Can We Build an Excellent Undergraduate TA Program?: Challenges in the Hiring and Training Life-Cycle of a UTA Program

As the number of students taking Computer Science courses continues to rise, the need for excellent teaching assistants (TAs), becomes increasingly important. In response, many CS departments hire TAs from their growing undergraduate student pool to help fill such roles. These Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs) not only provide help with grading, but are responsible for development of course materials, running lab sections, and mentoring both students and newly hired UTAs. Ultimately, UTAs have a major role in affecting course climate, including making sure all students, especially those from underrepresented populations, feel included. Computer Science departments struggle with the challenges of finding, hiring, and training large numbers of teaching assistants. This birds-of-a-feather is designed to gather educators and administrators together who are responsible for the hiring and training UTAs to share their experiences and suggest solutions to these challenges.