The Mathematics Department at UW-Madison has a program of Teaching Assistantships whereby graduate students play a major role in the teaching of mathematics courses. TAs are typically graduate students in the Department of Mathematics. For information on applying to be a graduate student and teaching assistant in the Department of Mathematics see the graduate program web site, http://www.math.wisc.edu/graduate/ or contact the Graduate Secretary, 218 Van Vleck Hall.
Occasionally graduate students in other departments are employed as TAs under special circumstances. For a variety of reasons, the likelihood of being hired as a TA for someone who is not a math graduate student is small and decreasing. We may in very unusual circumstances appoint an undergraduate as a teaching assistant. Application details for students (graduate or undergraduate) who do not have an ongoing commitment as a mathematics TA are given at Applying to be a Limited Term TA in Mathematics. A few non-students may be appointed to TA-like positions as Faculty Assistants or Faculty Associates. FAs will generally have a PhD in mathematics or a closely related area and some teaching experience. These temporary positions are applied for in the same way as Limited Term TA appointments.
We also employ graduate students (and occasionally undergraduates) as graders for mathematics courses. A grader is paid by the hour for grading papers, with a maximum number of hours allocated for the entire semester: The grader fills out a time sheet each month, to be signed by the supervising professor, and turns it in in order to get paid. To apply to be a grader, turn in a completed application form to Vicky Whelan (214 Van Vleck or leave it in her mailbox just across the hall). Printed forms can be obtained from Vicky, or you can print out the form here. Grader applications will not be considered until at least the end of the first week of classes.
Teaching Assistants play a very important role in the undergraduate instructional program of this department and the whole university. The department expects TAs to be good teachers, to value good teaching, and to care about their students. The department requires new TAs to take part in training sessions, including preparing, giving, and critiquing sample lessons. Training continues in a mentoring setting during the TA's first semester. See TA Orientation and Training in the Mathematics Department for further information. Additional training or other help may be recommended or required for teachers who experience problems. The department offers a seminar in teaching mathematics which frequently deals with items specifically relevant to the problems TAs face. TAs whose native language is not English are required to prove their proficiency in English before being allowed to teach. The department carries out an evaluation program whereby students evaluate teaching, providing feedback both to the individual TA for use in improving his/her teaching and also to the department.
Teaching Assistants (as well as certain others) are employed in positions governed by UW-Madison's labor agreement with the Teaching Assistants Association (TAA) which is a recognized labor union and bargaining agent. (The TAA contract also spells out many benefits, such as the conditions under which a TA appointment carries fringe benefits such as health care, and details of working conditions. An older version available on the web at http://www.ohr.wisc.edu//polproced/TAAContract/taamain00-01.html.) In keeping with the TAA contract there are salaries associated with being a full-time TA, experienced or inexperienced, and actual TA positions are established at various percentages of full-time. A particular assignment might be described as 45%, in which case it would carry a pay rate of 45% of the full-time rate. The experienced/inexperienced distinction is based on the amount of prior teaching experience the TA has: A typical TA is paid at the inexperienced rate for his/her first year here, but occasionally a TA has prior experience which meets requirements for the experienced rate earlier, or else fails to meet some requirement for advancement to the experienced rate despite being beyond the first year.
The percentage of the full-time rate which is associated with a particular assignment is worked out by a committee of faculty and TAs in the math department. A chart showing the present pay rates is available from the Graduate Program Secretary, in 218 Van Vleck Hall. The percentage for a particular assignment is based on the expected number of hours in the semester that the assignment will require in various categories. Those categories include such things as hours in class, preparation time, time constructing or giving exams, office hours, etc. Some tasks, for example giving exams, take more time at some points in the course than at others. Other tasks, such as in-class contact hours, will be more evenly spread through the semester. In all mathematics TA assignments which involve discussion sections attached to a faculty lecture, the TA is being paid in part for attending the lecture and is expected to attend regularly.
