Welcome/Orientation

First, and foremost -- thanks for being a Teaching Assistant. Although faculty often take the lead in designing the syllabus and preparing and delivering lectures -- almost every other aspect of teaching is dominated by the effort of teaching assistants. TAs spend more time preparing and delivering recitations, holding office hours, answering email, reviewing and providing feedback on student work, and preparing assignments. TAs outnumber instructors by almost 4:1. Depending upon the size and the nature of the course, individual TAs might have as approximately as many office hours per student as the instructor -- to 20x more.

...without question, TAs make Computer Science classes what they are. Thank you.

Having said that, this talk will take a quick look at the composition of the TA corps, explore some resources available to TAs, the support structure available for students in need, and take a brief look at some strategies for using them. It'll also review some applicable policies and procedures.

And, of course -- thanks again!