G9.6 TA Evaluation Procedure

In the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, TAs undergo evaluation of their professional performance once each semester. The Language Coordination Committee evaluates TAs.

The committee’s evaluation is presented to the Graduate Program Manager for filing. TAs can request their evaluation from their coordinator or the Graduate Program Manager.

The evaluation procedure is based on information from three sources: a written report from the course coordinator, evaluations from the TA’s students, and (when requested by a coordinator or TA) a written report from a faculty visitor other than the coordinator (a “non- coordinating faculty” [NCF] visitor). The committee attributes less weight (as described below, in section 4) to the NCF visitor’s report than the other two sources, for two reasons:

1. The NCF visitor’s report is based on the observation of one class, while the coordinator’s report and the students’ evaluations reflect the work of a complete semester. It is therefore expected that the NCF visitor’s report will broaden the part of the coordinator’s report dealing with the TA’s work in the classroom. The NCF visitor can often give valuable information about the atmosphere in which the class is conducted, the way in which the TA works with the students, the way in which queries are dealt with, and generally about what happens in the classroom.
2. A coordinator or TA may request a visit by a non-coordinating faculty member. Such requests must be submitted to the chair of the Language Coordination Committee no later than the beginning of the ninth week of the semester.

For Spanish 223 and 224, the instructor who teaches the large-lecture section (and already serves as supervisor of the 223/224 TAs) will (a) complete the 223/224 TAs’ coordinator reports, and (b) conduct the “coordinator” observation. The performance during this visit would, then, be the “class visit” score reported on the coordinator report.

Waiver of class visit: For TAs who have taught a particular course at least twice, at the coordinator’s discretion, may have their course visit waived for that semester. For Spanish 101-204, 206, 207 TAs: at the discretion of the coordinator and the director of the language program director; for Spanish 226 TAs, at the discretion of the coordinator and the chair; for Spanish 223 and 224 TAs, at the supervising professor’s discretion; for Portuguese TA-taught courses, at the Portuguese Steering Committee’s discretion.

The TA will be notified of the coordinator’s decision at the time when the coordinator class visits are announced. If the coordinator visit is waived, the TA may still request a class visit that semester.