A GTA's and GRA's performance shall be evaluated at least once during the period of the award, before the end of the first semester of service is completed, by the faculty member or administrator to whom the graduate assistant is assigned. The evaluation shall be discussed with the assistant and a copy forwarded to the appropriate graduate program director and chair.

Departments using graduate teaching assistants are required to conduct the following individual graduate teaching assistant instructional evaluations during the initial semester of appointment, and at least once a year thereafter.

a. Initial In-Class Visit: The department chair or his/her designee (preferably an acknowledged master teacher who could be assigned appropriate teach-load based on this activity) will attend representative recitation, laboratory or lecture class(es) at the earliest possible time.*

b. Evaluation of Instructional Quality: The evaluator will conduct an assessment of the GTAs oral presentation, indicating strengths and weaknesses.

c. Preliminary Written Evaluation: At the time of the oral evaluation, a brief written evaluation will be given to the teaching assistant and forwarded to department files, discussing, as a minimum: (a) subject content, (b) communications skills, (c) overall teaching effectiveness, and (d) suggestions for improvement.

d. Evaluation: At some point after mid-term, the evaluator may wish to make a follow-up visit to the graduate assistant's class(es).* After that visit, the evaluator will make an official written evaluation of teaching effectiveness, forwarding that evaluation to the department chair and to the associate dean. The evaluation will state whether overall teaching effectiveness was judged to be: (A) Exceptional, (B) Meets Expectations or (C) Needs Improvement, with explanations to justify the evaluation in all of the categories.

The dean of the academic college or equivalent administrator shall review and monitor the eligibility, registration, and activities of graduate assistants as reported by the department and student records, in order to insure that they are in compliance with University policy. The associate vice president for research and graduate studies may also review the assistantship program on an annual basis.

*Note: The follow-up visit should be made (1) for GTAs who were evaluated as performing poorly on the first visit or (2) for further evaluations of GTAs being considered for a teaching award.

A policy on the quality of GTA performance is based on results from student class evaluations. If GTAs receive average ratings of < 3.5 (6.0 max), they are to be removed from teaching duties until they undergo remedial training. If they receive a rating of < 3.5 in one section, they will be required to undergo remedial training and may be removed from teaching duties. The assistant vice president for research and graduate studies, in consultation with the GPD, will determine the specific training requirement.

It is the responsibility of the Graduate Program Director to:

• Send evaluations of first-year GTAs to the Associate Dean no later than the eigth week of classes