Undergraduate TAs

Each year, the Department of Sociology offers employment opportunities to some of our Level IV Honours students. Pending budgetary approval, we provide a number of students with the opportunity to work as a teaching assistant, typically in Introduction to Sociology 1A06. We believe that in addition to assisting students financially, employment as a TA helps senior undergraduates to develop skills that will aid them in their future endeavours, both in the job market and in graduate education.

Students should be aware that TAs are hired in an employment relationship. Work as a TA is not a component of our academic programmes. Level IV Honours or Combined Honours students are invited to submit applications. For further information, including current deadlines and rates of pay, please see the Undergraduate Chair or the Undergraduate Secretary in the Sociology Department.

Statement of Standards for Undergraduate TAs From the Undergraduate Committee

McMaster is taking initiatives to promote quality education. In this spirit we offer this statement of standards to our TAs and Instructors. We aim to ensure that our students receive a high-standard education, and we want our TAs to have a rewarding experience in contribution to this goal.

1. An Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship offers our Sociology students with an opportunity to draw on the knowledge and experience that they have accumulated in the Sociology programme, and to apply this knowledge in a classroom setting. We expect Teaching Assistants to provide students with personal contact, and in doing so, represent the department, university, and the discipline of Sociology itself.
2. Sociology is a discipline which encompasses diverse theoretical and methodological approaches. Academic judgment in choosing the content and direction of a course is the prerogative of the instructor. The role of the undergraduate teaching assistant is to help students understand this course content. Teaching assistants are obliged to discuss assigned materials, and should not introduce extra readings, films or other material without consulting the instructor. We encourage tutorial-based debate about ideas, and remind everyone that all members of the university enjoy academic freedom and that respectful disagreement is an important part of academic life.
3. An Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship is a job with responsibilities. Instructors should clearly communicate their expectations for tutorials and marking, and teaching assistants should follow this direction. Assistants must be available to carry out all duties as set out in the employment contract, are expected to make-up all missed duties and to balance the demands of their job with those of their studies. Non-compliance with these duties can result in disciplinary action as laid out in the collective agreement.
4. If a TA misses a tutorial or office hours due to illness or other legitimate circumstance, she/he ought to take the following steps: a. Contact the instructor as soon as possible to inform him/her of the cancellation. b. Arrange a switch of duties with another TA, or make arrangements to make up the lost time. c. Arrange with another TA to post signs on the tutorial door and your office door (only if no one else can do this, should you ask the departmental staff to post signs).
5. Interactions between instructors, teaching assistants, and undergraduates should be guided by mutual respect. Both parties should be mutually supportive. Both should take seriously the ideas and concerns of undergraduate students, and aim to improve these students' understanding of assignments. Contempt for any of these participants in the learning process reflects poorly on the department, the university and the discipline itself, and is contrary to the goal of quality education.