The most common TA assignment in the mathematics department is to teach two discussion sections attached to a faculty lecture of calculus or pre-calculus. Students (and TAs) attend the lecture for a nominal three hours a week, either three 50-minute sessions or two 75-minute ones. That lecture may have as many as 200 students in it. The TA meets with his/her students in smaller discussion sections, typically about 20 students in a section, twice a week for 50 minutes at a time. A typical schedule might have lecture at 11:00 AM MWF and a discussion section at 1:20 Tuesday and Thursday. A TA would probably be teaching two such discussion sections, attached to the same lecture. New teaching assistants are almost always given this sort of assignment, and the lecturer and a special TA coordinator will mentor the new TA. TAs teaching a lecture/discussion course are expected to attend the lecture, and the lecture time is included when calculating the percentage of full-time for such an assignment. An assignment such as this example, two discussion sections which each meet twice a week and also attendance at lecture for either three 50-minute periods or two 75-minute periods, is a 50% assignment.
Another fairly common TA assignment is to teach classes on your own, either a class which meets three times a week for 50 minutes or a class which meets twice a week for 50 minutes. A typical assignment would involve six class meetings, either two sections of the first kind of class or three of the second. Some of these positions are 56% assignments and so are not available to those with certain visa restrictions, specifically to holders of J1 or F1 visas.
The courses in which graduate students are frequently employed as Teaching Assistants are:
In the Fall semester, Math 101, 112, 113, 114, 171, 210, 211, 213, 221, 222, 234, 275, 276, 375, and 376
In the Spring semester, Math 101, 112, 113, 114, 210, 211, 213, 217, 221, 222, 234, 276, 375, and 376
In the 3-week or 8-week Summer Session, Math 101, 112, 113, and occasionally 211, 221, 222, and 234.
These and all other undergraduate math courses are described at the UW-Madison undergraduate catalog site, http://www.wisc.edu/pubs/ug/10lettsci/depts/math.html. If you have a preference for a particular course, please indicate that on the Schedule Card.
In addition to the typical positions, there are quite a few special assignments that a TA might be interested in. Most are reserved for experienced teachers. Some are available also to non-TAs. For details see Special TA positions. Please indicate your interest in special assignments on the Schedule Card.
Both to help the TA and to insure quality instruction for our students, the mathematics department has an extensive program of training for teaching assistants. For details see TA Orientation and Training in the Mathematics Department.
Most TAs in mathematics applied for the position when applying to come here for graduate study in mathematics. If they were awarded a TA position in that situation it will typically carry a guarantee of renewal for several years, in keeping with the TAA contract, so long as the student is making satisfactory academic progress in his/her program in the mathematics department. (Changing to another department for graduate study will generally terminate the guarantee of support as a TA.) For details see http://www.math.wisc.edu/graduate/.
The department also hires some Limited Term TAs who teach for us for one semester, possibly rehired for additional semesters but with no guarantee of continuing support. Almost all of these positions are taken by graduate students, but on occasion an undergraduate TA is hired. For information on applying to be an LTE TA see Applying to be a Limited Term TA in Mathematics.
Anyone is likely to be a better teacher with an assignment which fits his or her preferences. At the same time it may not be able to satisfy simultaneously all preferences! Continuing TAs will fill out a form during the previous semester on which they indicate preferences as to courses, times and days, etc. New TAs will fill out a similar form during the TA training program before the beginning of the fall semester. The application form used by other TAs will ask for this same information. Those TAs who have a guarantee of support, whether continuing or new, will generally be given first priority in making assignments in keeping with their preferences.
Appointments of limited term TAs, those without a guarantee of support, will depend on information such as enrollments in mathematics class sections and staffing levels from other pools, which may not be known until very close to the beginning of classes. Applicants should not expect to know whether they are successful far in advance of the semester for which they applied.
The present (January, 2004) Junior Staff Supervisor in the Mathematics Department is Professor Robert Wilson, wilson@math.wisc.edu. Prof. Paul Milewski (tacoord@math.wisc.edu) will be taking over this position at the end of this semester. The Junior Staff Supervisor does not make initial TA appointments except for limited term positions when enrollments demand hiring extra people, and does not supervise the TA program for summer school. Applications to be a graduate student in mathematics, with possible support as a teaching assistant, are handled by a department committee: See http://www.math.wisc.edu/graduate/.
TAs for summer courses are generally appointed from among TAs already in the department who are continuing mathematics graduate students, and in any case are taken care of by the summer chair.