You may be able to enrich your undergraduate academic experience by assisting with a class. Undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) earn hourly wages or credit while gaining professional experience during their senior year.

Qualified undergraduate UTAs work directly with professors to support the department’s teaching mission. Assisting peers and modeling successful academic practices offers many rewards. UTAs develop communication and leadership skills and insight into how people learn. They also gain a deeper appreciation of the subject matter and develop a working relationship with a faculty mentor.

To qualify as a UTA, you must have senior class standing and an overall grade point average of 3.5 or higher. You must also have earned an A- or better in the course for which you are applying to assist. You must be able to regularly attend the course in which you are an UTA. Talk with the faculty member teaching the course to obtain their endorsement.

Courses that utilize UTAs vary from semester to semester. Student placements are based on faculty needs, preferences and schedules. When possible, we match students with their requested classes.

UTA activities vary with the course and instructor. Responsibilities may include helping to facilitate classroom activities, preparing course materials or equipment, and providing supplementary instruction outside the classroom. As a UTA, students participate in no more than six hours per week of teaching assistance throughout the semester.

To prepare for a UTA internship, students who are accepted into the program enroll in X471, a two credit hours S/F training seminar offered in the Fall semester.

Note that X471 does not fulfill a SPHS major course requirement, but does count as an elective towards the B.A. or B.S. degree.

Students who have been accepted into the program and who wish to continue as UTAs in the spring may enroll in X471 for a second semester for one credit hour as long as they have completed the training seminar and remain in good academic standing.

Because the UTA training seminar is offered only during the fall semester, the application process happens just once an academic year. If you are interested in becoming a UTA, fill out an application in the spring semester of your junior year. Look for flyers and email announcements in late February or early March.

Submit a hard copy of your completed application and unofficial transcript to undergraduate program coordinator. All applicants will be notified of their acceptance by email prior to spring registration.