How to Become a Tutorial Assistant
Tutorial assistants are graduate teaching assistants (TAs) to a college or university professor in a school. You need to possess or be pursuing a graduate degree to qualify as a tutorial assistant. The TA acts as the first point of contact between students in a classroom and faculty and you may be asked to hold lab sessions and interactive tutorial classes as requested by the professor with whom you work. Tutorial assistants regularly work part time grading papers, preparing lectures, proctoring exams and leading study sessions while continuing their graduate coursework.
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Instructions
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Obtain a bachelor's degree. A bachelor's degree is required before you can continue your academic goals with additional coursework through graduate school. Choose a degree topic that interests you. Ensure that you have the ambition and desire to teach other students about your academic degree major.
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Enroll in a master's or doctoral degree program. You may be required to satisfy a number of requirements such as prior work experience. For instance, a Master of Business Administration program often requires prospective students to have at least two years of business experience before enrolling.
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Learn about the roles and responsibilities of the tutorial assistant position. Talk to other TAs at your school and ask them about their experiences. Talk to professors who work with TAs to gain an understanding of what they expect from their assistant. Understand that you will need to balance your assisting, research and administrative responsibilities as a tutorial assistant and at times the workload will be extremely heavy.
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Work hard to earn a strong academic background with an excellent GPA. Inquire with your academic head department about pursuing a career in teaching post-secondary students and related TA opportunities. Some schools require that tutorial assistants take classes or specialized training before taking the role as a TA.
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Apply for the tutorial assistant position of your choosing according to your university's TA application process. Once accepted, you will be asked to attend an orientation session for TAs where you will learn about teaching and interacting with students as well as becoming familiar with the appropriate academic integrity guidelines at your school.
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Read your tutorial assistant handbook, which should outline the TA regulations, responsibilities and expectations from professors. As a tutorial assistant, you may work one-on-one with a specific professor or you may be one of several assistants in several classes.
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Consult with the Association of American Colleges and Universities or the Council of Graduate Schools to find tutorial assistant work at different schools. As a TA, you will be allowed to teach at different institutions besides the one you are attending for your own graduate or doctorate work.
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