SPH Teaching Assistants.

• Title IX training and resources: Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 requires universities to respond promptly and effectively to complaints of all kinds of sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment and sexual violence
• Classroom technology demonstration and contacts: You will become familiar with classroom technology and gain hands-on experience before the start of the semester by attending a classroom demonstration/training with Ed Media. All TAs who do not have experience with the classroom technology are required to review a training session on this link.
• Blackboard training modules: If your instructional support role includes Blackboard management, we encourage you to watch one of the Blackboard training session and review the following self-paced tutorials:
  • Introduction to Blackboard
  • Frequently utilized features
  • Uploading Zoom Videos to Blackboard via Kaltura
  • Posting Zoom Meeting Links on Blackboard
• FERPA : The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of a student’s education records. In compliance with FERPA, Boston University does not disclose personally identifiable information contained in student education records, except as authorized by law
• Literature on leading discussions and providing meaningful written feedback, Teaching Assistant Handbook
• Resources for academic support, policies, library, wellness, students in distress, Teaching Assistant Handbook

• • Education Office will initiate the TA request screening process with SPH department Academic Program Administrators (APA) and Department Administrators (DA).
  • Departments submit Teaching Assistant request via google form to the Education Office.  Education Office will share TA request tracking spreadsheet with departments.
  • Education Office begins the screening process.
    • Check enrollment to confirm TA allocation.
      • The School supports a 0.5 FTE TA for every 10 students enrolled.  For courses with 70 or more students enrolled, 4 TAs will be supported. For courses with 90 or more students enrolled, 5 TAs will be supported. Faculty can no longer use discretionary funds to supplement their TA allocation as this could introduce inequities in workload that would run counter to provisions in the BUGWU collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
  • Enrollment allocation rubric:
    

    TA Support	Enrollment Threshold
    0.5 FTE	10-19 students
    1.0 FTE	20-29 students
    1.5 FTE	30-39 students
    2.0 FTE	40-49 students
    2.5 FTE	50-59 students
    3.0 FTE	60-69 students
    4.0 FTE	70-89 students
    5.0 FTE	90+ students

  • After the request process opens, the Education Office will review the enrollment record for each course in MyBU Student to determine if it has met the enrollment threshold.  If there is a record of the course meeting the enrollment threshold and the enrollment number drops, the course will still be eligible for the allocation relative to the highest enrollment number on record.
  • Review of eligibility by the Registrar and Assistant Dean of Students.
    • Student or Alumni TAs may be deemed ineligible due to the following circumstances:
      • Documented incidents of academic misconduct.
      • Currently demonstrating academic difficulty.
  • TA Request Tracking
    • APAs and DAs track TA request status via TA request tracking spreadsheet shared by the Education Office.
    • Education Office will indicate the status of each TA request in the “Status” column. The status will be selected via a drop-down menu with the following options:
      • Awaiting approval
      • Needs follow-up
      • Ready to hire
      • Hired
      • Ineligible to TA
      • Canceled
    • If a particular request will require additional follow up with the TA, the status will say “Needs follow-up”.

The TA hiring process will be administered departmentally following the steps below:

• Check HR and employment eligibility based on BU guidelines, policies, and restrictions.
  • Once TA passes SPH Education screening checkpoint, the department may send a notification e-mail to the TA indicating that they have been conditionally approved to TA for the semester, pending successful hire into the system.
  • Any  violations of the 20-hour work week policy for graduate students serving as TAs, any hours in excess of 20 hours per week,  will be charged at time and a half per hour to the faculty member’s discretionary account. Whenever discretionary account funds shall be insufficient to cover such charges, departmental funds will need to fund this unapproved overage.
• Collect and process relevant TA paperwork and employment authorization forms.
• Hire TA into student employment and/or HR system.
• Send TA payment confirmation detailing their payment distribution for the semester and direct deposit instructions.
• Update request status on TA request tracking spreadsheet to “Hired”.

Please note that TAs cannot begin working until they have completed the necessary hiring paperwork/work authorization and have received notification of approval via the department. All I-9 verifications must be completed within 3 days of the position start, in accordance with federal law.

• Education Office coordinates trainings.
  • School-wide TA trainings are offered to provide resources and instruction on classroom technology and policies.
  • Education Office will notify all approved TAs of the TA training schedule and share resources (e.g., TA Handbook).
• Instructors coordinate class-specific guidelines and expectations.

• Per University policy, no graduate student should exceed the 20 hr/week work hour requirement, which according to the CBA constitutes a full-time load, while enrolled in a program.  There will be no exceptions to this rule.
• Any SPH student that has been involved in an Academic Misconduct Incident is automatically ineligibleto TA.
• Student must be enrolled in courses during the semester for which they are a TA aside from the summer semesters.
• Full-time doctoral students
  • Doctoral students who are supported by a stipend on a training grant or research assistantship are NOT eligible to TA in summer or fall 2025.
  • Doctoral students who are not supported by a stipend cannot TA for more than one course per semester.

In cases where staff are considered for TA positions, approvals by both the Associate Dean for Education and the Associate Dean for Administration and Finance are required. Certain staff members of the BU community may qualify to serve as TAs, provided that serving in this role will not conflict with their core duties as a staff member.  The following conditions apply:

• Full-time staff who are also part-time students are not eligible to serve as TAs.
• Only exempt level staff are eligible to be engaged as TAs (e.g. paid semi-monthly).
• The maximum service that any staff member can serve as TA for is one course (4 credits) per calendar year. Overbase payment applies to any staff engagement as TA.
• For centrally funded staff positions, time allocated toward TA duties cannot occur within an employee’s regularly scheduled work hours for their staff position. De-minimis use of email during regular work hours toward TA duties is at the discretion of the staff member’s manager as long as it remains just that – minimal in nature – and does not conflict with the duties and responsibilities of the staff member’s full-time position.
• Research staff funded from sponsored programs must comply with the University’s effort reporting requirements, and PIs must ensure that effort is reported accurately. It is the PI who determines whether serving in a TA role would interfere with an employee’s core duties as a staff member. Therefore, the staff member may serve as a TA if they receive written PI permission to engage in such duties, whereby the PI attests that they will ensure that research staff devote the reported effort to sponsored projects. There should not be a need for staff grant effort reduction unless the PI provides alternative guidance.
  • 100% grant-funded staff may only TA for a maximum of two semesters total while in fully-grant funded positions, in order to remain compliant with effort reporting.
• Unless there is documented Provost approval, no full-time staff may serve as instructor or co-instructor for any course.

• Any SPH Alumni that have been involved in an Academic Misconduct Incident are automatically ineligible to TA.
• Cannot serve as a TA for three consecutive semesters. After the third consecutive semester, 30 days must lapse until the alum/unaffiliated can be hired as a TA again.
• International Alumni:
  • Must be approved to work by ISSO.
  • Must provide written confirmation of active OPT status.
  • Must have graduated within the last 12 months.