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University of Wisconsin–Madison

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Graduate Assistant (TA) for Technical Presentations Courses

Apply now(opens in a new window) Job No: 511743
Division/Organization: College of Engineering
Department: Academic Affairs
Job Type: UW Student Assistant
Remote Eligbility: Not Remote
Location: ENGINEERING CENTERS BUILDING
Salary/Wage Range or Lump Sum: $6600 per semester
Job Categories: Interpersonal Communication, Leadership, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Digital Technology, Teamwork/Collaboration, Professionalism/Work Ethic, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Communications, Broadcasting, and Media Arts, Education and Training, Healthcare and Health Sciences, STEM, Graduate Assistant-Teaching Assistant, Career Management, Honoring Context and Culture

Department Overview:

 We are a small program called the Program for Engineering Communication and Applied Ethics, housed in the College of Engineering, that offers courses focused on improving the communication skills of engineering students. The Technical Presentations course that we are seeking to staff with a graduate student instructor is a course required by four of our engineering programs, and the students who take the course are typically sophomores through seniors.

Anticipated Start Date:

 August 17, 2026

Anticipated End Date (If Applicable):

 December 30, 2026

Remote Work Eligibility Detail:

Not Remote

 

Anticipated Hours Per Week:

 Minimum: 13 Maximum: 18

Schedule:

 We are hoping to hire one graduate student to teach two 50-minute sections of this course (capped at 18 students per section), scheduled for TR 8-8:50 and 9:30-10:20 AM. (Please do not apply if your schedule makes meeting these times impossible, because these sections are already full.)

Salary/Wage Range/Lump Sum:

 Minimum: $6600 per semester 

Number of Positions:

 1

Qualifications:

 Must be a current graduate student at UW Madison with at least one year of experience teaching CommA or CommB or comparable communication courses elsewhere; candidates with several years of professional presentation experience would also be considered.
Experience teaching presentations AND teaching science or engineering students would be a significant plus, as would coursework and research in those areas: please provide details in your resume and cover letter emphasizing any experience with teaching communication for the STEM disciplines.
Competent, respectful, and clear communication skills, organizational skills, time management, and reliability must be demonstrably evident throughout the hiring process.
Online teaching or learning experience and some familiarity with online course management tools like Canvas are worth emphasizing in the cover letter as well.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

Must have experience providing effective, specific, timely, and personalized feedback, with sensitivity and strategies for helping those students who may experience significant anxiety over presentations.
This job requires clear, confident, engaging, and original presentations ABOUT the challenges of giving presentations, and your work in front of the classroom will be essentially a model for students. While existing lecture slides, assignments, syllabi, and activities for the course will be provided, you will be free to develop your own original and engaging support materials that align with the course objectives.
Some level of comfort with science and engineering topics is helpful, but the instructor for this course need not be a trained scientist or engineer; indeed, we have often hired from humanities, social sciences, life sciences, etc. Essentially, we need someone who is curious and able to ask good questions to ensure our students explain themselves to non-engineers.

Position Summary/Job Duties:

Deliver presentations about key elements for good presentations, clarifying for students the differences between strong and weak presentations.
Clearly describe the specific needs and expectations for assignments. Provide effective examples for critique. Provide effective grading rubrics and explain the grading system clearly.

Manage the semesterly schedule to ensure that all students in the class complete at least three graded individual presentations and one team presentation. At least two of those presentations should be technical and focused on an issue within the student's discipline of study. Ensure students get feedback on each presentation in a timely manner so that they can make improvements.


The instructor will teach two sections of a face-to-face technical presentations course designed for engineering students. Our program will provide training, a common syllabus, assignments, rubrics, and mentoring throughout the semester. This is not an online course, though the instructor will have the option to shift one presentation assignment online to teach the skill of giving strong presentations in a Zoom format.

Physical Demands:

Must be able to maintain reasonable control over one's own speech and classroom presence to provide a professional model for students.
Must be able to keep a regular, punctual, and predictable schedule -- meeting the class time needs but also holding office hours students can attend.

Institutional Statements:

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

UW-Madison is an Equal Employment, Equal Access Employer committed to increasing the diversity of our workforce.

Institutional Statement on Diversity:

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background-people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

For more information on diversity and inclusion on campus, please visit: diversity.wisc.edu

Accommodation Statement:

If you need to request an accommodation because of a disability, you can find information about how to make a request at the following website:https://employeedisabilities.wisc.edu/disability-accommodation-information-for-applicants/
 
 

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Applications close: Central Daylight Time

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