<p>My son has his schedule for summer courses at UCSB, and the two lectures are given by graduate students. I expected grad students in the smaller discussion sections, but not the big lectures. Is this common now, having grad students do ALL the teaching at large research universities? Could it be unique to the summer session? These students could be fine instructors, but I must admit I am skeptical.</p>
<p>I highly doubt they are doing ALL the teaching at the whole university. </p>
<p>I hope your son is willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.</p>
<p>Lots of reasons why grad students teach lecture courses. Mostly because</p>
<p>1) it’s an intro level course with a well-establish/standardized curricula (so who teaches it doesn’t matter terribly much)</p>
<p>2) it’s a course the grad student developed him/herself</p>
<p>Teaching is part of the academic training of PhD students. They have to start someplace. However, if it is a large lecture class, you can probably rest assured that these are not newbie grad students, but senior grad students who are getting close to graduation and have had previous recitation-level and above teaching experience.</p>
<p>And to be honest, the grad students are often more enthusiastic and better prepared lecturers than some profs.</p>
<p>A summer stand alone course is commonly part of a PhD student’s funding package.</p>
<p>Given the way you phrased the question it sounds as if your S hasn’t actually started as a Freshman yet - right? If so, what are these courses? If they’re just some basic writing course or something then it might explain why it’s being taught by a grad student.</p>
<p>The last I heard grad student taught almost no courses at the UCs although it may vary by major.</p>
<p>Summer courses may have different policies about who the primary instructors can be.</p>
<p>Regular academic year courses typically have a faculty member doing the (often large at the lower division level) lecture, with graduate students doing the smaller discussions.</p>
<p>However, some introductory level courses are done in small lecture / discussion sections with graduate students as the primary instructors. These are usually courses like English composition and foreign language.</p>
<p>These graduate students may well already have their Master’s Degree and would be employable as a full time professor at a different school. </p>
<p>And the financial crunch at the UCs may be driving a new policy.</p>
<p>Not sure if this will help, but 22 years ago at the very top MBA school of the time, my grad students colleagues and I taught our own sections of MBA courses. Start to finish, no guidance from faculty. No one minded, we did great (many of us made faculty honor roll). </p>
<p>Every research school relies on teaching by grad students…how else do you think they get experience to later be tenure track professors upon graduation? It provides the necessary experience to get a job, and it provides funding to the student. Think of it like a teaching hospital. Most will put in tremendous prep that means they do far more than a tenured prof would. </p>
<p>Its pretty much the norm, at least in business schools, so I know for a fact its not uncommon in the UC system. Though students are often not even aware of whether the instructor is tenure track or not as there is no indication unless one looks someone up (e.g. ‘professor’ is used as a default term, not just those with PhDs). Same with grading…done mostly by grad students but no one ever talks about it. It just is.</p>
<p>Teachers (not temps) in K thru 12 are required in every state to go thru some kind of eduction related training and be licensed. </p>
<p>It’s always puzzled me that there are no similar minimal standards for college teachers/profs. The result: In many colleges/universities students do not get what they pay for.</p>
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Unless you have specifics I don’t think your statement can be applied universally to all UCs and all majors. </p>
<p>I think the OP should get relevant input from recent experience at the specific UC and the specific major. Answers to a question like this tend to be general and often incorrect. It’s best to get specific data. Your S can always contact the specific department at UCSB and ask them.</p>
<p>I know my son doesn’t care at all who is teaching the class, as long as the person is more knowledgeable than he. I guess I am nostalgic for the days when the crusty/funny/full of stories/prestigious professor would provide the main attraction and on another day we would gather in groups of 20 or less to have an energetic/creative/enthusiastic graduate student review the material and lead discussions. However I think I may have selective memory for some favorite profs. During college visits we encountered more than a few fossilized faculty members who seemed to suck the life out of the room. In fact, it was such encounters that tilted the college choice to a larger research institution. The courses are introductory, so the material should be well within the scope of a Masters student. Thanks for the opinions, they have been helpful.</p>
<p>I used to be a tenure track and eventually tenured science faculty member at a UC school (10 years ago). At my campus, regular faculty did not teach summer courses very often. They were typically taught by adjunct faculty. I can imagine qualified, advanced graduate students could be hired to teach summer courses. </p>
