GTA appointment guidelines
Graduate Teaching Associateships are awarded by the Department Chair, in consultation with the Graduate Studies Committee and the Language Programs Coordinator. The offer of a GTA position is made after taking into account all relevant information available, including (in descending order of importance):
- Standing in the Department (including academic achievement and rate of progress to degree);
- Years of guaranteed funding remaining;
- The student's knowledge of the subject matter;
- The faculty's estimate of the student's potential;
- The applicant's success in Slavic 7801 (the GTA training course);
- The student's teaching record (with primary emphasis on teaching at Ohio State);
- The student's sense of responsibility, ability to work cooperatively with other people (especially fellow GAs and the Language Programs Coordinator), and ability and willingness to carry out assignments appropriately;
- Seniority;
- The Department's need to have a specific language taught.
New GTAs will be required to complete Slavic 7801 (College Teaching of Slavic and East European Languages). More information about GTA training is available here. Graduate students who have served as GTAs for other units on campus but who have not taught a foreign language at OSU will normally also be required to complete Slavic 7801, since there are pedagogical skills that are unique to the teaching of language.
Special requirements for non-native speakers of English
All students for whom English is not the first language must pass the Test of English as a Second Language (TESL) examination before teaching responsibilities may be assigned. In addition, they must certify their proficiency in spoken English before becoming qualified to assume Graduate Teaching Associate duties. They may become certified by scoring 230 or higher on the Test of Spoken English (TSE). If the results of the TSE are not high enough for certification, the student may be certified by passing the SPEAK test, which is administered locally after arrival on campus; and by passing the mock teaching test, which is also administered locally after arrival on campus.
International students from non-English-speaking countries must qualify in one of these ways to be employed by the Department as a Graduate Teaching Associate. This rule cannot be appealed, as it is mandated by Ohio law.
International students who do not pass the SPEAK test and/or the mock teaching test may be required to take English language coursework.
Appointment of students from other departments as GAs
In exceptional cases, students not enrolled in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures may be appointed as Graduate Associates upon the request of a member of the Department faculty to fill a special need. Such students will be appointed under the same conditions as regular Departmental students for the term and duties specified in the letter of offer. Under no circumstances will a student be appointed unless he or she is eligible to hold an appointment under the rules of the Graduate School, and no combination of appointments, in terms of all appointments held, may exceed 75%.