards for subsequent years.

IV.RESOLUTION OF PROBLEMS

Where either party believes that the above has been violated, the following steps should be followed for redress:

1. The assistant and the professor should first make every attempt to resolve conflicts between themselves.

    

2. If this fails, both meet with an ombudsperson, a faculty member who is appointed by the chair to head the departmental grievance committee. If the ombudsperson is a party to the grievance, the chair will appoint an alternate in his/her place. Either of the aggrieved parties can initiate an informal mediation procedure with the ombudsperson by contacting him/her. Both parties may meet individually with the ombudsperson before meeting collectively. After this mediation stage is completed, the ombudsperson will write a short, informal summary of the proceedings including the agreement reached or the issues still in dispute.

    

3. If the parties cannot come to an agreement with the help of an ombudsperson, either has the option of taking the dispute to a departmental grievance committee. This committee shall consist of a faculty member acting as the chair/ombudsperson, as well as two other faculty members selected by the departmental chair, in consultation with the ombudsperson. In addition, two graduate students elected by the anthropology graduate student body shall serve on the committee in instances involving a dispute between a faculty member and a TA.

   The parties involved shall prepare written statements of their positions prior to the meeting of the grievance committee. The grievance committee serves a mediation function, attempting to facilitate an agreement between the two parties.

    

4. If no agreement can be reached between the two parties, then the grievance committee shall prepare a written recommendation. This recommendation will be referred to the Departmental chair and the Director of Graduate Studies to aid them in implementing an appropriate course of action.

    

5. The assistant has the option of appealing to an ad hoc faculty-student committee established by the Dean of the Graduate School, as described in Appendix C, The Faculty Code of the University Government, October 4, 1984; the faculty member also has the option of contacting the committee.

    

APPENDIX

Faculty members and teaching assistants share an obligation to fulfill all university regulations and codes, and should note especially the following, which bear on their duties, schedules and responsibilities. Refer, for example, to Provost O'Connor's memorandum of 4 September, 1990, and note especially:

1. Presence during final exams: Members of the instructional staff (including faculty) are to be personally present for final examinations and remain in residence until grades are submitted in the courses for which they are responsible.

    

2. Records for courses must be kept for at least 2 years after completed. Teaching assistants share responsibility for keeping course records, e.g. in the event of a grade appeal.

    

3. Syllabus: Students expect to receive a written syllabus for each of their courses at the beginning of the semester which defines course requirements, dates of examinations, and information specific to the course. Each member of the instructional staff is urged to prepare such a syllabus for their courses at whatever level of undergraduate or graduate work.

    

4. Course grades are to be submitted to the Registrar's office within 72 hours of the completion of an exam. All instructors are urged to respect this deadline, and department chairs are expected to ensure its observation. Tardiness imposes undeserved stress on students, and generates significant administrative problems, especially for students planning to graduate.

    

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Last updated: January 31, 2001