If you only counted your time teaching in the classroom, you might think that you are working far less than your fraction allotment. However, GSI work goes beyond the classroom and it all counts when tracking your hours. Your tasks will vary depending on your department, but here are some common tasks that also count as part of your job as a GSI:
- Office hours: If you are expected to be available to your students at a given time, even if no one attends, this counts as work.
- Prep time:Â Include time spent doing readings, preparing quizzes and tests, and planning what you will say in class
- Grading
- Reading and replying to student emails
- Attending lectures: If your professor requires that you attend lectures in addition to your own section, be sure to include this time
- Meeting with course coordinator or professor
- Extra meetings with students (even if it’s just five minutes in the hall after class)
- Running review sessions
- Proctoring exams and tests
- Setting up and cleaning up after labs
Your job may not involve all these things, or it may include many others. If you take careful note for a few weeks of all the tasks you do for your GSI position, logging your hours will become much easier. A good, general rule of thumb is that you can track any work you do for your job that you wouldn’t do if you were not a GSI.
Many grad employees find that meeting with supervisors early in the term to discuss expectations is the best way to avoid misunderstandings about the nature of the work. We’ve provided resources for talking to your supervisor elsewhere in this section.
