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Old 10-07-2009 at 12:09 AM   #16
Mowicz
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Quote:
Originally Posted by britb View Post
Can a II yr even be a TA?
I was a TA in my 2nd year, though as Mac recruits more and more graduate students, the demand for undergraduate TAs plummets.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kathy2 View Post
I completely agree.

I would happily be a TA for minimum wage.
Being a TA isn't all cake...personally, I love teaching, so it's a bit of a bonus for me, but to stand in front of a big lecture hall full of students and try to 'keep everyone occupied' is no easy task. A lecturer at least has the luxury of teaching new material. :p

If you were willing to TA for minimum wage, you'd be better off finding another job for two reasons:

1) You'd only make about 30 dollars a week, since you'd only be allocated one hour of prep time, one hour of tutorial time, and one hour of marking time (regardless of how much time you actually spend)

2) The time really does start to cut into your other classes. I mean for instance, I'm TAing a second year calculus course, and I have to do all of the problems as soon as they're assigned, in case a student comes and asks me about them...

So even though the students have like 4 weeks to do the 8 sections or whatever worth of problems, I have to do it in an average of about 4 days (in addition to my own courses) and then keep them fresh in my head over those 4 weeks until they have their test.

Minimum wage definitely wouldn't be worth my time.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay View Post
Like I said earlier, just because a TA is supposed to spend 5 hours a week for lab assistance and marking, they may spend up to 10 hours a week. Many TAs spend extra time preparing for tutorials, labs, and providing necessary feedback on essays or any assignments. So while it's theoretically $40/hour, given the number of hours that a TA will spend marking or prepping, it's less than that figure.
I'm currently grading about 70 papers, and I've been allocated 2 hours to do so which is BOGUS. That means I have to grade a problem every 30 seconds for those 2 hours, which is completely unrealistic, when a problem consists of about half a page of computations and I need to find students' errors...currently about 3 quarters done, and I've spent about 6 hours grading thus far.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kathy2 View Post
I know how it works. My bf and my old roommate are TAs. The hours they put in definately don't equal out to anything less than $30 an hour.
Not to take a shot at anyone, but if they took their 'hour of prep time' seriously and only prepped an hour...then they could've been much better TAs if they spent more time on it.



And yes, McMaster TAs are paid less than other universities. When I accepted my offer from McMaster for Grad Studies, they gave me a TAship worth about $7600 for the year...UofT, where I was also accepted, offered me almost double.

Last edited by Mowicz : 10-07-2009 at 12:15 AM.

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Old 10-07-2009 at 06:19 AM   #17
RoyK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MDCL View Post
To practice for a future TA career, I'd suggest the following:

- practice speaking very low (if you currently speak at a normal volume)
- develop an accent (if you don't already have one)
- mumble quite a bit when you speak (again, if you don't already)
- learn some very unfunny jokes
Don't forget the trait of having often read stuff straight off that note of paper they carry around at the front, writing down whatever is on the page straight to the chalk board without having really explained how it is they got that step of the answer.

And another thing; I find TA's often lack confidence, which is horrible.
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Old 10-07-2009 at 08:16 AM   #18
MDCL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RoyK View Post
Don't forget the trait of having often read stuff straight off that note of paper they carry around at the front, writing down whatever is on the page straight to the chalk board without having really explained how it is they got that step of the answer.

And another thing; I find TA's often lack confidence, which is horrible.
Excellent...if the suggestions keep coming in we can put together a "How to become a TA" reference manual.
Old 10-07-2009 at 08:51 AM   #19
Anamaria
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay View Post
Well, TAing is how most Masters and PhD students pay their bills (aside from scholarships)

Often they spend a lot more time in the lab/tutorials and marking than they're allocated. I think it's warranted. They're still paid less than other schools, apparently.
Not only the bills; their tution is also deducted from the TAship.
Old 10-07-2009 at 09:01 AM   #20
RoyK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MDCL View Post
Excellent...if the suggestions keep coming in we can put together a "How to become a TA" reference manual.
There are tutor manuals.
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Old 10-07-2009 at 09:05 AM   #21
Taunton
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay View Post
They're still paid less than other schools, apparently.
That argument is BS. The union doesn't take cost of living differences into account. A TA in Toronto will have a much higher cost of living, and so even though their wage is higher, they still see the same amount, or even less, than a TA in Hamilton.
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Old 10-07-2009 at 09:26 AM   #22
caroline54
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A regular teacher doesn't even make 40 an hour starting out, why should a TA?
I understand they have a lot of work to prepare and stuff but I still think 40$ is too much.
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Old 10-07-2009 at 09:51 AM   #23
BlakeM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by caroline54 View Post
A regular teacher doesn't even make 40 an hour starting out, why should a TA?
I understand they have a lot of work to prepare and stuff but I still think 40$ is too much.
Probably because they don't work 40 hours a week, and work more hours than they get paid for.
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Old 10-07-2009 at 10:41 AM   #24
PTGregD
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Quote:
Originally Posted by caroline54 View Post
A regular teacher doesn't even make 40 an hour starting out, why should a TA?
I understand they have a lot of work to prepare and stuff but I still think 40$ is too much.
Only Graduate TAs make $40 and hour, and you could make the argument that by then they are more qualified than an elementary school teacher.

