Coordinator and other special TA positions

Tutorial Program:

The Mathematics Tutorial program typically appoints several TAs each semester. For details contact the program director, Dr. David Camacho (camacho@math.wisc.edu).

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Residence Hall Tutors

(These positions are not teaching assistantships but are available to those who are qualified to be teaching assistants, either as positions by themselves or in addition to a teaching assistantship. The following information comes from the University Residence Halls Coordinator of Academic Services.)

MATH TUTORS WANTED!

University Residence Halls are committed to support our mainly first year student population to succeed in Math. Each residence hall unit will be hiring one Math Tutor to be available in the residence hall around 2-3 early evening hours per week; these office hours will begin the first full week and end the last day of class each semester. Applicants must demonstrate proven mathematical skills through Math 222. Graduate students preferred. Graduate students will be compensated at $15 per hour; advanced undergraduates will receive $10 per hour. Any offer of employment you may receive will be contingent upon timely verification of identity and work authorization. TAs with 50% teaching appointments who have F-1 or J-1 visas are not eligible to tutor. Please contact Cal Bergman, Academic Services Coordinator for University Residence Halls, at calvin.j.bergman@mail.admin.wisc.edu to obtain an application.

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Coordinator for Math 101, 112, 221 or 222

These positions, one semester each, include responsibilities for running the course, such as assisting with making up examinations or scheduling material, and mentoring of the other TAs in the course.

• Coordinator for Math 101
• Coordinator for Math 112
• Coordinator for Math 221 or 222

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Coordinator for Math 101:

This is a spring semester appointment only.
Faculty Math 101 course coordinator: David Camacho, camacho@math.wisc.edu.
The 101 TA coordinator has a 50% appointment and would typically do at least the following:

• Teach a section of Math 101.
• Revise and print handouts, quizzes and the final exam (option: such items may be generated by computer.).
• Perform other administrative tasks.

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Coordinator for Math 112:

One coordinator is needed. There is a faculty Math 112 course coordinator, presently Dan Rider, drider@math.wisc.edu. The TA coordinator works with the faculty coordinator to assist in the operation of this course. The 112 TA coordinator has a 55.6% appointment and would typically do at least the following: 

• Teach one section of Mathematics 112.
• Prepare and distribute course materials for all sections,
  including syllabus, exams, grading keys and review sheets.
• Organize and run instructor meetings at the start of the semester and before and after each exam.
• Perform other administrative tasks.

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Coordinator for Math 221 or 222:

These are fall semester only appointments. About four or five coordinators are needed each fall, each at a 58.13% appointment level. The coordinator's primary special responsibility is to mentor new teaching assistants. A calculus TA coordinator would typically do at least the following:

• Help organize and lead orientation for new TAs during Wisconsin Welcome Days.
  (It is not normally possible to take this position if you are also taking qualifying exams in the fall! If you are only taking qualifying exams which do not occur at the same time as the TA training sessions, it may be possible for these to coexist.)
• Work with assigned new TAs during the semester--including visiting each TA's classes,
  training with grading, writing quizzes, etc.
• Teach two discussion sections.
• Help the lecturer with some administrative tasks.

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Summer Orientation for foreign TAs

The mathematics department each summer runs an orientation program for incoming graduate students from foreign countries who will be TAs in the fall. Experienced TAs are employed in this program. For details contact Prof. Steven Bauman (bauman@math.wisc.edu).

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Coordinator for the MathLab:

MathLab offers drop-in help for students in many undergraduate courses. The TA coordinating MathLab is responsible for organizing those help sessions and making sure they are staffed: Almost all TAs are expected to spend a few hours each semester in the lab, and a major responsibility for the coordinator is scheduling those hours and making sure the work gets done. There are also undergraduate assistants taking part, who must be found and scheduled. Coordinating MathLab is a 1/6-time (16.66%) assignment normally held in addition to some other appointment.

• Find out which TAs are expected to work in the MathLab and schedule them for sessions in the MathLab, B227 Van Vleck.
• Arrange for suitable undergraduates to work in the MathLab.
• Maintain records.
• Send out announcements.
• Handle problems which arise.

For further information contact the faculty MathLab supervisor (currently Gloria Maribeffa, maribeff@math.wisc.edu).

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Math 130 or 131 or 132 TA-section:

As need arises the mathematics department may on occasion hire qualified TAs to teach some sections of Math 130 or Math 131 or Math 132.
Two sections of Math 130/131 correspond to a 56% appointment level. A single section is a 33% appointment.
Two sections of Math 132 correspond to a 50% appointment level.
These courses, the mathematics content component of the courses taken by someone preparing to be an elementary school teacher, are very special in many ways. The course description prescribes not only what will be covered but also how the course will be run. Normally a TA teaching these courses would be someone with a specific interest in mathematics education since it is appropriate to have background in educational psychology and how someone learns mathematics. Since these courses are normally taught by faculty, appointments to teach them would be made by the associate chair of the department, Prof. Dietrich Uhlenbrock. (uhlenbro@math.wisc.edu)

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Placement coordinator:

This is an academic year appointment. One coordinator is needed. The coordinator advises undergraduates of their placement into the correct math class based on their placement exam scores or previous math classes. The placement coordinator's duties include working with the SOAR summer registration program. This position usually carries a 22.11% appointment as a Project Assistant, and the holder usually has a 33.33% appointment as a TA in addition. Contact the department's Undergraduate Coordinator (currently Gloria MariBeffa, maribeff@math.wisc.edu) for more information.

