| | | Miscellaneous |
It has become apparent that email from students is becoming increasingly time consuming. Most TAs feel obliged to respond as soon as possible and this is consuming too much time outside, which is interfering with their other responsibilities. If responding to email immediately is burdensome, it is advisable to program email response "days" into your schedule. That way, students would not expect instantaneous replies and can plan accordingly. A suggestion would be to plan perhaps 3 hours per week spaced like office hours so people would not expect immediate answers, but would know that answers are forthcoming. When announcing your office hours you can just include your email response schedule.1 It is advisable to ask people to copy the instructor and any fellow TAs and, in turn, have whoever answers the email copy the others so that there won't be duplication of efforts.Of course, it would be best if you suited the days to accommodate, as much as possible, the homework and exam schedules of the course so that people would be receiving responses at a time when it would be most useful. The students can, in turn, learn how to plan knowing that email service is not open-ended.
This is a sample TA evaluation. Students complete these evaluations anonymously in the middle of every quarter. Encourage your students to complete them as completely as possible. This feedback is not only critical to becoming a more effective TA but will also be used to make decisions about future TA positions.
Instructions to students:
Please take the time to fill out this questionnaire thoughtfully. The information will be useful feedback to the Professor, the Teaching Assistant(s), and most importantly, to you, the students. This form is confidential, and your TA will never know who evaluated him or her.
| 1 | is much below average (poor). |
| 3 | is average. |
| 5 | is much above average (excellent) |
| NA | indicates not applicable. |
| 1. | Level of preparation for sections/labs | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
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2. | Presents material with clarity | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
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3. | Provides helpful comments on homework | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
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4. | Is responsive to studentsÕ questions | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
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5. | Effectively guides discussion | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
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6. | Effectively uses examples to illustrate points | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
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7. | Avoids being sidetracked | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
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8. | Imparts enthusiasm for the subject | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
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9. | Is approachable | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
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10. | Sufficient availability to students | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
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11. | Fairness of TA | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
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12. | Effort TA spent on class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
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13. | TAÕs overall performance | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | N/A |
Any student employee (RA, CA, TA, grader, etc.) must meet several requirements before receiving a paycheck. You must be registered in any quarter in which you are paid (including summer), make suitable academic progress, and maintain good standing in the University. If this is your first employment by Stanford, you will also have to fill out several forms:
We will have to see and photocopy these documents; and sign the I-9 form.
Each of these forms only needs to be filled out at the start of employment, but if there is a gap in your employment by Stanford you should check to be sure they are still on file. International students may also qualify for "tax treaty" status: some countries have agreements with the U.S. which exempt their students from some or all taxes. To claim an exemption, the appropriate forms must be filed annually. Check with the Bursar's office.
Note: If any of these forms is missing or outdated, your paychecks will be withheld, most likely until the next pay period!
Assistantship or grader salaries are processed through Stanford's regular Payroll system. Assistants and graders are University employees.
Deductions Federal, state, and social security taxes are withheld from salary checks. This withholding is reported like any other salary. Tuition amounts are not taxable or reported.
Schedule Tuition is automatically paid at the beginning of the quarter. Payroll checks come twice a month, to the department, or you may arrange for direct deposit to your bank. Work performed from the 1st to 15th of a month is paid on the 22nd; the second half of the month is paid on the 7th. Student appointments, which are established in terms of the academic year, always follow a quarterly schedule:
| Appointment span | first check | last check | |
| Fall | Oct 1 - Dec 31 | Oct 22 | Jan 7 |
| Winter | Jan 1 - Mar 31 | Jan 22 | Apr 7 |
| Spring | Apr 1 - Jun 30 | Apr 22 | July 7 |
| Summer | July 1 - Sept 30 | July 22 | Oct 7 |
First, examine your own status. Are you registered? Is there a Hold on your registration? If this is your first check, have you filed all the appropriate paperwork? If you changed jobs, the check might be either at EE or at your old department - look in both places. Then, come to the EE office to report either that you have found and fixed one of the problems above and need a replacement check, or else to find out what is wrong. For an RA, the faculty member may have forgotten to initiate or renew your appointment for the quarter. In any event, we will try to find the problem and help you fix it.
Taxes constitute a complex subject. Below some general information is provided, but it should not be taken as official advice. Detailed information may be found at http://co.stanford.edu/students/sar/taxinfo.html.
Note: The brief discussion of tax items in this memo is not to be considered tax advice. Please refer to the IRS publications listed below. Where needed, students should seek competent tax counsel.
IRS Publications: #4 Student's Guide to Federal Income Tax; #501-Exemptions, Standard Deductions and Filing; #505-Tax withholding and Estimated Tax; #508-Educationa1 Expenses; #515-Withholding Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Corporations; #519-US Tax Guide for Aliens; #520-Scholarships and Fellowships; #525-Taxable and Nontaxable income; #901-US Tax Treaties. To order. call 1-800-829-3676.
Questions regarding taxes at Stanford should be directed to Connie Reddy creddy@stanford.edu.
Enrollment deadlines follow the same pattern each term, but the specific weeks and dates vary due to the varying lengths of Stanford's quarters and the various ways of counting the weeks in a term. The exact dates are printed in the Time Schedule and may be found on the Web at http://registrar.stanford.edu/calendar/deadlines.html. This information comes from the Office of the University Registrar.
The study list due date falls at the end of the first full week of classes.
A. NOTATIONS
"NP" ("Not Passed") is used in courses taken for a letter grade but not passed. "NC" is used to represent unsatisfactory performance in courses taken on a satisfactory/no credit basis. "NC" and "NP" notations will be visible on student transcripts.
"CR" ("Credit") is used when a studentÕs performance has been satisfactory in a course s/he elected to take on a satisfactory/no credit basis. "S" is used in courses where satisfactory/no credit grading is not student-elected, but instructor-mandated. "CR" or "S" require C- or better performance.
"W" ("Withdrew") is recorded when a student withdraws from a course between the start of the 5th and the end of the 8th week of the quarter. This notation is visible on student transcripts.
As stated below, the Registrar's Office will replace the original grade recorded for a course with "RP" ("Repeated Course"), when a student retakes the course. This notation is visible on student transcripts.
B. INCOMPLETES
Incompletes must be changed to a permanent grade or notation within one year (i.e. prior to the first day of the fifth quarter which follows the course, including Summer Quarter). If the "I" remains uncleared after that time, it will be changed automatically by the Registrar's Office to a "NC" or "NP" as appropriate for the grading option selected. Also, students may not drop courses in which an Incomplete ("I" notation) was awarded.
C. COURSE RETAKES
A student may retake ONCE any course s/he completed (regardless of grade or notation earned - "NC" "I", "*", whatever!) or from which s/he withdrew and have the original grade or notation replaced by the notation "RPÕÔ (for "repeated course"). When retaking a course, the student must register for the same number of units as when the course was originally taken, and the course number must match exactly the department number, course number, and suffix of the original course. Courses without matching numbers cannot be assumed to be equivalent and will not be accepted as retakes. If the course is being offered with a choice of grading options (letter grade or CR/NC), the student may, adhering to the usual deadline for electing a grading option, elect whichever grading option s/he wants (regardless of which grading option was elected when the course was taken for the first time). Upon completion of the retake, the RegistrarÕs Office will automatically change three things in the studentÕs record: the units for the first time the course was taken will be reduced to 00, the grade for that first time will be changed to an "RP", and the grade for the second time will be specially flagged on the studentÕs transcript to indicate that it is a repeated course. Students may not retake a course again in the future (for a third time), unless they received an "NC" or "NP" when they took it for the second time. Upon completion of the third attempt, the Registrar's Office will automatically change the units for the second time to 00, and the third time will appear on the transcript with its units, grade, and the special flag to indicate that it is a repeated course.
| | | Miscellaneous |