The first guideline that Eison and Vanderford outline in their article "Enhancing GTA Training in Academic Departments" is that TA supervisors should meet regularly to design collaborative strategies which enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of TA training activities in the department. Recent summaries of research findings on cooperative/collaborative learning in college and university classrooms suggest that, in general, cooperative approaches are significantly more effective than individualistic or competitive efforts. One might expect similar outcomes from projects undertaken as cooperative efforts among TA supervisors.

For purposes of self-assessment in this area, a department might want to consider the following six questions:

1. Do TA supervisors meet to develop strategies to:
   1. address current TA training needs and problems,
   2. formulate long-range training plans,
   3. enhance their own competencies as TA supervisors,
   4. enhance departmental compliance with standards for TA training and supervision established by collective bargaining agreements or by various accreditation's agencies?
2. Are TAs given frequent and systematic opportunities to provide TA supervisors with input regarding the types of training activities they believe are most beneficial?
3. When discussing the role of TAs in the department and designing TA training activities, do TA supervisors consider important structural issues such as TA teaching loads and types of teaching assignments?
4. Do TA supervisors discuss how published scholarship and research on TA training can contribute to departmental training efforts?
5. Do TA supervisors seek the assistance of, or collaboration with, appropriate campus service units when designing or offering training activities (e.g., the Digital Media Center, the Center for Teaching and Learning Services, the University Counseling and Consulting Services, and the Office of Measurement Services)?
6. Are TA supervisors provided with adequate time, resources, and support from the department for this important teaching function?

Supervisor Collaboration at the University of Minnesota

In many departments at the University of Minnesota, one person is assigned overall responsibility for the selection, coordination, and training of TAs. In some cases (e.g., Chemistry, Psychology, Economics) this person holds a Professional Academic (P&A) appointment. In other departments, this responsibility falls to the Director of Graduate Studies or to the Director of Undergraduate Studies. In such situations the assigned person might bring all supervising faculty together to collaborate on such issues as developing a consistent strategy for evaluating TAs, assessing the training needs of TAs, or developing an appropriate sequence of TA appointments with the department. In yet other departments, no one person has this overall responsibility. In these cases collaboration among supervising faculty on these important issues becomes more difficult, but by no means impossible.

The Center for Teaching and Learning Services has worked with TA supervisors from a number of departments on issues of TA preparation, support, and supervision. Some of the services we offer TA supervisors include conducting a needs assessment of TAs in the department, assisting in planning and delivering orientation and ongoing training workshops, developing department specific early semester feedback forms, and providing training in observation techniques and/or the use of student evaluations forms.