Appendix AA88: Departmental Responsibilities Regarding Graduate Council Policy on GSI Appointments and Mentoring
Updated: August 4th, 2011
Berkeley: Office of the Dean of the Graduate Division
March 9, 1998
To: Deans, Chairs, and Faculty Advisers for GSI Affairs
From: Mary Ann Mason
Associate Dean
Re: Departmental Responsibilities Regarding Graduate Council Policy on
GSI Appointments and Mentoring
On April 7, 1997, Associate Dean Joseph J. Duggan sent you, on behalf of the Graduate Council, the new policy on GSI appointments and mentoring. Some of the important actions mandated in this document include but are not limited to: a fair and open system of hiring; guidance as to GSI workload; an appointment letter spelling out the terms and conditions of the work; and pedagogical preparation for beginning GSIs, through either a 300 level course or its equivalent.
As you know, you are required to distribute this policy to all faculty and GSIs. We trust that the GSIs are receiving the policy accompanied by their letters of appointment. A full description of the requirements of the memo may be found in the document on the Graduate Division Web site in the Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) Teaching & Resource Center page (www.grad.berkeley.edu/gsi/index.shtml).
Faculty mentoring for new and continuing GSIs has been stipulated in the policy. As an incentive, the Graduate Council has directed chairs and the Budget Committee to recognize faculty for mentoring in promotion decisions.
According to the Graduate Council your department is obliged, by May 3, 1998, to provide me with the following:
1) the specific way in which your unit provides GSIs with preparation before and during their first year of teaching,
2) a copy of a typical letter of appointment, including the duties required of the GSI and the number of hours the GSI is required to work.
The GSI Teaching and Resource Center (http://gsi.berkeley.edu) is available to work with departments and individual faculty to support your efforts to prepare and mentor GSIs. Among the resources available are sample syllabi and readers for 300 level courses from programs on campus, information on classroom observation, video consultation, and GSI assessment, materials on how to begin the GSI teaching portfolio, and materials from the six seminars for faculty teaching with GSIs. The center can be reached at 2-4456 and by e-mail at gsi@berkeley.edu.
If you have questions concerning the policy, you may e-mail Professor Jeffrey Reimer, Chair of the Advisory Committee of GSI Affairs, a subcommittee of the Graduate Council at reimer@berkeley.edu.
Thank you for your cooperation.
cc: Graduate Council
Graduate Assistants
Enclosures: Associate Dean Joseph J. Duggan Memo (April 7, 1997)
Graduate Council Policy on Appointments and Mentoring of GSIs
Guidelines for Letter of Appointment
Guidelines for Letters of Appointment
Departments need to provide an appointment letter to all students who are appointed as GSIs in any given semester which includes the following information:
1. GSI title (e.g., GSI I, II, III, IV)
2. beginning and ending date
3. percent time
4. a description of the GSI’s responsibilities
5. the expected number of sections to be taught by the GSI
6. the maximum number of students permitted in each section
A copy of the Graduate Council Policy on Appointing and Mentoring of GSIs should be included as an attachment.
See All Topics in the Category: Appointments Appendices, Guide to Graduate Policy, J. Appendices
