Teaching Assistantships

In 2008-09 the Department of English offered 13 Teaching Assistantships to MA, TESL, and MAT students, and 24 to MFA students. Assistants teach three sections of freshman composition per year (two sections one semester and one the other), under the supervision of the Director of Writing. TA’s usually take 18 credits of course work during the academic year, and may also be expected to perform such duties as proctoring examinations and reading diagnostic or exit essays.  

The stipend for first-year Teaching Assistants in 2009-10 is $12,660; for second-year TAs, $12,860, and for third-year TAs (MFA only), $13,200.  All TAs are considered in-state students and exempt from out-of-state tuition, a savings of over $10,080.  In-state fees are currently $5,556 for the year.   In addition, Teaching Assistants are provided with office space.  Assistantships are awarded on a yearly basis (and a TA can be terminated after one semester― though this almost never happens), and reapplication for the second year is not required.  Renewal is not automatic, however; it depends on both the student's satisfactory progress toward the degree and strong performance as a teacher of writing.

Students who are appointed Teaching Assistants must attend a one-week pre-semester workshop and complete English 505, Composition Pedagogy and Practice, and English 506, Rhetoric and Composition: History, Theory, and Research, during their first year. Teaching Assistants who have taken a graduate course in composition theory and rhetoric that is equivalent to English 506 do not need to take English 506; this judgment is made by the Director of Writing and the other faculty in composition and rhetoric. 

The pre-semester workshop for 2009-10 will take place August 14-21, 2009 (classes start on Monday, August 24, 2009).

To apply, download and fill out the TA application form in PDF format. To read this file, you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.  (You may also request a TA Application Form by emailing us at engldept@uidaho.edu). After filling the form out, send it to the director of the program to which you are applying:

The address for each of the directors of the department’s programs is:          

            (Director's Name) or (MFA Coordinator)
            Department of English
            University of Idaho
            P. O. Box 441102
            Moscow, ID 83844-1102

The program directors are:

            Master of Arts: 
                 David Sigler (dsigler@uidaho.edu; 208-885-7657)
            Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language:
                  Steve Chandler (chandler@uidaho.edu; tel. 208-885-6918)
            Master of Arts in Teaching:
                  Gary Williams (jgw@uidaho.edu; tel. 208-885-6156)
            Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing:
                  Brandon Schrand (bschrand@uidaho.edu; tel. 208-885-7407)

For more information or to get TA application form, write to englishdept@uidaho.edu or the director of the program that interests you. You may also download the application form in PDF format from this Web site.