There is a reason that the T.A. is teaching a university class and the elementary school teacher isn't.
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Old 10-07-2009 at 03:30 PM   #25
Lois
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Taunton View Post
That argument is BS. The union doesn't take cost of living differences into account. A TA in Toronto will have a much higher cost of living, and so even though their wage is higher, they still see the same amount, or even less, than a TA in Hamilton.
:| You completely missed the point. Sup, context.

The issue is that people believe that graduate TAs at McMaster are paid too much. Not once did I mention a union nor did I say or imply that pay should be raised to the level of Toronto employees. I was just stating a fact that McMaster's TAs are paid less than other schools.

Even the unions don't want a pay increase, from what I've read. They want their wages diverted to benefits where the employee will see the most value for each dollar spent on salaries.
Old 10-07-2009 at 03:49 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mowicz View Post
I was a TA in my 2nd year, though as Mac recruits more and more graduate students, the demand for undergraduate TAs plummets.



Being a TA isn't all cake...personally, I love teaching, so it's a bit of a bonus for me, but to stand in front of a big lecture hall full of students and try to 'keep everyone occupied' is no easy task. A lecturer at least has the luxury of teaching new material. :p

If you were willing to TA for minimum wage, you'd be better off finding another job for two reasons:

1) You'd only make about 30 dollars a week, since you'd only be allocated one hour of prep time, one hour of tutorial time, and one hour of marking time (regardless of how much time you actually spend)

2) The time really does start to cut into your other classes. I mean for instance, I'm TAing a second year calculus course, and I have to do all of the problems as soon as they're assigned, in case a student comes and asks me about them...

So even though the students have like 4 weeks to do the 8 sections or whatever worth of problems, I have to do it in an average of about 4 days (in addition to my own courses) and then keep them fresh in my head over those 4 weeks until they have their test.

Minimum wage definitely wouldn't be worth my time.



I'm currently grading about 70 papers, and I've been allocated 2 hours to do so which is BOGUS. That means I have to grade a problem every 30 seconds for those 2 hours, which is completely unrealistic, when a problem consists of about half a page of computations and I need to find students' errors...currently about 3 quarters done, and I've spent about 6 hours grading thus far.



Not to take a shot at anyone, but if they took their 'hour of prep time' seriously and only prepped an hour...then they could've been much better TAs if they spent more time on it.



And yes, McMaster TAs are paid less than other universities. When I accepted my offer from McMaster for Grad Studies, they gave me a TAship worth about $7600 for the year...UofT, where I was also accepted, offered me almost double.
Yes, I know all this.
I would still be a TA for minimum wage.
Even if I only ended up getting $30 a week.. (even though they make over $5000 for 8 months so where you got that figure is beyond me)

I would LOVE to mark papers and organize/lead tutorials for $10 an hour. This is no joke. I would love to do this job and make an insanely small fraction of what the TAs make (and complain about).

There are so many jobs that pay so much less. There are so many jobs that require you work more hours than scheduled, without getting paid. I would love to be a TA, even if it only paid $10 an hour.
Old 10-07-2009 at 04:22 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay View Post
:| You completely missed the point. Sup, context.

The issue is that people believe that graduate TAs at McMaster are paid too much. Not once did I mention a union nor did I say or imply that pay should be raised to the level of Toronto employees. I was just stating a fact that McMaster's TAs are paid less than other schools.

Even the unions don't want a pay increase, from what I've read. They want their wages diverted to benefits where the employee will see the most value for each dollar spent on salaries.
I was never arguing against you, and my point is beyond the context of this thread. You brought up that "they are not paid as much as other schools, apparently", which is an argument that is being used in this whole TA contract issue.

And while the union doesn't want solely wages to go up for Grad TA's (they do want undergrad TA wages to go up), they do continue to argue that McMaster's TAs are paid less than elsewhere and therefore they should be paid more, which is a poor argument.

I'm just making the point that said argument is invalid.
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Old 10-07-2009 at 04:40 PM   #28
sinthusized
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So, for undergraduate TA's, is it the mark for a course that you want to TA important or is your GPA more important? (or does this depend on the course/faculty/type of TA position?) Also, what about courses that are brand new? How do they recruit TA's for such courses?
Old 10-07-2009 at 04:47 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sinthusized View Post
So, for undergraduate TA's, is it the mark for a course that you want to TA important or is your GPA more important? (or does this depend on the course/faculty/type of TA position?) Also, what about courses that are brand new? How do they recruit TA's for such courses?
Both GPA and your grade in the course are important, however if you haven't done particularly well in said course, a high GPA won't necessarily get you the job. I know for Dr. Dudley in Bio 2D03, her undergrad TA's all had 12s in 2D03.

This does depend on the course though... for a more general TA'ing job (like a first year course) your general average will likely be more significant.

Brand new courses will often have grad TA's (depending on the year of the course), however if you talk to your profs and they happen to divulge that a new course is coming, they'll probably let you know that TA positions will be open and what you need to do to apply.
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Old 10-08-2009 at 09:11 AM   #30
kenvin100
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MDCL View Post
To practice for a future TA career, I'd suggest the following:

- practice speaking very low (if you currently speak at a normal volume)
- develop an accent (if you don't already have one)
- mumble quite a bit when you speak (again, if you don't already)
- learn some very unfunny jokes
and dont forget, if you dont know the answer, tell them to "Ask another student" or just say "ya you're right" and walk away
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