TA Planning in L&S
Academic Year TA Planning Exercise
- Plans for Academic Year 2024-25 are due February 7, 2024 via email to teach.learn@ls.wisc.edu.
- Departments/programs should use the Instructional Staffing Request form to send changes outside of this exercise (link to form, form instructions for adding or changing a TA position).
- Note: this exercise is for academic year TAs only. Summer Term TAs are initially requested as part of a Summer Budget Proposal. Changes for summer TAs are also requested through the Instructional Staffing Form
Overview: TA Planning spreadsheet
The TA Planning spreadsheet is a document assembled by L&S Teaching & Learning Administration based on previous TA plans completed by departments. The spreadsheet will typically show one row per course. Otherwise, there will be multiple rows for a course if there is more than one type of TA appointment associated with it (e.g., head TA).
TLA will distribute TA Planning spreadsheets each January, and departments/programs will update the spreadsheet with their plans for the upcoming academic year. This exercise is intended to help departments/programs plan how to best deploy their TA resources. This process also documents TA position and workload details in a simple and systematic format for easy reference by departmental staff and chairs as well as L&S administration.
Instructions for the TA Planning spreadsheet
L&S Teaching & Learning Administration will email each department/program with a TA planning spreadsheet.
Department/program review:
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See the table below for detailed explanations of each spreadsheet field.
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Check for accuracy: course names, appt structure, appt %.
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Courses with previously approved TA appointments will have 'Active' position status.
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If a TA position is needed in the upcoming academic year: adjust the number of TAs planned for Fall and Spring semesters and make other changes as needed.
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If the TA position is *not* needed in the upcoming academic year, update the Position Status field to 'Inactive'.
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Add rows for any new TA positions, and set the Position Status field to 'Pending'.
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Use the 'Notes' column to highlight change or add details.
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Do not modify the 'Date of last workload review' column; this column is for use by TLA staff.
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Email updated spreadsheets to teach.learn@ls.wisc.edu by February 7, 2024
Lynne Prost will reply with the approval and follow up questions if needed.
TA Planning spreadsheet fields
Note: This table has not been updated for the 2024-25 academic year exercise.
The spreadsheet will typically show one row per course. Otherwise, there will be multiple rows for a course if there is more than one type of TA appointment associated with it (e.g., head TA).| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Course/Assignment |
|
| Fall / Spring # of TAs |
Planned headcount of TAs per semester. Please estimate to the best of your ability; you do not need approval by L&S admin to later adjust these numbers. |
| Appt Structure | Briefly describe the structure of the position, e.g., number of discussions/labs. (ex: 4 discussions/TA) |
| Appt % |
Appointment percentage of this position. |
| Position Status |
Options:
|
| Notes |
Add notes if modifying an existing position, or to add additional info as needed. |
| Date of last workload review |
For use by L&S Admin staff, do not modify these dates. |
Contacts for L&S Administration
- L&S Teaching & Learning Administration:
- Shirin Malekpour, Associate Dean for Teaching & Learning
- Lynne Prost, Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Affairs
- Cathy Yu, Administrative Assistant for Teaching & Learning
- L&S Budget Office
- Mary Beth Roberts, Assistant Dean for Finance-Budget, Planning & Analysis