TA's/GA's - other questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
1

<p>Hi All
OK we are starting to have some questions…please be patient with me as I try to make sense of everything.</p>

<p>Can anyone tell me how many classes are taught by TA’s or GA’s? Is it just gen ed classes mostly? Are there a lot of classes not taught by professors?</p>

<p>One other question: Sounds like Alabama is a bit weak in some areas regarding technology. Am I misreading some posts? Slow wi-fi, low bandwidth, not enough computers for students, problems w/ printers, etc. Is there an extra charge for internet in the dorms? Or is it included?</p>

<p>Oooops one more: Someone posted about PO Boxes. That sort of threw me. Don’t the students get a ‘mailbox’ in their dorm? Why do we need to pay for a PO Box? I am confused.</p>

<p>Any insight is appreciated. We are digging into the important but smaller, stuff these days. Just 2 more college visits. Alabama is at the top of our list, but we need to flesh out the little things.</p>

<p>DD had me email Jami today about the first day to apply. LOL I think she has it on her calendar.</p>

2

<p>ta’s for labs and recitation classes. </p>

<p>i think the wifi is probably comparable at other schools. it is lightning fast with a cable. internet does not require an extra charge.</p>

<p>every school i have ever heard of requires kids to get a po box if they want a mailbox. it also allows kids to keep the same address for all four years if they want.</p>

<p>if these are the things you are worrying about, you don’t have much to worry about! : )</p>

3

<p>LOL Mike LOL Yah you are right! But had all the hard questions answered at the tour and on this forum. The really big ones won’t be answered until we get accepted :wink:
Just trying to ask some of the other questions.</p>

<p>My older daughter is at Iowa State and they don’t even have the option of a PO Box. That is why I was a bit confused. Makes perfect sense though. How much do they cost yearly?</p>

4

<p>Depends on your major, but mostly TAs run the labs. However, they usually grade your homework as well (least in engineering) and often run the extra help sessions, so its highly beneficial to get to know them. TAs will also sometimes fill in if the prof is gone (eg for a conference or something).</p>

<p>Resnet can be slow during heavy traffic times, but when I use my ethernet cord I rarely have an issue. Some of my friends complain about smart phones/tablets etc running slow, but the university and SGA are apparently working on that issue (welcome to the world of data Bama, bout time!). There is no charge for the internet.</p>

<p>You can have packages delivered to Paty, but if you want mail you need a PO box. I love checking mine to see if I got anything, even if its just junk mail. I think a normal sized one costs 44 yearly. I could be wrong, but I’m positive its no more than 50. Definitely a must get.</p>

5

<p>*Can anyone tell me how many classes are taught by TA’s or GA’s? Is it just gen ed classes mostly? Are there a lot of classes not taught by professors?</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Nearly all lectures for all college classes are taught by professors…even the Gen Ed classes are taught by profs. </p>

<p>At Bama, a TA’s job is mostly to do the following…help with labs, proctor exams, grade lab work, and be a “helper” to the prof. My older son was a TA for 3 semesters and all he did was lead a group during lab time, proctor exams, take roll, and run “study groups.” </p>

<p>the only exceptions that I know of are a few foreign language classes are taught by native speaking PhD students. My son had a PhD student from Spain teach his 200 level Spanish class. </p>

<p>That has been the only time either one of my kids ever had a PhD student teach a class…which in my opinion was totally fine to have a native speaking PhD student teach that level of a class.</p>

<p>Ahhh…I forgot another exception…Grad students do the “recreation” classes…like the “jogging class,” and “weight lifting/conditioning class”. I guess you don’t need to pay a prof to having kids running laps. LOL</p>

6

<p>We got D a PO box during Bama Bound. The box is $46 a year and there is a key deposit of $6.</p>

7

<p>*One other question: Sounds like Alabama is a bit weak in some areas regarding technology. Am I misreading some posts? Slow wi-fi, low bandwidth, not enough computers for students, problems w/ printers, etc. Is there an extra charge for internet in the dorms? Or is it included?</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Oh goodness no. </p>

<p>The internet on the campus itself (academic buildings) is fine. </p>

<p>The issue is the dorms. Frankly, any large dorm anywhere is going to have issues with wifi when tons are using it at the same time. Since I have many nieces and nephews at various universities across the US, I can tell you that they all experience little hiccups and similar situations when many people are accessing wifi at once or when in dorms that have lots of walls, stuff, brick, etc. </p>

<p>That’s why there is also the ethernet option which is very fast when wifi may be slow. </p>

<p>**Bama dorms uses ResNet which, frankly, **MANY **colleges use…so they have what other colleges have. **</p>

<p>*i think the wifi is probably comparable at other schools. it is lightning fast with a cable. internet does not require an extra charge.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>EXACTLY!!!</p>

<p>I don’t know what you mean about the number of computers? Bama has many computers in labs and libraries, but kids mostly use their own computers and their own printers…</p>

<p>*Someone posted about PO Boxes. That sort of threw me. Don’t the students get a ‘mailbox’ in their dorm? Why do we need to pay for a PO Box? I am confused.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Proportionately speaking, so few kids get mail on any kind of regular basis (in my older son’s 4 years at Bama, he never had any reason to receive any mail at school), that it just doesn’t make sense to 1) provide a mailbox for each student, and 2) to have a postman walking around 22 different residence halls delivering few pieces of mail each day.</p>

<p>So, it makes sense to just have it centralized at one place and those who will get mail, can get a mail box.</p>

8

<p>^It sounds like they raised the prices for a PO Box from last year. Still, it is a definitely a good idea for OOS students to get a PO box (sharing is not permitted). The post office employees are very friendly and will go out of their way to help students.</p>

<p>The business school will occasionally use PhD candidates to teach courses, but otherwise a few of my classes have had TAs for grading and attendance taking purposes.</p>

<p>Any wireless system with lots of users is going to have issues. That said, UA’s ResNet is much better than the system where I’m taking summer classes since I can stream radio and have my iPod automatically check for new e-mail on UA’s network.</p>