Student Rights and Responsibilities

Policy on Degree-Program Teaching Assistant Role and Responsibilities

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The purpose of this policy is to outline the role and expectations for Teaching Assistants (TAs) who support the running of degree-based courses at ArtCenter, ensuring clarity for faculty, students, and administrators while supporting an equitable and effective learning environment. The policy comes into effect once a TA has been identified and hired. Hiring (and dismissal) practices are overseen by Employee Experience and Engagement (EEE). The job description noted here is to be used on the Student Employment Job Description form, and leaves room for Individual Departments, Programs, and/or Faculty to add additional language pertaining to their needs.

All degree students, undergraduate or graduate, are eligible to serve as a Degree-Program Teaching Assistant, and may be hired to assist faculty in either a graduate or undergraduate course section. This policy applies only to TAs and not to other categories of student worker, including Graduate Teaching Fellows, Non-degree Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants or other student roles tied to a course, workshop, project, department, or faculty member.

Role and Responsibilities

Teaching Assistants are student workers whose employment is tied to a specific course offered within one of ArtCenter’s undergraduate or graduate degrees. The primary role of a TA is to provide in-class support to enhance student learning with an instructor or supervisor present. TAs are limited to working the total contact hours listed for a course each week, for example 5 hours per week for a 3-credit studio course or 3 hours per week for a 3-credit lecture course. TAs are expected to focus their efforts during class hours; however hours may be flexible (without exceeding the total contact hours for the course) in order to accommodate classroom preparation, arrangement, and straightening up or organizing at the end of class. TAs are not responsible for teaching or grading and must adhere to the following expectations.

In-Class Support:

  • Assist students as tutors and peer mentors during class sessions.
  • Facilitate demonstrations, explanations, and content review.
  • Provide feedback, critique, and support for student projects when appropriate.
  • Check student assignment submissions (including on Canvas, Turnitin, etc.) as instructed by Faculty.

Administrative Support:

  • Use only College-supported communication channels (artcenter.edu email, Canvas, Teams) to interact with faculty and students.
  • Ensure that technology, tools, or materials, are prepared and/or functional, as requested by faculty.

Prohibited Tasks:

  • No grading of student work.
  • No acting as a substitute for Faculty – TAs are not to serve as teacher of record.
  • No performing tasks for faculty that are not directly related to the above roles.
  • With the exception of information available on Canvas (name and student ID), no handling of sensitive student information (per FERPA: “personally identifiable information in education records”)

Job Description

The “Student Employment Job Description” form will include the following information in the fields noted; additional course-specific information to be determined by individual departments and/or instructors.

Purpose of Student Job -

The TA may support faculty teaching in several ways: general classroom management, preparation of materials and/or tools for in-class use, assisting with course logistics (including activities such as taking attendance or tracking participation), and by offering support to students enrolled in the course. Working hours are to be limited to time in and around class meeting times. These hours should be flexible in order to accommodate classroom preparation, arrangement, and straightening up or organizing at the end of class.

Duties/Responsibilities -

Include here Dept / Course-specific information & Course Number and Name

In this field, departments may make minor modifications to the TA role to better align with program goals, provided these remain within the overall framework of this policy.

Qualifications -

Previous knowledge and skills related to the course content, which, at the Department’s discretion, may include prior enrollment in the course, or as otherwise determined by the Faculty.

Orientation and Training

Required TA Orientation for Students

TA Orientation Canvas Course. This required asynchronous Canvas course, administered by the Learning Resource Center, is to be completed by students before the first week of the course section. Topics include policy overview, best practices for mentoring peer learners, and other resources. The orientation course will also contain a means for TAs to provide feedback on the TA program through structured surveys and discussions with CITL and department leads.

The Canvas course is estimated to take up to 2 hours to complete and is paid time. TAs should report 2 hours of work on their first timesheet to reflect time spent on the orientation course. Students may not serve as a TA until they have completed the course.

Faculty TA Supervision Guidelines

Training: Faculty supervising TAs will learn expectations and best practices by joining the orientation course at least once every three years. Completion of the course is required to be eligible to supervise a TA. This work is covered by the CBA as part of a faculty member’s minimal duties to remain current on the College’s procedures, tools, and learning modules and is only required for faculty who work with a TA.

Student Management

Faculty members supervising TAs are responsible for the following:

  • Meet with TA before the start of the term to discuss expectations, scheduling, and to familiarize the TA with room configurations or tools.
  • Discuss the course schedule prior to the beginning of the term.
  • Outline specific tasks for the TA, adhering to the limitations outlined in this policy.
  • Ensure TAs have access to resources and training (e.g., the TA Orientation course on Canvas).
  • Provide constructive feedback to TAs to improve their performance and ensure alignment with course goals.

Policy Implementation and Review

This policy is effective as of January 1, 2026, effective for assistantships during the Spring 2026 term.

Faculty questions regarding this policy should be addressed to deanoffaculty@artcenter.edu

Student questions regarding this policy should be addressed to deanofstudents@artcenter.edu

This policy must be reviewed annually by the Faculty Council in collaboration with CITL to incorporate feedback, address challenges, and ensure continued alignment with institutional goals. Final review and approval will be conducted by the Provost in collaboration with the Deans.