The International Teaching Assistant (ITA) Program welcomes you to The University of Texas at Austin. As an international Teaching Assistant (TA) or Assistant Instructor (AI), you will have the opportunity to help enrich UT's academic environment and contribute to the University's goal of maintaining a high level of excellence in teaching.

The State of Texas requires that all public universities in Texas provide a program to ensure that courses are taught clearly in English. In order to comply, UT Austin conducts English Certification for TAs and AIs whose first language is not English and who will hold positions with student contact. The English Certification process includes an Oral English Proficiency Assessment and an ITA Communication Workshop. In addition, some individuals may be required to take an ITA course. Your department may also have additional English requirements.

Please read through the following documents, as they contain detailed information and instructions on each of the steps in the English Certification process. In order to be certified for an ITA/IAI appointment with student contact, you must complete all the required components of English Certification. For your benefit, we have provided a Certification Checklist as well as a list of dates for the Oral English Proficiency Assessment and the ITA Communication Workshop.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact the ITA Program by telephone at (512) 471-2482 or by e-mail at <itaprog@www.utexas.edu>. We look forward to meeting you and working with you in the coming semester.

Sincerely,
Michael T. Smith
Director, ESL Services