Programs> Teaching Associates (TA) Program

1. What is the Teaching Assistant Program?
2. Who may apply?
3. How do I apply?
4. Application Deadlines
5. What are the criteria for appointment?
6. What are the responsibilities of Teaching Associates?
7. How can I get more information?

1. What is the Teaching Associate Program in Rhetoric and Writing Studies?

The Teaching Associate Program in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies (DRWS) offers exciting opportunities for financial support and teaching experience to graduate students across the disciplines. Teaching Associates are hired to teach one or two developmental or general education writing classes (RWS 92A, 100 or 200). All of these writing classes are designed to help SDSU undergraduates undertake writing projects that have the depth and complexity of university work, that draw upon a variety of sources, and that show sound decisions about structure and conventions of correctness.

The goal of the Teaching Associate Program in DRWS is to train first rate teachers who offer excellent instruction in undergraduate writing and reading. The program provides ongoing professional training and support for TAs, who are encouraged to discover and articulate links among their graduate studies, their own literacy practices and their teaching of writing and reading. Graduate students in the program therefore have an opportunity not only to teach writing to a diverse student body, but to learn and practice effective pedagogies and to experience the "linguistic turn," the attention to the workings of discourse that is now prominent in all branches of study.

2. Who may apply?

DRWS invites applications from qualified graduate students across the disciplines. Candidates who are in the process of applying to an SDSU graduate program may also apply; their applications will be considered when they are accepted into a graduate program. Applicants must complete RWS 609 before being offered a contract; however, they may submit an application before or during their enrollment in that class.

3. What is the application process?

Applications are available through the DRWS office in Adams Humanities 3138. You may visit, write or telephone the office, or contact Karen Keene (619-594-5477, kkeene@mail.sdsu.edu) to request an application form and instructions for applying. The form is also available for direct download online (doc)

Application materials include:

• an application form
  
  
• transcripts
  
  
• three current letters of recommendation (ask the person writing the letter to send it directly to Karen Keene, Adams Humanities 3138, MC 4452).
  
  
• a statement of purpose
  
  
• a writing sample of about five pages of expository prose.

4. Application Deadlines

Applications are accepted each semester. The following application dates apply for each semester:

October 23 (to apply to teach in Spring)
March 01 (to apply to teach in Fall)

Applications from graduate students in DRWS are reviewed by a committee of faculty from DRWS. Applications from graduate students in English are reviewed by a joint committee of faculty from DRWS and English. Applicants are notified before the end of the semester in which they apply about whether they will receive a contract.

5. What are the criteria for appointment?

The best applications show excellent writing skills, intellectual work that is compatible with graduate study, and a commitment to and knowledge about teaching writing. Before being offered a contract, a student must have completed RWS 609: Theory and Practice of Teaching Composition. Preference will be given to applicants who have tutored in the DRWS Developmental Writing Program or who have equivalent tutoring or teaching experience. Currently enrolled graduate students must have a gradepoint average of 3.0 both overall and in their program classes.

6. What are the responsibilities of Teaching Associates?

Teaching Associates have a unique status as enrolled graduate students, as employees of the university, and as members of a training program. DRWS is committed to the academic success of TAs. The department therefore offers a sequenced program of teaching and training activities designed to improve teaching, to enrich graduate study and to broaden the range of experiences that graduates will bring to interviews, advanced graduate study and employment. Highlights of the sequence are:

• Teaching one or two writing classes for which the Teaching Associate is fully responsible, and for which DRWS provides avenues of friendly support;
  
  
• a two-day orientation to the program before the first week of teaching;
  
  
• a series of weekly meetings called "Issues in Teaching Composition" during the first semester of teaching;
  
  
• a conference on the teaching of writing during the first week of the fall semester ( the week before classes begin).

7. How can I get more information?

Be sure to let the graduate advisor in your department know of your interest in applying. For more information, please contact:

Professor Chris Werry
Director of the TA Program
(619) 594-3882
cwerry@mail.sdsu.edu

The Teaching Associate Program
Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-4452