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Postgraduate Teaching Assistants (PGTA) for 2022-23

The Department of European and International Social and Political Studies (EISPS) wishes to make an  appointment for two Senior Postgraduate Teaching Assistant for the 2021/22 academic year.

EISPS currently offers three programmes: European Social and Political Studies BA; European Social and Political Studies BA: Dual Degree with Sciences Po; and International Social and Political Studies BA. The programmes combine specialisation in a humanity or social science with a broad base in European or international history, law, politics and philosophy as well as fluency in a foreign language.

Applications are now invited from UCL (second year and beyond) PhD students to provide tutorial teaching and marking for our first year core module ESPS0001: Introduction to History, Law, Politics and Philosophy. We are specifically looking to appoint PGTAs to teach on the sections on Political Ideology and Political Economy.

The duties of the post include teaching up to 6 tutorial groups for one of the sections of the module as well as the marking of formative and summative assessments. Each segment has a length of 2-3 weeks. The post holders will also be expected to hold office hours and do administration in relation to the module. The successful candidates will be in at least their second year of a postgraduate research degree by the time they start teaching. Previous undergraduate teaching experience is necessary.

Payment will also be made for teaching preparation time and any other duties performed in addition to contact teaching hours. Contracts will normally include the following contracted hours:

  • Preparation time plus teaching of five to six face-to-face tutorial class weekly for the duration of the segment (2-3 weeks);
  • Weekly office hours during the teaching period;
  • Marking hours using the agreed times set by the EISPS department.

Main purpose of the job

The purpose of this job is to deliver teaching on module ESPS0001 Introduction to History, Law, Politics and Philosophy.

Main duties of the post are tutorial teaching, provision of feedback to students, attendance reporting, coursework assessment. PGTAs will be given training in support of their roles.

PGTAs are expected to be able to commit to being present on the Bloomsbury campus for the full duration of the segment(s) for which teaching is allocated and during the examination period as required, as we will not be offering online seminar classes in 2022/23.

Duties and responsibilities

  • Preparation of standard material and questions for discussion in the seminar.
  • Giving guidance to students on how to produce work at an appropriate academic level.
  • Marking of one assessed essay.
  • Giving routine feedback to students on their presentation, performance and academic work.
  • Provision of revision on course material.
  • Referring student personal problems to the UCL Student Support / student adviser/ EISPS Departmental Tutor.
  • Managing the late submission of assignments.
  • Carrying out administration of the tutorial process, including updating the attendance monitoring system within 48 hours of a class taking place.
  • Using online learning technologies.
  • To actively follow and promote UCL policies, including Equal Opportunities.
  • To uphold confidentiality with regard to students records and marks.
  • To engage with all training required to support the role.

Other information

  1. Salaries are paid in equal monthly instalments for the duration of the contract. Marking will be paid separately.
  2. It is important to note that a PGTA appointment is a contract and a binding agreement and a full teaching term's notice is required in the event of withdrawal. Acceptance of a Teaching Assistantship, therefore, commits you to teach in the Term your module is taught in.
  3. PGTAs are expected to teach their tutorials following the format and content required by, or as agreed with, the module leader.
  4. PGTAs are expected to fund their own travel to and from the College for teaching.

Periods of Appointment

Term 1 modules           Monday, 26 September 2022 – Friday, 16 December 2022

Tutorial teaching takes place during the weeks commencing 03 October – 16 December, excluding Reading Week (week of 7 November)

Term 2 modules           Monday, 9 January 2023 – Friday, 24 March 2023

Lecture and Seminar teaching takes place during the weeks commencing 10 January – 25 March, excluding Reading Week (week of 13 February)

Person Specification

Criteria

Essential (E) Desirable (D)

Educated to degree level, or have equivalent qualifications or experience, in a field relevant to the course taught.

E

Working towards a postgraduate research degree, and in at least in your second year of study by the time teaching begins.

E

Completion of the Arena One Gateway Workshop. This can either be before or at the point of application or prior to the start of the relevant teaching term.

E

High level of literacy and numeracy.

E

Excellent working knowledge of MS Office software including Word, Excel, email, and the internet.

E

Specialist skills appropriate to the module taught

E

Knowledge and experience of Moodle, Blackboard Collaborate or similar virtual learning environment.

D

Previous experience of undergraduate teaching.

E

Ability to communicate clearly, both orally and in writing, with students, academic and support staff at all levels.

E

Excellent organisational and time management skills.

E

Ability to be flexible and to respond to changing priorities in a busy environment.

E

Ability to work independently for short periods and as part of a team, recognising when advice / input needs to be sought.

E

A high level of accuracy and a keen attention to detail.

E

Excellent people skills and the ability to build good relationships with colleagues and external partners.

E

An enthusiasm for teaching.

E

Please note that we can only consider applications from students still completing their PhD. Applicants with a completed and awarded PhD are not eligible to apply.

 Apply

Applicants should submit as one document:

  • a brief CV (no more than two pages) and
  • a covering letter which should include:
  1. a personal statement outlining:
    1. why you are interested in teaching on this EISPS  module
    2. why you think you would be suitable for the particular segment(s) for which you are applying
  2. confirmation that your supervisor has given permission for you to teach in the 2022/23 academic year,
  3. an indication of whether or not you have already attended an Arena One Gateway Workshop,
  4. confirmation that you will be able to meet all obligations for this position at the required times.

Please email your application to Julia Wagner j.wagner@ucl.ac.uk  by 12.00 (noon) on 15th July.

The appointments will be made at Grade 6, point 21 (currently £15.66 per hour inclusive of London Allowance).

Shortlisted applicants will be required to attend an online interview with the module leader and at least one other member of EISPS staff. All applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application via email.

All queries relating to the PGTA role should be directed to the module leader, Dr Brian Klaas b.klaas@ucl.ac.uk