iSchool Undergraduate Student Support Program

There are many benefits of having an Undergraduate Student Support:

• You can develop deeper connections with our students
• You get a fresh set of eyes (from the student perspective) on your teaching material and receive feedback before you present to class
• An Undergraduate Assistant can test the weekly labs before the class completes them to fix any bugs or alert you of any confusion
• The Undergraduate Assistant learns the material in a whole new way, helping them gain a deeper understanding often leads to them pursuing more coursework in that subject area
• Someone can help you answer questions when all those hands go up in the labs
• Undergraduate Assistant’s can assist with light grading and organization projects

If you are thinking about having undergraduate student support for a class this coming semester, please reference the information below to find out more information:

1. ANY instructor (full-time or adjunct) can utilize one of our Undergraduate Student Support positions. If it will enhance your class and the student’s classroom experience, we’re all for it. Therefore, think about what you’d like an Undergraduate Student Support to do for you and how they would help enhance your class instruction. You can use the documents attached at the top of the page for ideas, and talk to other professors about how they leverage their Undergraduate Student Support (we are happy to recommend some regular Undergraduate Student Support-users to you).

   
   

2. Ask a student, likely a former student in one of your sections who you know you can trust to be responsible, and who has demonstrated proficiency in the work. We like the student to have received a B+ or better in the class the first time around. If you need a recommendation of someone, just let the student services office know and we can pull rosters from former class sections.
   
   

3. Once you have a student who agrees to be an Undergraduate Student Support for your class, have a talk with the student about the structure of your class. Build out the expectations (very specifically) that you have for your Undergraduate Student Support and amend the IST337 Contract to match your goals. Make sure to go through your syllabus in detail with your new Undergraduate Student Support and let them ask questions to be sure that you’re both on the same page with how the semester will run. Both of you should sign the IST337 Contract paperwork in the necessary spaces.
   
   
4. Send your student to Jeff Fouts in student services, Hinds Hall 114, with all the paperwork. He will keep a copy for his records and you should keep a copy for yourself for review. The only way your student receives credit for the work they are doing is if they bring in the paperwork so they can get enrolled in the IST337: IM&T Support Practicum course. The paperwork should be submitted no more than TWO WEEKS BEFORE the start of classes. Paperwork should include the IST337 contract/form (included at the top of the page).
   
   
5. Once the paperwork is received by Jeff Fouts, the student will then be able to register for the course. They WILL NOT be able to register for IST337 until all paperwork has been received.

PLEASE NOTE: Students may not count IST337 in the IM&T or Data Science Minors

We are happy to enhance your teaching experience by providing you the ability to have an Undergraduate Student Support for your class. Hosting an Undergraduate Student Support is often really rewarding and the student finds the experience extremely beneficial as they get to connect further with a professor, have a deeper understanding of material and develop the people skills that come with serving others.

There are many benefits to being a student support person with the major one being a great experience to put on your resume. Many past student support students have found the experience very rewarding and something they wished they signed up for sooner.

So what are the requirements to being a Student Support student? Simple. You must have taken the course that you want to student support for, obtained the grade of at least a B+, and be responsible enough to be willing to help other students. That’s it.

What does a Student Support person do? Well, for starters, you are available to help the instructor with whatever their needs may be. You will work a maximum of 10 hours a week both in the classroom and conducting office hours. Other tasks of being a Student Support person:

• You can develop deeper connections with iSchool students
• You are a fresh set of eyes (from the student perspective) on the teaching material and can give feedback before the instructor presents to class
• An undergraduate student support person can test the weekly labs before the class completes them to fix any bugs or alert the instructor of any confusion
• The undergraduate student support person learns the material in a whole new way, helping you gain a deeper understanding which often leads to pursuing more coursework in that subject area
• You can help answer questions when all those hands go up in the labs
• Undergraduate student support person's can assist with light grading and organization projects

If you are interested, please fill out the form below expressing your interest. You are able to list up to 3 courses that you would like to student support for following the requirements that I listed above. If you only have one course, that is fine to.

Our instructors want and need your help.  

Please Note: If selected, you will be contacted by the instructor. You will both fill out a student support contract that is signed by both of you and you will register for IST337 IM&T Support Practicum, a 3-credit course taught by me that covers how to be an effective student support person.

The link to the form is below:

TA Interest Form