CURRENT STUDENTS
Application process for annual academic year TA assignments
- A committee consisting of the Dept. of Natural Resources and the Environment Chair (or Associate Chair), Teaching & Curriculum Committee Chair, and the Director of Graduate Studies for the Field of Natural Resources and the Environment will make recommendations to the Dept. Chair regarding the annual academic year TA assignments.
- Faculty must complete a TA application to request a teaching assistant position for their student. The application will ask to (a) describe student’s past and future funding outlook, (b) verify whether they had a TA commitment accompanying their acceptance letter, (c) identify NTRES courses that match their expertise and field of interest, (d) indicate previous TA experience, and (e) explain why they are requesting a TA assignment.
- Application procedures and deadlines for TA applications will be announced annually in mid-February, with applications due by March 1st. Notifications will be sent by March 22nd and students must confirm their TA offer by April 1. A waiting list will be maintained to fill TA commitments that are declined.
Criteria to be used in making annual academic year TA assignments (in order of priority):
- Graduate students who have been provided with a written commitment of a TA position in their offer letter from the DNRE chair will receive highest priority.
- The match between the course and the graduate student qualifications. (In rare cases, if an instructor does not consider any of students in the Graduate Field of Natural Resources and the Environment to be qualified to TA their course, graduate students from other fields can be considered.)
- Ph.D. students (including M.S./Ph.D.) will be given priority over M.S. students. (With rare exception, M.P.S. students will be considered for Teaching Assistantships.)
- TA’s are allocated to the Dept. of Natural Resources and the Environment for the primary purpose of supporting undergraduate courses and secondary purpose of supporting graduate students under the supervision of faculty in the Dept. of Natural Resources.
- Professional progress in the program by a graduate student[1] (e.g. timely completion of milestones (research proposal, A-Exam, etc.), refereed journal publications, presentations, honors or awards). This will be assessed through the yearly review process at the beginning of each spring semester.
- Past performance as a Teaching Assistant as determined by course evaluations and faculty assessment.
[1] When evaluating TA requests for senior Ph.D. students (i.e., those who have been enrolled in our graduate program for more than four or five years), consideration will be given to the extent to which a TA opportunity can help facilitate their professional progress and meet a teaching need in the department of natural resources. For example, teaching experience is often essential for Ph.D. students, therefore even well-funded students should be provided with teaching opportunities and possibly a TA. On the other hand, senior graduate students with little evidence of progress towards completing their degree will receive low priority.