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Offering TA positions to undergrad students!

Hope_2016Hope_2016
edited April 2009 in General
Hey folks,

Since the deficit of SFU budget was announced, there were so many sacrifices that SFU made like curbing TAs and professors. Apart from that, do you think hiring undergrad students as TAs would bridge the gap between profs and students or improve the situation?

What do you guys think?

Comments

  • JayDub
    edited April 2009
    If they aren't hiring graduate students to be a TA, why would they want to hire an undergrad student?

    They already do hire undergrads when no grads are available.
  • Student0667
    edited April 2009
    Like JayDub said, a Graduate student will beat a Undergraduate Student for TA positions at any given day. However, I think that Undergraduate students who have TA material within them (excellent knowledge of the material, confidence, organization, good judgement and objectiveness, and fairness) should be given a shot as well.
    JayDub;54039 said:
    They already do hire undergrads when no grads are available.
    Yeah, the Political Science Department sometimes hires Fourth Year students as TAs. If I recall, when my PolSci TA was sick one day, he was filled in by a Fourth Year TA.
  • randomuser
    edited April 2009
    TSSU mandates TA's wages, so it doesn't matter if they hire graduate or undergraduate students because monetarily it is all the same.

    The budget shortfalls mean there just wont be increased hiring at all, undergrad or graduate, and as those two mentioned above they do from time to time have undergraduate TA's.
  • schmoey
    edited April 2009
    I had a 3rd year business student as my TA for BUS 237.
  • vonnie
    edited April 2009
    Yeah... I have 3rd year BUS TA's who are in the same classes as I am =D
  • Kevin
    edited April 2009
    Business typically hires undergrads for their TAs because their grad students aren't generally at SFU Burnaby doing grad work, nor are there many MBAs who need to be TAs, so Business gets undergrad TAs.

    Other departments only hire undergrad TAs (in a block known as 'external' and 'undergrad' TAs) generally when there are no spots for grad students. TA-ships are supposed to be a form of funding for graduate students, and as such, are supposed to have a priority for grads.
  • collegestudent
    edited April 2009
    ya i'm an undergrad and i ta'd an introductory bio. usually can only get the job in the summer though, in spring/fall they only hire a handful of undergrads.
  • Kingsley
    edited April 2009
    I thought this post was gonna offer jobs to undergrad students lol

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