It's Time for a TA-Student Ratio
As students, Teaching Assistants (TAs) must juggle the workloads of their own degree programs with those of their TA assignments, as well as other part-time or full-time work to sustain themselves.
Carleton University does not have official policies or guidelines around how many students a Teaching Assistant can be assigned. In larger classes, TAs can be responsible for hundreds of students. In assignment intensive and/or experiential-learning courses, having too many students means less time for meaningful engagement with students and their assignments. In short, having too many students means a poorer quality of education and a lower quality learning experience for students.
Unions at Carleton have been trying to address TA-Student ratios for over three decades. In the last round of bargaining, Carleton said they did not have a mandate from their Board of Governors to discuss TA-Student ratios with us. In this round, we are demanding that they get one.
Our working conditions are students’ learning conditions. It’s time for a reasonable TA-Student Ratio.