Teaching assistants balance helping students with own studies

Thursday, 4/10/97

Teaching assistants balance helping students with own
studies

Enjoyment of teaching disrupted by long hours, overcrowding

By Carol McKay

Daily Bruin Contributor

At 15-minute intervals, students enter 330 Haines, sit down at a
computer and begin doing Adam Wetsman’s work for him.

Wetsman, a graduate student researching his dissertation, is a
busy person and could use the help. Aside from working to complete
his Ph.D. in cultural anthropology, he is also a teacher’s
assistant (TA) for Anthropology 7.

"I think this is my ninth quarter," he said, searching for
concentration. As students file in and out of the room, he has
reason to be distracted but is focused nonetheless. After nine
quarters of teaching the same course, Wetsman is well past learning
the ropes. Only the authors of the course’s textbook have taught
the course for longer blocks of time than he, Wetsman said.

"The professors change, but the course remains the same,"
Wetsman said. "There is some consistency in the TAs. We’re kind of
the stabilizing factor."

In addition to teaching his three discussion sections each week
and being available for a required three hours for students to drop
in at his office, Wetsman spends a great deal of time in the
laboratory room conducting surveys and collecting data.

"Generally, (my research) is on the underlying causes as well as
the influences on the attributes people look for and find in
potential mating partners," Wetsman said. To students participating
in the research, however, what they’re doing doesn’t seem nearly as
scientific as Wetsman’s description would have them think.

"I looked at pictures of a bunch of girls and rated them as to
how much I would want to date them," said Arvin Chen, a first-year
undeclared student. Chen, who took Anthro 7 last quarter, was
awarded extra credit as an incentive for completing the survey.

According to Wetsman, TAs have to offer incentives or beg for a
lot of things.

"We plead with students to attend office hours, but there’s very
little we can do to encourage them," he said, of a typical TA
frustration. "I sit in office hours doing nothing. Rarely does a
student ever come in."

Despite the frustration surrounding low interest in office
hours, professors acknowledge TAs impact on students as "big
time."

"With a class size like this," visiting lecturer Steve
Brinkoetter said of his political science class of 220 students,
"It puts students in a smaller group so that they can ask
questions. At UCLA in particular that is so important because the
whole school is so large."

Wetsman admits, too, that perhaps it is in the nature of
students not to seek help outside of lecture and discussion.

"I never did when I was a student," he added. And Wetsman has
been a student for a long time. Having graduated with a liberal
studies degree from UCSB, Wetsman then attended the University of
Wisconsin, where he received his masters in sociology as well as a
law degree.

"I have a lot of letters after my name," he said. In spite of
all of those degrees, however, Wetsman thinks that when all of his
research and studies are finished, he’ll continue teaching.

"I think I was interested in teaching all along. That was one of
the reasons I wanted to continue my graduate studies," he said.
According to Wetsman, most people who become TAs either want to get
involved in teaching or are simply interested in the material. "I
was a mix of both," he said.

The enjoyment received from teaching, however, is often
frustrated by challenges such as overcrowding in discussions.

"(Overcrowding) makes it difficult for people to talk
sometimes," said Debbie Banner, a TA for English 85. "It’s much
easier to get discussions going with a smaller group."

Banner also finds that another big challenge is balancing her
own priorities with school priorities. As a graduate student
preparing to take her first qualifying exam towards a Ph.D. in
English, Banner is constantly struggling to prepare both herself
for her own test and her students for theirs at the end of the
quarter.

"I’m still trying to figure that out. Until now, I’ve always
given my students priority. This quarter I think it will be tough,"
she said.

"With reading the course material, teaching sections, dealing
with grading, and having office hours, it’s much more than a
part-time job."

Wetsman, who estimates that he spends at least 25 hours on
campus each week, can breathe more easily. Having completed his
qualifying exams, he is now experiencing less pressure.

"I can meet my wife for lunch without feeling guilty," he said.
"It would be very difficult to find a job that allows me to set my
own schedule, work part time and still pay me a very large average
hourly salary without it being a TA-ship.

"It’s not a ton of money, but I’m getting an advanced degree at
the same time."

Despite Wetsman’s happiness as a TA – "maybe I’m being spoiled
in Anthropology" – others voice concern that TAs are not fully
appreciated at UCLA.

"The University claims to try to limit the TAs’ time to 20 hours
per week. But a significant amount of TAs work over 20 hours per
week, even according to a university study," said Susan Conrad, a
Member of the Executive Board of the Student Association of
Undergraduate Employees (SAGE).

Conrad, a second-year graduate student of Urban Planning, knows
about the life of a TA from experience. Having taught a course in
industrial analysis, Conrad realizes the value of a low
student-to-TA ratio.

"The more students a TA has, the more time they have to spend
teaching. For many TAs, this is their only source of employment, so
dissertation research needs to happen at the same time," she
said.

Conrad also noted that many TAs have families, and a lack of
affordable health care for dependents in the current benefits of
TAs is an issue SAGE is battling.

"It’s a major concern," she said. "One TA in the sociology
department found out her daughter had a tumor and she was forced to
withdraw because the insurance wouldn’t cover it."

SAGE continues to fight for recognition from the university as a
union, so they can negotiate the issues with which they are
concerned.

"Without a contract, there’s no assurance that the benefits we
do have will remain," Conrad said.

Although SAGE, which, according to Conrad, will consider
planning another TA strike this quarter if they are not recognized
as a union, seeks to represent TAs and other academic employees,
some TAs, like Wetsman seem to be content with their
situations.

"It’s better than working 60 hours a week in an office with with
a tie," Wetsman said.

Banner, a member of SAGE who has participated in two strikes,
said that although she supports "several of their goals, my
responsibility towards my students is greater."