All PhD students are expected to spend approximately five hours per week per term performing duties associated with their function as Teaching Assistant (TA) for a course. Typically, this involves:

• becoming familiar with the lecture and lab materials either by previously taking the course, sitting in on the course, or reviewing the materials;
• participating in lab sessions as needed;
• holding TA office hours;
• grading homework, quizzes, exams or projects;
• attending organizational meetings with the instructor(s) and other teaching assistants.

Teaching assistants are an extremely valuable member of the instructional team. At times, students may feel more comfortable in approaching teaching assistants for help than the instructor. Teaching assistants should inform instructors of students who are experiencing unusual difficulties. Also, teaching assistants should provide feedback to the instructor if they discover typographical errors or mistakes in the course materials, problems with course data sets, difficulties in accessing the course website, or any other unanticipated troubles.

For certain large course sequences offered to public health professionals, a teaching assistant(s) may be assigned as a Lead Teaching Assistant. This position entails the additional duties of conducting 2-hour laboratory sessions approximately twice per week and meeting weekly with the course instructors. These additional responsibilities result in a total time commitment of approximately 10 hours per week. Fulfilling the role of Lead Teaching Assistant for two terms satisfies a student's teaching assistant commitment for the entire academic year.

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