- What
is the Teaching Assistant Program?
- Who may apply?
- How do I apply?
- Application Deadlines
- What are the criteria for appointment?
- What are the responsibilities
of Teaching Associates?
- 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 courses
(RWS 92A, 100 or 200). All of these writing courses 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 course.
3. What is the application process?
Applications are available through the DRWS office in Adams
Humanities 3138.
You may visit, write or telephone Clare Crierie (619-594-6514), ccrierie@mail.sdsu.edu to
request an application form and instructions for applying.
Application materials include:
- an application form
- transcripts
- three current letters of recommendation (ask
the person writing the letter to send it directly to Clare Crierie,
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 28 (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 courses.
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
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