Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Assistant Program

The School of Engineering and Applied Science developed an Undergraduate Learning Assistant (ULA) and Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA) program to help support GW Engineering students taking select courses offered within GW Engineering. UTLA’s are part of the instructional team for the course they are assigned. UTLA’s can provide a variety of support to students including:

In-class support
Office Hours
Review sessions
Small group tutoring
Lesson plans
Feedback on assignments
Teach topics related to the course content
Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTA) may teach laboratory or recitation sessions at the discretion of the instructor.

Benefits of Serving as an UTLA

Undergraduate students serving as an UTLA not only support other undergraduate students, but they too gain valuable skills! Serving as an UTLA will support individual growth of:

Public speaking skills
Communication skills
Time management skills
Leadership skills
Networking skills
Fostering collaboration amongst various peers and colleagues
Making a positive impact within the GWU community

Definition of Roles

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA)	Undergraduate Learning Assistant (ULA)
Work directly with students, help make courses student-centered using interactive techniques	Work directly with students, help make courses student-centered using interactive techniques
Facilitate discussions or help students discover the solutions to a problem	Facilitate discussions or help students discover the solutions to a problem
Meet weekly with the course instructor to discuss common student difficulties, upcoming activities, and lesson planning	Meet weekly with the course instructor to discuss common student difficulties and upcoming activities
Learn presentation material, independently lead lab sessions, and manage the classroom	Assist the instructor or lab TA during class
Hold 2-4 hours of office hours per week	Hold 1-2 hours of office hours per week
Provide feedback to the instructor about students and their progress	Provide feedback to the instructor about students and their progress
There is no support of grading assignments in this role, but may help to main grade records	There is no support of grading assignments in this role
Review lesson material with students individually or in small groups	Review lesson material with students individually or in small groups
Assist the instructor with lesson preparation by getting materials ready, setting up equipment, and ensuring the classroom environment is safe and clean	Work a maximum of five (5) hours per week for a maximum of 14 weeks
Work a maximum of ten (10) hours per week for a maximum of 14 weeks	Log hours on a weekly basis via Kronos

Minimum Qualifications for UTLA positions

Students must have taken the course they would like to be assigned to and received a grade of B+ or higher
Students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 at the time of application
Students must be available to attend class lectures and/or laboratory sessions
Students must complete required training

Additional Important Information

Students must be nominated by a department faculty member before they can formally apply through the Office of Student Employment (GWSE).
After receiving a faculty nomination, students cannot begin working until they are fully hired and approved by the Office of Student Employment (GWSE). In order to ensure UTLA’s can begin working at the start of a semester, applicants should check email and their GWSE portal regularly and respond in a timely fashion to all inquiries and tasks.
After students are hired into the UTLA position, training must be completed before work hours can begin. More details about training will be available soon!
It is important to note this position will be listed in Student Employment records as Student Academic Assistant II. This will be used by the University to confirm employment status for outside entities.
The hiring cycle happens twice a year. Once for fall term and again for the spring term.

Questions

For general inquiries, please email [email protected]

To inquire about department nominations, course assignment options, and position availability, please contact the appropriate department:

Civil and Environmental Engineering	Doreen Walters-Edwards: [email protected]
Computer Science	Dr. Wood: [email protected]
Biomedical Engineering	Dr. Choe: [email protected]
Engineering Management and Systems Engineering	Dr. Santos: [email protected]
Electrical and Computer Engineering	Dr. Aslani: [email protected]
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering	Kaydeen Taylor: [email protected]