<p>In fact, we regular faculty were not paid for the summer at all. We were paid a 9 month salary (that could be stretched and paid out over 12 months.) If we had research grants, we could write into our grant budgets an extra 3 months of salary using our base pay. I spent my summers full time in the research lab. </p>
<p>In the fall, the regular faculty returned. Graduate students helped out with discussion sections, but did not teach courses, at least not in my department or any of the other departments ours often collaborated with.</p>
<p>Many years ago, my husband taught a course independently in the summer session while he was a graduate student in the Ivy League.</p>
<p>The standards for summer session instructors are different from those for the regular school year. And graduate students who teach in the summer session are not necessarily poorly qualified. My husband wasn’t. He was less than a year from completing a Ph.D. at that point, and he was very familiar with the course content because he had worked as a teaching assistant for the same course. He was also a native speaker of English, which is more than you can say for some professors. His summer students were in good hands.</p>
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<p>Simply stated, that is because most graduate students would not be able to obtain the required certifications by the time they finish their program. And, while we are “led” to believe that the instructions, GF, TA, or whatever name they go by are mostly students a few courses away from obtaining a PhD, the reality is far different. Not only are TAs culled from PEER students but are often Master’s students, including some fresh out of the latest boat (well, planes in this century.) </p>
<p>Oh yes, I am sure someone is bound to start typing a rebuttal along the lines of “TAs do NOT teach; they only lead lectures” or some similar input from people who are usually years or generations away from attending a school. The reality is that TA are deeply involved in all kind of academic actions from which they are entirely NON-PREPARED nor TRAINED. This includes grading papers and exams and creating curricula in higher education. </p>
<p>We also know WHY schools rely on TAs, and it is not only to provide experience to the future generations of professors. It is because it is the cheapest way to ensure the lighter loads for the ones who are/were supposed to be teaching. This would be acceptable if students would be made aware of the differences and would receive a … discount for the sub-par education. Of course, the warning could be just a simple as looking at courses taught by “STAFF.”</p>
<p>In the meantime, it is true that some of the people who teach classes in universities might not be allowed to teach anyone above a kindergarten level.</p>
<p>PS The degree of preparation and qualifications of TAs vary from one school to another.</p>
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<p>One could only hope that a day will come when this archaic and utterly questionable practice will stop. We no longer live in an agrarian society that requires summer off.</p>
<p>Even at a top private school like Wash U, grad students often teach summer courses. (ie they are sole instructor, some don’t even have their masters degree yet, but are all phd students), I don’t really see the big deal.</p>
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<p>Many students rely on working in the summer to fund part of their education. Others gain valuable work experience with internships. Much of my education has taken place outside of the classroom - in labs, at an internship at a biotech company, etc. These experiences helped guide my academic choices and were resume boosters (i.e. college students rely on internships when applying for jobs). Just because summers no longer serve the same purpose as they once did does not mean that they are no longer purposeful.</p>
<p>I believe xiggi and I were talking about FACULTY summer salaries. Not paying for the 3 summer months is serious incentive for faculty to go out and secure grants. The faculty member gets research money and summer salary, but so does the university in the form of “indirect costs” – a percentage awarded the university for administration of the grant (i.e. faculty member applies for and gets $100K for research, university tacks on another $50K for adminstration of the grant and the costs associated with doing the research, like facility maintenance, I suppose.)</p>
<p>If as a (science) faculty member, you don’t have an active research program, don’t fund or mentor many graduate students, and don’t care for research grants, you are also not obligated to work in the summer. If you have tenure, there is not much that can be done if you feel like kicking back a bit in the summer, though your fellow faculty members in the department may resent you not being research active and make you take on a larger teaching load during the school year.</p>
<p>(p.s. markdvi – a lot of phd programs do not require a master’s along the way. Many departments don’t even award one officially except maybe as a consolation for a student who needs to leave the PhD program early.)</p>
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<p>All are phd students? Really?</p>
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<p>Corrected for accuracy:
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