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Residence Hall Learning Community (LC) TA-sections:

The mission of the residence hall learning communities is to provide a living-learning environment for first year students that promotes a successful transition from high school to college life, encourages collaborative learning between students, faculty and staff.
Faculty Learning Community coordinator: Steve Bauman, (bauman@math.wisc.edu)
Assistant Residence Life Director: Cal Bergman (calvin.j.bergman@mail.admin.wisc.edu)

These are generally special sections of regular courses, and are marked in the timetable. Sections have been arranged in recent years for undergraduates in the Ogg and Sellery and Bradley residence halls and the Chadbourne Residential College, in Mathematics 112 and in the calculus sequences.
A Learning Community TA would typically do at least the following as a part of teaching the regular course:

• Hold some office hours in the residence hall.
• Have lunch/dinner with students in the residence hall occasionally, if feasible.

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Women in Science and Engineering (WISE):

This has been a residential program housed in the Elizabeth Waters Residence Hall designed to reduce attrition of young women from Science, Mathematics and Engineering majors, offered occasionally. Starting with the fall of 2002 there will be special sections of some math courses reserved for these students, resembling the residence-hall sections discussed above. These are marked in the timetable.
Faculty Director: Prof. Caitilyn Allen :(cza@plantpath.wisc.edu )

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FIG, BIG, and SCI sections:

Under a new (2002) initiative, UW-Madison is emphasizing availability of small classes and special interest sections for first year students.

FIG (First-year Interest Group) and BIG (Biology Interest Group) groupings will link together sections in several courses: For example, a FIG might link a section in sociology with a section in psychology and a section in mathematics. There will be a "home" for the FIG, in that example perhaps in sociology, where the professor who organized the group teaches the central course in the linkage. In the other sections in the group the teacher may or may not have any particular expertise in the subject central to the group but the students in the section will be restricted to the FIG group and so will be able to focus among themselves on how mathematics relates to the subject and also will be developing group interactions not easy on a large campus like this.

SCI (Small Class Initiative) promotes small sections of courses, restricted in availability to first year students, but not grouped by enrollment in other courses as are the FIGs. These courses will primarily be taught by faculty, in small sections rather than large lectures, but there will sometimes be a TA assigned to work with the course in addition.

Since FIG, BIG, and SCI sections are just appearing, there is no clear way to find out what sections of this sort will be available in a given semester, that you might want to apply to teach. As the programs develop we will try to make this information available. For Fall of 2002 you can look at the footnotes on math courses in the timetable for clues as to what special sections of this sort are planned.

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Satellite pre-calculus or calculus TA-section:

Sometimes some of the calculus classes may be taught in a "satellite" format. One faculty member and a group of about five TAs will work together: Each of the TAs teaches a small class, handling both the lecture and discussion parts, under the supervision of the faculty member who is also teaching a similar class. The TAs and the faculty member will follow a common syllabus and give common exams.

A satellite TA would, as a 50% appointment, typically do the following:

• Teach a class which meets Monday through Friday schedule at the same hour, a class of around thirty-five students.
• Participate in regular discussions of the satellite TA group, with the faculty member teaching the parallel class, regarding the syllabus, exam structure and grading policies.
• Cooperate in a common grading scheme across the course unless a special agreement is reached with the faculty member.

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Wisconsin Emerging Scholar (WES) TA-section:

The WES program is designed to provide a learning community environment for students with a strong interest in math, science, or engineering, and who might find themselves academically isolated. Students whose pre-college mathematics program may have been weak but who seem likely to have mathematical ability are targeted. High school seniors with an interest in math and science and who belong to a minority group, or are from a very small (probably rural) high school, are sent invitations to join the program.
WES students attend a regular calculus lecture, but have greatly expanded discussion section time. In the discussion section a large emphasis is placed on working together in groups to solve problems and to learn by doing so. WES students take the same exams as other students in the lecture, but their scores are not used when making a grade curve for the exam although the resulting curve will be applied in deriving their grades. There is a special room for WES discussion sections and the students are encouraged to interact socially as well as work directly on their mathematics.
A single WES section meeting three times a week for two hours, together with the same expectations of lecture attendance and participation in running the course that apply to other discussion section assignments, corresponds to a 50% appointment level.
Program Director: Melinda Certain (certain@math.wisc.edu)

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Paper Graders

Both graduate and undergraduate students may be employed as paper graders assisting faculty teaching mathematics courses. These positions are paid on an hourly basis for the work done in grading, with a certain number of hours allotted per course for grading for the entire semester. As such they are not given a percentage-time appointment. (Hence they do not generally qualify for benefits going with a 1/3 time appointment such as health insurance or tuition remission.)

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Registration workers

Each semester the department hires several students to work on an hourly basis staffing the Math Help Desk. This operation assists students with registration problems, helping them find sections which fit their schedules or otherwise getting them into their math courses for the semester.

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