Instructional Support Coordinator

Guelph, ON, CA, N1G 2W1

Department: School of Computer Science Position covered by the Collective Agreement with USW Local 4120

If you are a current employee of the University of Guelph you must apply on the internal Career Page in order to be considered as an internal applicant. Career Opportunities (sapsf.com)

General Purpose

Reporting to the Instructional Lab Manager, the incumbent aids undergraduate course instructors by managing labs, teaching assistants (TAs), and managing the student experience.The School of Computer Science (SoCS) currently offers a Bachelor of Computing Program (BComp). The number of BComp students have increasing significantly each year. We remain above target projections each year. As a result, the total number of lab sections --- and with it the number of related issues --- has exploded (over 1000 labs and 2000 lab hours). Likewise, the number of TAs has exploded (over 150; this increases each year). The Instructional Support Coordinator will allow the School to provide better lab service to the students; to better select, train and support the TA’s as well as the processes which will allow this person to support our students during their life cycle at SoCS.

Duties and Responsibilities

Activity A: Managing Labs (15%)

• Help to efficiently coordinate lab times and schedules. • Identify and report relevant issues to instructors and IT staff. • Work together with IT staff to ensure all lab equipment is operational, and confer with IT on requirements and upgrade issues. • Develop policies and procedures in collaboration with IT staff to ensure efficient lab operations and quality service. • Develop laboratory regulations for the purpose of maintaining a safe environment conducive to learning.

Activity B: Managing TAs and Sessionals (65%)

• Serve on the Undergraduate Program Implementation Committee and assist with the determination of TA support for each course. • Serve on the Academic Staff Hiring Committee and assist with the TA hiring process. • Develop material for SoCS specific and course specific TA orientation and training. • Provide SoCS specific and course specific orientation and training for all new TAs. • Provide day-to-day support and supervision for TAs. • Provide advice and guidance to both faculty and TAs, based on the regulations and policies in the CUPE3913 collective agreement, surrounding the proper functioning of the TA-instructor contractual relationship. • Provide knowledge and interpretation of university/departmental policies and procedures. • Determine marking needs, effectively coordinate logistics required for marking purposes and calibrate marking efforts. • When necessary, consult with course instructors to determine deadlines for grading course components and communicating the deadlines to TAs. • Follow-up with TAs to ensure delivery of course grades for its components at specified deadlines and that accurate feedback are provided by the TAs to support submitted grades. • Develop SoCS specific performance evaluation sheet for TAs that is compliant with the school’s and university’s policies and objectives. • Assist course instructors in conducting performance evaluations of their respective TAs. • Respond promptly and professionally to TAs concerns. • Allocate and assign responsibilities to TAs for proctoring exams. • Work closely with faculty to understand their needs for TA’s for the courses.