In the Department, a beginning Graduate Student Instructor (a.k.a. Teaching Assistant) is normally assigned to sections of the Department’s Lower Division language courses in Spanish or Portuguese, under the supervision of the faculty Director of Lower Division Courses and the Assistant Directors. GSIs are expected to assist with classroom teaching of one section per term (five hours per week), language laboratory duties, and all other duties connected with the proper functioning of the assigned section, as established by the Director of Lower Division Courses. Fulfillment of these duties and responsibilities will require an average of twenty hours per week (17 weeks = 340 hours).
The Department offers additional teaching opportunities for students who are more advanced, such as Spanish 21/22 "Spanish for Bilingual Students," Spanish 25 “Introduction to Literary Analysis in Spanish,” Spanish 100 “Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics,” Portuguese 27 “Introduction to Afro-Luso-Brazilian Cultures,” and Spanish R1A/B “Reading and Composition (in English).”
Beginning Graduate Student Instructors are required to enroll in the Department’s methodology course (Spanish 375—-Teaching Spanish in College), as well as attend relevant orientations offered in the fall semester of each year. Students who have completed similar courses or programs at another institutions are NOT exempt from these requirements. Students entering a graduate program in mid-year or wishing to begin teaching in the spring semester must make special arrangements for the completion of the requirements with the Director of Lower Division Courses. GSIs are expected to be available for duty the first day of the semester through the time that final grades have been computed and turned in to the supervisor in charge.
Appointments are for one semester or for one year and are self-terminating. Reappointment is contingent upon:
a) continued eligibility as per the qualifications stated above
b) satisfactory teaching performance in the Department, as measured by faculty and student evaluations.
Under exceptional circumstances, upon special recommendation by the Department and with the approval of the Graduate Council, a GSI may assist with a section of an Upper Division course.
Summer Teaching: each year the department offers several opportunities for GSIs to teach in the department during the summer. Currently all of our summer courses are taught online.
The Committee on Teaching of the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate administers an “Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award Program” for the purpose of recognizing, upon recommendation by their respective departments, the noteworthy contributions of Graduate Student Instructors. Receipt of the award is recognition and evidence of the instructor’s exemplary performance, based on criteria that involve teaching effectiveness, command of the subject, skills in preparing and teaching classes, ability to motivate students, and contributions to the course, as evaluated by departmental supervisors. Recipients are presented with certificates of distinction at special ceremonies.
Graduate Student Instructors are represented by the United Auto Workers 8411 for Academic Student Employees.