International
Teaching Assistant Program Department Packet
ITA English
Certification Checklist for Graduate Advisors and
TA Coordinators
Notify
prospective ITAs of English Certification
requirements and procedures well before the
semester of their potential appointment. A
Student Packet containing detailed information
regarding the certification process for ITAs can
be found on the ITA Program web site
Register
students for English Certification (including
exemptions from Certification) on the ITA Program
web site.
Exemption
requests not submitted online at the time of
registration should be addressed to Michael T.
Smith, Director, ESL Services, at
<itaprog@www.utexs.edu> as early as
possible. In order to be eligible for an
exemption, a student must be registered on the
ITA web site.
Give ITAs a
description of what duties and responsibilities a
TA appointment in your department entails.
Avoid
putting newly arrived ITAs in freshman sections
(+rookies with rookies+)
When
possible, give conditionally certified ITAs a
semester to work on communication skills, adjust
to the culture and observe undergraduate classes
before appointing them to positions with student
contact.
If
conditionally certified ITAs are given student
contact positions, assign them a more experienced
TA as a mentor or provide an upper-division
undergraduate as a consultant.
Any graduate
student who may eventually teach should be
encouraged to take the Oral English Proficiency
Assessment and attend the ITA Communication
Workshop at the first available opportunity.
Please
let your faculty and students know that English
Certification is not just for those with pending
appointments.
Have a pool
of certified ITAs to make last-minute staffing
easier.
You may wish
to print the Student Packet and distribute it to
potential ITAs in your department.
Try to
schedule departmental meetings/orientations so as
not to conflict with the ITA Workshop (noon to
5:00 pm on the Wednesday just prior to the start
of classes each semester.)
