UC Santa CruzAnthropology
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Reader and TA Policy

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Reader Policy for Anthropology:

Readers are generally advanced undergraduate students or graduate students who are contracted to read and grade exams or papers in a specified course. While the reader is required to make detailed written comments on papers or exams, unlike a teaching assistant, the reader is not responsible for writing narrative evaluations for the students nor is the reader required to attend class.

The department policy for allocating reader hours is: one hour per student for courses with 60 students or writing intensive courses that are not given a TA (enrollment 30+). Courses with TA support are not eligible for reader support.

TA Policy for Anthropology:

Teaching Assistants have a workload of 20 hours per week (though that may vary from week to week, with less in some weeks and more in others). They must hold office hours and attend class regularly.

The department policy for allocating TAs is 70 students for one TA; 90 students for two TAs. Faculty need to supply a brief statement about the nature of the work (i.e., how many sections, additional meetings, etc.).

TAs are typically required to hold sections and draft evaluations for 45 students. In cases where there is only one TA assigned for 70 students, faculty must not expect students to exceed the above workload. Therefore faculty are expected to contribute to the workload by either grading excess papers, running some sections or omitting the sections for TAs. For example here are two possible options for allocating workload with TAs:

Option 1:
  • No more than 20 hours per week
  • 2-3 sections for all students
  • Grade papers and draft evaluations for 45 students (faculty will do remainder)
  • Hold office hours
  • Attend class regularly

Option 2:
  • No more than 20 hours per week
  • No sections
  • Grade papers and draft evaluations for all students up to 70 maximum (faculty will do remainder)
  • Hold office hours
  • Attend class regularly