Graduate Student Teaching

This subsection of the Teaching Excellence Handbook provides resources and guidance for graduate student teachers at UNT. Graduate student teachers such as Teaching Assistants (TAs), Teaching Fellows (TFs), etc. provide a significant amount of instruction at the university, particularly for core classes where students are often new to the college environment and may struggle to adjust to the expectations of college life. Thus, graduate student teaching is significantly influential to the college student experience.

  • The university has a range of classifications for teaching personnel. We recommend reading this short overview regarding the classification of UNT Teaching Personnel, which also includes policy information regarding teaching assistant and teaching fellow appointments.
  • Graduate student teachers face unique teaching challenges based on their dual role as students and teachers. This Teaching Commons article, Tips for Teaching Assistants, provides guidance on working and communicating with instructors of records about teaching responsibilities.
  • International graduate students make up a significant portion of the graduate student teaching population at UNT. This Teaching Commons article, Tips for Communicating with Students for International Instructors, provides some helpful tips for communicating with students when your first language may not be English and/or you are new to college teaching in America.
  • International TAs, TFs, and RAs are required by the State of Texas to take an additional English language assessment once they arrive at UNT. To complete this requirement, please contact InternationalTA@unt.edu.
  • CLEAR runs a program for graduate student teacher training called the Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Program (GSTEP).
  • The Teaching Commons section of this website has a tag devoted to graduate student teaching at UNT. We recommend saving this tag and checking back often for the latest on graduate student teaching at the university.