General Expectations

• Educational Psychology has a limited number of competitive assistantship positions which are highly sought after. We fully expect students to understand this is a salaried job, and work accordingly. 
• Office Presence
  • You are required to be on campus and present during your working hours. Everyone will be assigned office space in Matthews Hall (shared or individual). You will find that the more you are visible to other students and faculty/staff, the more you will get out of your experience. The Department of Educational Psychology has a very close group of scholars, and those on assistantship spend a great deal of time together (in class and out). Take advantage of the opportunities to have closer relationships with faculty and your peers! This will also benefit you when it is time to ask faculty to serve on dissertation committee. 
  • Salaries cover 20 hours/week of work. Failure to work the hours for which you are paid will result in discontinuation of your assistantship. If you are not given enough work to satisfy the full 20 hours, contact Dr. Henson for assistance. 
  • TFs need to specify and keep weekly office hours for their courses, which should be posted in the course syllabus and provided to the department office.
  • You are required to be available for campus meetings the week before the beginning of each semester and also through the end of finals week. A department meeting with everyone on assistantship is mandatory, and is usually scheduled the week before each semester begins. 
• Outlook Email Account
  • All UNT students are provided a UNT email account. In addition to this, those on assistantship have an Outlook email account (firstname.lastname@unt.edu). This Outlook account is where all important departmental communication is sent. It is also the email you should provide to students for which you TA or TF, use on syllabi, etc. In order to avoid checking multiple accounts, we strongly recommend setting up your UNT student account to forward to Outlook. Due to the sensitive nature of emails in Outlook (undergraduate student information and correspondence, etc), this address cannot be forwarded. Only other addresses can be set up to forward to Outlook. 
  • Email should be checked at least once a day and responded to as quickly as possible. Sometimes responses or feedback are needed ASAP, especially in regards to registration or other deadline issues (check email multiple times when it is the last day to drop a course, withdraw, etc in case a student is trying to reach you and needs a response). 
• Faculty Profile
  • All TFs are required to create a “Faculty Profile” in the UNT system and upload their undergraduate syllabi before the first class day: https://faculty.unt.edu/ . This profile must be updated every semester. 
• Appropriate/Professional Attire

• Professional Respect/Communication
  • Any communication with students, faculty and staff should carry an appropriate professional tone (whether in face-to-face or online courses, via phone/email or in individual meetings). 
  • Any written correspondence can be forwarded and seen by others. Avoid emotion-laden responses.  Pause and think before clicking “send.”  Ask yourself if the communication may be better handled with a direct conversation.  
  • If any student has inappropriate communication or actions (this could be misconduct during class, foul or offensive language, etc), contact your course supervisor immediately for guidance, and document the event in writing to the supervisor.  If additional guidance or another perspective is needed, contact Dr. Henson and make sure to document the event in writing to Dr. Henson.  Always err on the side of seeking guidance with possible situations (even if only anticipated) from your course supervisor and/or Dr. Henson.  
    • Disciplinary action may be required.  If so, Dr. Henson will facilitate with the input from the course supervisor.
  • The Care Team
    • The CARE Team is a collaborative interdisciplinary committee of University officials that meets regularly to discuss students exhibiting behaviors indicative of high risk. If you have a student you feel is in immediate distress, please let Dr. Henson know and he can advise you on whether contacting the Care Team is appropriate to the situation. 
    • For more information and recognizing students in distress: http://studentaffairs.unt.edu/care 
• Important Meetings
  • Mandatory department assistantship meeting each semester (typically the week before the fall and spring semesters begin). Plan vacations accordingly so these are not missed. This is usually scheduled the same day as the Teaching Excellence Seminar so you can attend both the same day.
  • The Teaching Excellence Seminar is an orientation for new Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows. The Center for Learning Enhancement, Assessment and Redesign (CLEAR), along with the Office of the Provost, provides this mandatory seminar to provide new instructors at UNT with access to best practices in teaching and supportive resources. These are usually scheduled the week before the fall and spring semesters begin. 
    • Attending TES is required before the first semester on any assistantship (e.g., TA/TF/GSA). We strongly encourage everyone to attend each semester as there are different breakout sessions and new information shared each time. 
    • Registration is required: http://clear.unt.edu/tes 
  • Testing for English Language Proficiency ***Only required for international students***
    • Communication is at the heart of the educational experience for students, so it is important the University verifies that those with teaching responsibilities at UNT are proficient in the use of written and spoken English. This means that the university must conduct an assessment of anyone whose first language is not English before we put them in a teaching role. The State of Texas requires any TA/TF or GSA whose first language is not English be assessed by the Intensive English Language Institute (IELI) before the department can assign that student a teaching role. Contact Dr. Jeffrey Rasch (Jeffrey.Rasch@unt.edu) to arrange for this testing. Failure to complete testing could result in loss of state funds for UNT. 
• You are responsible for meeting your class at ALL assigned times. You may NOT cancel your class. If you cannot find an appropriate substitute (only when needed), contact your course supervisor for guidance.  If needed, contact the department (or Dr. Henson) to help you.