Teaching

Teaching fellows (TFs, the Harvard equivalent of teaching assistants, or TAs) are valued members of the Harvard College staff and play an important role in the College educational process. TFs assist in courses under the supervision of those holding formal teaching appointments.

Almost all graduate students serve as TFs while at Harvard. Teaching is an essential part of the career preferred by many graduate students, namely, university-level instruction. In addition, teaching at GSAS is an integral part of many students' financial aid package.

Your duties as TF may include teaching sections, conducting tutorials, recommending grades, supervising independent study projects and monitoring students' progress toward their degrees. Teaching responsibilities vary from department to department and from course to course. In general, though, you are likely to be responsible for 10-20 students as part of a larger course, hold weekly discussions or laboratory sections, be available to answer questions, grade exams and papers, help assign course grades, and attend TF meetings. As a TF you will receive an Officer's ID card, the same status that faculty hold. With this, you will get some additional library privileges, entrance to the Faculty Club, and the ability to buy blue books -- not to mention the power to stop anyone riding a bicycle through Harvard Yard!

If you are planning to pursue a teaching career, try to get as much TF experience as possible. Teach introductory and advanced courses, those for majors and those in the Core (Harvard's required curriculum). The broader your teaching portfolio, the more qualified you will be for a wide range of jobs. If possible, try to serve as a Head TF, or even as an adjunct at another institution, to vary your experience in planning and organizing a course. Obtain such documentation as course evaluations from students in your classes and copies of the CUE Guide evaluations (see below) from the students in your sections and keep them as part of a teaching portfolio -- or even in your dossier at the Office of Career Services.

If you follow the suggestions above and still find yourself spending an inordinate amount of time on teaching-related activities, you should approach the course head about it. Something as simple as changing how you grade papers could make a difference. If you think that teaching is taking too much of your time and the solution is not resolved after discussing it with the course head, you should take it up with another faculty member, the DGS of your department, the Director of Student Services or the GSAS Assistant Dean for Student Affairs.

Finding a teaching fellow position
Finding a position can be especially frustrating for those seeking TF appointments for the first time. In many departments, especially in the Humanities and Social Sciences, there is no formal mechanism through which students are matched with jobs. Here are some hints as to how to get through the process.

1. Find out your department's hiring practices. Most GSAS students will find TF appointments through their departments. A majority of graduate programs are part of larger undergraduate departments which provide a number of teaching opportunities. Many of these departments already have their own guidelines as to how TF positions are distributed.
2. Consider TFing Core courses. For students in graduate programs that have little or no undergraduate component, the main source of TF positions is the Core, Harvard's version of a required general curriculum. Core courses' major size limitation is the availability of teaching fellows. Like most Harvard undergraduate courses, they are organized around weekly lectures followed by a seminar-type discussion section. In order to secure a TF position in a Core course, the best thing to do is directly contact the professor, who will most likely ask for a curriculum vitae.
3. Start early. You should attempt to secure a TF position in the spring of the year before you expect to teach. Since the adoption of the Teaching Fellow Hiring Guidelines in 1994, the faculty is committed to offer positions to potential TFs before they leave for summer break. Generally the Core will guarantee a number of appointments based on the course's past history of TF requirements. So, for example, a professor may assure ten TF positions while the Core guarantees only seven. The non-guaranteed TFs will receive their appointments once the Core has determined that there are enough students in the course to warrant hiring more.

CUE Course Evaluations
The Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) has created course evaluation forms which students fill out near the end of each semester, giving scores and comments on the instructors, TFs, readings, workload, etc. These evaluations are later published in the CUE Guide (online with PIN access) for the following school year. The forms are also sent to Course Heads once the grades are submitted, so make sure to get the evaluations for your teaching portfolio. Section leaders who receive overall scores of 4.5 (out of 5) or higher are awarded Certificates of Distinction in Teaching each semester.

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Instructional Computing
The Instructional Computing Group assists with setting up course web pages, using educational software, creating mailing lists, scheduling computer classrooms, and a number of other pedagogical applications of technology. The FAS Information Technology Committee has made a fund available to help sponsor innovations in teaching and technology for those who want to use computers inventively in classes.

Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
The Bok Center provides a number of programs and services to help improve teaching at Harvard. From sponsoring general orientations at the beginning of each semester, to videotaping your sections, to providing individual consultation, the Bok Center can assist you in any area of teaching and feedback. International students may be particularly interested in the Bok Center's programs for TFs who are non-native speakers of English. Head TFs may also be interested in joining the Head Teaching Fellow Network, an information exchange sponsored by the Bok Center. For all TFs, the resource library, located in Science Center 318, has a number of helpful publications and videotapes of past orientation sessions. (You can refer to another description in this guide, or visit their webpage http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~bok_cen.)