Expectations for faculty and teaching fellows

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August 29, 2024

To: Yale College Instructors and Teaching Fellows
Copied to: FAS Dean’s Office, Yale College Dean’s Office, GSAS Dean’s Office, SEAS Dean’s Office, FAS Steering, Poorvu Center, Registrar’s Office, Provost’s Office, FAS and SEAS Chair’s Assistants

[Summary: This message outlines the responsibilities that all faculty members and Teaching Fellows (TFs), now part of the Local 33-UNITE HERE union, are expected to fulfill when they collaborate to teach. This memo contains new information as of September 2024; please read through the materials below so you are aware of current policies. You will find details on (1) in-person instruction, (2) responsibility for instruction, (3) course materials, (4) grading and examinations, and (5) professional development for TFs; there is also information about (6) part-time acting instructors. ]

Dear Yale College Instructors and Teaching Fellows,

Thank you for your commitment to providing an outstanding education to our undergraduates. As we begin our second semester with unionized Teaching Fellows (TFs), we write with details of the responsibilities that all faculty members and graduate workers are expected to fulfill when they collaborate to teach. The expectations below aim to avoid misunderstandings about the shared labor of instructors and graduate workers while also supporting the academic training of our students.

Graduate students in their teaching years are expected to teach as part of their academic training, as specified in their letters of admission, unless the cognizant Associate Dean formally waives their teaching obligations. Their teaching responsibilities should not exceed the parameters of their appointment (TF10: average of 6-10 hours per week; TF20 and PTAI: average of 15-20 hours per week).

1. In-Person Instruction

All teaching (lectures, seminars, and sections) will take place in person this term except in special cases that have already received approval. Instructors may not make ad hoc hybrid or remote arrangements with their TFs.

a. Short-term remote arrangements for faculty

In exceptional circumstances (travel, illness, weather), faculty may offer an occasional class session remotely.  If it becomes impossible for faculty member to teach in person for more than a one-week period, please reach out to the FAS or SEAS Deans for guidance:

  • Faculty in FAS Humanities departments should submit short-term arrangement proposals to John Mangan, FAS Senior Associate Dean and Dean of Faculty Affairs.
  • Faculty in FAS Social Science and Science departments should submit short-term arrangement proposals to Bob Burger, FAS Senior Associate Dean.  
  • Faculty in SEAS departments should submit short-term arrangement proposals to Kristin Flower, SEAS Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs.

b. Faculty requests for long-term accommodations

  • Faculty are expected to teach in person.
  • If a faculty member needs a long-term workplace accommodation, they should contact the Office of Institutional Equity and Accessibility (OIEA). OIEA will work with the FAS or SEAS Dean’s office to put in place reasonable accommodation.
  • If special arrangements are deemed appropriate, details of those teaching arrangements will be coordinated at the departmental level, so as to best meet the needs of the students in those courses.

c. Remote arrangements for teaching fellows

In the event that a TF requires remote teaching arrangements, please contact Pam Schirmeister, GSAS and Yale College Deputy Dean, for guidance.

d. COVID-related precautions

All faculty and TFs are encouraged to stay attentive to health-related guidance from Campus Health to maintain a safe learning environment. Faculty may wish to start of their courses by acknowledging current case levels for respiratory infections and asking students to stay home if they are feeling ill and to wear a mask when they return to class after being ill. Masks, preferably N-95 or K-95, remain a good source of protection for anyone who is immunocompromised or concerned about their own health.

2. Responsibility for Instruction

When faculty are unable to offer instruction for a particular class session, they should reschedule class or ask a faculty colleague — not a TF — to substitute. The Associates in Teaching program is not an exception. Although Associates in Teaching participate in the course in all respects and may independently teach some of the classes or give lectures, the faculty member is expected to be present in all classes.

No graduate worker may teach a lecture course independently or supervise TFs. Faculty members are responsible for delivering course lectures. In certain cases, as part of their training for the professoriate, advanced TFs may deliver one of the class lectures; in such cases, the faculty member is expected to provide detailed guidance and substantive feedback both in advance of and subsequent to the lecture.

Depending on the nature of their assignment, TFs may be responsible for leading discussion and review sections and/or supervising labs for laboratory-based classes. They are typically responsible for holding office hours as well.

TFs are expected to attend preparatory meetings with faculty in addition to any lectures and sections to which they are assigned.

3. Course Materials

Faculty members are responsible for preparing their own course materials, including syllabi, papers, essays, lectures, Power Points, homework assignments, problem sets and examinations, and scoring keys. TFs may be invited to provide input and suggestions, but responsibility for producing these materials lies with the faculty member. TFs may assist with reserving and printing course materials, obtaining audiovisual equipment, maintaining course websites, and performing other tasks that support instruction in their assigned course.

4. Grading and Examinations

At the discretion of the instructor, TFs may be responsible for grading homework assignments, papers, essays, laboratory reports, and/or examinations. The standards, policies, and/or rubrics for grading should be provided by or prepared in conjunction with the faculty. Faculty members are responsible for administering their own examinations, except in certain large lecture courses. Faculty members are also responsible for grading make-up work handed in the semester following the course.

TFs are expected to return graded materials to students promptly, as determined in collaboration with the faculty member. Assignments intended to prepare students in the course for a given assessment should be returned with enough time for them to review the work prior to the assessment itself. All assignments should be returned within two weeks of the due date to provide timely feedback to students.  

Faculty instructors are responsible for grading graduate students’ examinations and graduate students’ coursework that requires qualitative evaluation. TFs should be assigned to evaluate the work of graduate student peers only when necessary, and only in courses requiring extensive quantitative work. In such cases, TFs may score quantitative homework and exams submitted by graduate students, using detailed scoring keys provided by the faculty instructor. In such instances, the faculty member should review the TF’s scoring and must assign the final grade. In no instance may TFs perform qualitative grading of work submitted by other graduate students.

5. Professional Development for TFs

Faculty members are expected to visit at least one section taught by each TF assigned to their course and to offer feedback and suggestions. Offering feedback is a core responsibility of faculty toward both TFs and their undergraduate students. All faculty who are provided with TF support are expected to meet with their TFs regularly, ideally weekly, to coordinate class activities and help TFs learn to teach undergraduate courses, prepare for sections, and grade examinations.

6. Part-Time Acting Instructors

Departments appointing graduate workers as Part-Time Acting Instructors (PTAIs) are expected to supervise instruction through regularly scheduled meetings with PTAIs in courses where sections have a common curriculum and through consultation before and during the semester in seminars taught independently.

With best wishes for the semester,

Jeffrey Brock
Dean, School of Engineering & Applied Science

Lynn Cooley
Dean, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Tamar Szabó Gendler
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Pericles Lewis
Dean, Yale College