Teaching Assistantships

The English Department’s main goal is to prepare future scholars, writers, and teachers. UNM has also charged the English Department with increasing student literacy by putting all undergraduates through a minimum of three writing courses at the 100-200 level. To meet these related goals and as a means of financial aid, we encourage our graduate students at both MA and PhD levels to apply for Teaching Assistantships.

A Teaching Assistantship is a financial award to a graduate student for part-time work in teaching or research while the student pursues study toward an advanced degree. Teaching Assistants earn a stipend and receive a tuition remission up to 12 hours per semester. Current information on TA salaries can be found on the OGS website here. During their first semester, first-year TAs at both the MA and PhD levels teach only one section in the writing program and are required to take English 537 (Teaching Composition), a graded practicum course that counts towards the required pedagogy or professional studies hours of your degree program. After their first semester, TAs teach two sections per semester. The award of a Teaching Assistantship also includes graduate student health insurance.

The Department holds an orientation and runs a training program and an evaluation process so that its Teaching Assistants will teach effectively. Teaching Assistantships begin in the Fall semester, and applications are due by February 1. Application forms are available online here or from the Graduate Advisor. You should include two recommendation letters from someone willing to write about your potential as a teacher as well as an expository writing sample of 10-15 pages.

Teaching Assistants must be registered for 6 hours of graduate credit in both Fall and Spring semesters and 3 hours if they teach during the Summer term.

•Renewals, Limits, and Appeals

The renewal of Teaching Assistants is annually subject to their classroom performance, academic standing, and the department’s budgetary constraints.

Students in various degree programs are limited in how long they may retain their TAships: 5 semesters for MA students; 6 semesters for MFA students and MA students in the interdisciplinary Medieval Studies concentration; 10 semesters for PhD students; and 11 semesters for PhD students in the interdisciplinary Medieval Studies concentration. The term limits include summer Teaching Assistantship appointments. Students in the Medieval Studies concentration at the MA and PhD levels receive an added semester of funding because the concentration requires an interdisciplinary course load that exceeds the credit hours for MA and PhD literature students.

Appeals for extensions beyond these limits may be made to the Graduate Committee, which has a special subcommittee, including student membership, to consider such appeals. Because Teaching Assistantships are primarily awarded to facilitate the completion of academic work, your appeal for an extension must establish your successful academic progress. The appeal should include your written petition for an extension, proof of your successful progress (fulfilled requirements; finished chapters; works in progress; etc); a timeline outlining the completion of your degree; and one letter of support from your Committee on Studies chairperson or dissertation director affirming your progress and projected completion date. Appeals must be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies by November 1.

•Outside Teaching and Contract Restrictions

Occasionally, PhD students may have the opportunity to teach a class in a UNM department other than English (Women, Chicana/o, or Native American Studies, for instance). The English Department encourages such opportunities by recognizing that they enhance the student’s teaching repertoire and bolster the student’s professional marketability. However, outside teaching comes with some restrictions.

While the Office of Graduate Studies allows graduate students to teach up to .75 FTE (i.e., the equivalent of 3 classes per semester), the English Department maintains that Teaching Assistantships are granted primarily to support successful academic progress toward the completion of the degree. To this end, the English Department limits its English Teaching Assistants to .50 FTE (i.e. the equivalent of 2 classes per semester) to ensure the student maintains steady progress on the degree while providing quality classroom teaching. Students who are hired to teach outside of English must negotiate a .25 contract in English (equal to one class) and a .25 contract in the other department for a total of .50 FTE. The student cannot hold a .50 contract in English plus a contract of .25 or above in another UNM department because the combined contracts will exceed the English Department’s .50 limitation.

The English Department recommends that only advanced PhD students (ABD) pursue courses in other departments, for while the teaching experience might be valuable, the new class preparation will detract from the student’s academic progress and successful completion of the degree. Advanced students who are eligible to teach topics courses in the English Department (200-level) might consider cross-listing their English courses with another department.

• Teaching Advanced Literature Courses

Advanced Teaching Assistants in both the MA and PhD programs are sometimes offered the opportunity to teach courses beyond the 101-102 sequence. In choosing TAs for these assignments, departmental administrators will consider a number of factors, including successful progress towards the completion of the degree, appropriate pedagogical coursework, course proposals, past teaching experience, and significant training in the relevant fields.

English 592 (Teaching Literature) or its equivalent is recommended for those wishing to teach literature courses such as English 150, 250, 264-265, 292-293, 294-295, and 296-297. Similarly appropriate pedagogical coursework includes the following: English 539 (Teaching Technical Writing) for those wishing to teach English 219; English 538 (Writing Theory for Teachers) for those wishing to teach English 220; English 535 (Creative Writing Pedagogy) for those wishing to teach any of the 200-level creative writing workshops.

• Course Reductions

PhD students who have successfully completed their Comprehensive Exams, filed an approved Prospectus, and Advanced to Candidacy may apply for a one-time Graduate Assistantship for the Spring semester, when the demand for entry-level courses is lighter in the English Department. The Graduate Assistantship includes a one-course teaching load along with a Graduate Assistant position under the student’s Dissertation Advisor or the Director of Graduate Studies. The contractual hours remain at .50, so students cannot take the reduction to teach in another department because the Graduate Assistantship is intended to encourage academic progress towards the completion of the dissertation and because the student still maintains a .50 contract with English. Course reductions are administered by the Director of Graduate Studies and the Director of the Rhetoric and Writing Program and based on academic progress and the English Department’s teaching demands.