TA Appointment Types
A student may hold only one of these appointment types for a course.
All hiring paperwork must be submitted to HR a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the start of any TA/Marker-related work (including participating in Training)
| Marker | Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA) | Senior Teaching Assistant (STA) | Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) |
| Marks exams, tests or assignments that require only objective marking. Only responsible for marking work, no other TA duties are assigned. No student contact. | Lab instruction; leading discussions/ tutorials/lectures; marking exams/ tests/assignments; invigilation duties; academic assistance during office hours. | Coordinating other Teaching Assistants; providing guidance, technical knowledge, and/or subject matter expertise to other Teaching Assistants. Often referred to as Head TA’s. | Lab instruction; leading discussions/tutorials/ lectures; marking exams/ tests/assignments; invigilation duties; academic assistance during office hours. |
See UBC Sauder Hub for a complete overview of the TA/Marker Hiring process.
Also, see the guidelines for hiring TAs .
UBC Sauder TA Training
Sauder Divisional Assistants will coordinate enrolling TA(s) in the TA Training course on Canvas. If a Sauder Instructor wants to be added to the TA training course, they can be added by their Divisional Assistant.
Total Hours
First-time TA’s: 5 hours + instructor discretion of skills-based training*
Returning TA’s: 90 minutes + instructor discretion of skills-based training*
*Refer to the “Skills-based Training Options” below to identify the items TA(s) may need to complete based upon their specific role, responsibilities, and experience and communicate the expectations with the TA(s).
TA’s and Markers must be paid (at their regular rate) for their participation in training.
Mandatory Training Requirements
| New TA’s | Returning TA’s | |
| UBC-wide mandatory online modules (one-time requirement) (Workplace Violence Prevention, Privacy & Information Security, Preventing Bullying & Harassment, etc.) | ~3 hours | n/a |
| UBC Sauder HR Orientation (employment expectations & TA/Marker Collective Agreement, payroll, key contacts, etc.) | ~30 minutes | 30 minutes |
| Administrative Set-up & Information Security (UBC VPN, multi-factor authentication, UBC Sauder email, etc.) | ~30 minutes | Resources available for reference |
| Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (gender diversity, racial diversity, inclusive teaching practices, making referrals, health & wellbeing resources, etc.) | ~30 minutes | 1 hour (optional, but recommended) |
| The TA Role (UBC Sauder academic policies, confidentiality & conflict of interest, professional communication, time management, etc.) | ~30 minutes | Resources available for reference |
All mandatory training is provided in a self-paced, asynchronous format.
Skills-based Training Options
| Canvas (content pages, course files, discussion boards, video content, etc.) | 15 – 60 minutes self-paced asynchronous |
| Grading (gradebook, speedgrader, rubrics, fairness & consistency) | 15 – 30 minutes self-paced asynchronous |
| Facilitation (online facilitation techniques, in-person facilitation techniques, iClicker, etc.) | 15 minutes – 2 hours self-paced asynchronous & synchronous interactive options available (depending on level of hands-on practice desired) |
| Technology (Zoom lecture moderation, Zoom attendance/participation tracking, video creation, in-class AV tech support, etc.) | 15 – 60 minutes self-paced asynchronous content & synchronous interactive options available (depending on level of hands-on practice desired) |
Time ranges provided due to variation in TA roles and responsibilities; some TA’s may benefit from reviewing all content in a Module, while others may only need to review one or two topics.
Payment
For information on TA pay rates, please see the UBC Sauder Hub. or speak with the Divisional Assistant.
How do I add my TA to my Canvas course?
To add a TA to a Sauder Canvas course, please contact the divisional assistant.
For more general information on the process of adding TA’s to Canvas, please consult UBC’s documentation
Marking and Grading with TAs
Before marking with TAs it is worth taking a few minutes to explicitly state the aims of the assignment and the importance of the TAs role in the process.
Consider! Is what you are asking appropriate for an undergraduate student to mark?
- Multiple choice, or basic quantitative problem sets are appropriate.
- Essay questions and case analyses, generally are not appropriate for TAs to mark.
It is critical to communicate and calibrate expectations if a TA is marking an assignment.
- One way to calibrate is to mark the same assignments together on a video call. (Zoom or otherwise.)
- There are two ways to proceed: You can pick random assignments, or vetted to provide the TA with an example of a range of work (i.e., an exceptional piece, an acceptable piece, and an unacceptable piece.)
- Another method is to provide marking guidelines and a sample assignment ask the TA(s) to mark a few assignments and submit them for review, then have a discussion.
- If Sauder Instructors have multiple TAs marking, the discussion is best had over zoom or a conference call to ensure that all of the TAs are aligned.
- Using rubrics can help keep TAs on track marking with little deviation. In these cases, providing detail in each square is helpful.
- Another strategy is to utilize a canvas feature called Moderated Grading. This allows marks to be entered into SpeedGrader, then be reviewed by a moderator, generally the instructor. More information is available in Moderated Grading.
Tip: If you don’t want to provide this level of detail to students, give your TA a “marking copy” to work from that contains the details.