L&S Teaching Assistant/Grader Plans

This document contains instructions for the annual TA & Grader staffing exercise in L&S.

Background: TA/Grader Plans

Each January, Teaching & Learning Administration in L&S begins a TA planning exercise for the upcoming academic year. Departments with TAs and/or Graders complete a staffing and expenditure plan as described on this page. This exercise is intended to help departments plan how to best to deploy their TA and/or Grader resources, and will also help insure that plans are aligned with the department’s BSR. 

For 2022-23 planning, we are asking departments to describe any actions that have been taken or will be taken with TA sections and appointments to meet enrollment demands resulting from the AY 21-22 freshman class, and an expected class of 8100 for AY 22-23.

Within the approved expenditure plan, a department may reallocate resources between courses and semesters as needed. Unless significant, these changes do not require college approval; these changes will be captured by the TA Early Report. Additional Grader hours do not require approval.

Please note that TAs for Summer Term courses are included in a department's summer budget proposal.

TA/Grader Staffing Documents & Deadlines

Instructions for the TA & Grader Planning Spreadsheet

The planning spreadsheet is meant to be filled out in order. The list of courses on the ‘Courses' worksheet will be referenced on the 'Appointments' worksheet.

  1. Courses. List the courses that have teaching assistants and/or graders, along with the credit range, modality estimated and previous enrollment.
  2. Appointments. Details of planned TA appointments, and estimated number of grader hours.
  3. Notes. Use this page to address the following items:
    • Describe any actions you have taken (or will take) with TA sections and appointments to meet enrollment demands resulting from the AY 21-22 freshman class, and the AY 22-23 expected class of 8100.
    • Describe any changes from previous year, or new TA positions.

101 Funded TAs & Grader/Readers

Funding line for most 101 funded TAs and graders: 101-A48##71, where '##' is the department number from your unit's UDDS.

All 101-funded TA expenditures will be charged to the department’s TA budget sheet at the end of the fiscal year. Any overspending on that budget sheet will result in a one-time charge to the department’s tally sheet.

Recognizing that departments have received ongoing tally sheet credits intended to help cover the costs of enrollment expansion, we anticipate that some of these credits will be shifted to the TA budget sheet to offset permanent increases in TA spending.

If your department is receiving one-time support on fund 101 from sources such as FIGs, Honors, Other Schools/Colleges, etc., these credits will be itemized on your TA budget sheet. You are strongly encouraged to review your TA budget sheet to understand the fiscal implications of your plan. Please contact Assistant Dean Mary Beth Roberts with questions regarding your TA budget sheet on the BSR.

Approvals and Next Steps

Curricular Planning & Changes

A department may reallocate resources between courses and semesters as needed. These changes will be captured by the TA Early Report. However, departments must contact Associate Dean Shirin Malekpour before making significant increases or decreases to your TA expenditures. This is necessary to discuss your planning in the context of course enrollments throughout the College.

The Course Guide entries must match your planning for enrollment limits and the structure and number of lab/discussion sections. Departments need to carefully monitor enrollments, both during the priority registration periods for the fall and spring semesters but also during the summer and January SOAR sessions.

HR/Personnel Steps

Please contact Associate Dean Shirin Malekpour if you are making any changes in appointment levels and workloads.

Departments may begin to work on their TA offer letters once the approval is confirmed. The most up to date template letters are available on the Gateway.

Additional Grader hours do not require approval.

Please contact your STS/SA HR Rep for personnel issues related to TA and grader appointments.

Contacts for L&S Administration

See Also: