Agenda GAC Dec. 11, 2015

Item 1. [Sponsor Dept. Chair] Allotment of TA hours to graduate courses.  

Notes: 

TA hours are currently allocated using the same process as undergrad courses:

Allocation Rule

1-14 students: no TA help
15-25 students: 1/2 TAship (27 hours)
26-39 students: 1 TAship
40-49 students: 1.5 TAship
50-53 students: 2 TAships
54+ (2 hours of TA help per student enrolled mostly rounded down to the nearest TAship)

This is roughly enrolment * X / 54 rounded down to the nearest half TA. 
Here:
- X = 2.2 for all 1st year undergrad courses except 104 and list below;
- X = 2.0 for everything else.

Enrolment is measured as of the Friday of the second week of lectures

Ugrad courses that get X = 2.2:  207, 258, 301, 302, 318, 369, 404, 454

Special requests for additional TA support then end up in with the Dept. Chair.

Issue: 

The pertinent issue for the GAC is whether the overall allocation formula we currently use needs to be revised somehow. Can we settle on a fixed formula that works well for all/most courses,rather than the current situation where chairs or designates have to make the call which inherently ends up raising issues of fairness. Of course, chairs will always have discretion to handle one-off situations that arise, but the issue here is dealing with not the one offs but rather the general case.

The GAC needs to explore if a different/deeper allocation rule makes sense, perhaps one that take into account style of course (e.g., lecture vs seminar) etc.