TA EthicsHow to Get Fired• Act as if you don’t have a ”real job.” It’s just a TA.• Don’t show up for class. Several t im es. Without anexcuse.• Be insolent to faculty (especially your advisor), the stu-dents and the staff members.• Call in sick every Monday. Leave for the city on Thursdayafternoon.• Never plan what you are going to do in class, this stuffis too easy, anyway.• Make clear that research is everything; you are going tosolve a great problem and join one of the top departmentswhere you will only teach one graduate course a term.• Skip office hours. Your officemates can take care of anyof the students who’ll come by.1• Make it clear from the star t that you don’t intend todo anything extra–in fact, you won’t do anything thatyou don’t ge t a salary for. And, you only do that underduress.• End all your classes early. Can’t do this, you say? Toomany questions? Simple to solve; just beli tt le the stu-dents who ask them–that’ll ease up on class time.• Leave for vacations, breaks, and end of term early. Arubaawaits!• Don’t hand in grades on time. Got some graduating se-niors? So what! They didn’t like you anyway.• Offer ”grades for favors”–only ”jokingly,” of course.• Show up at undergrad parties. They’re so much morefun, anyway. Drink a lot. Leave at 2 a.m. with one ofyour students.• Tick off the TA supervisor. He isn’t a real mathemati-cian, anyway. He stopped doing research about the timeyou were born.2What is a Professional?A professional is one who speaks for and has responsibilitiesto the discipline he o r she is teaching and to the other practi-tioners of that discipline.• Responsibilities to Students:– Don’t discuss their individual grades in public, anddon’t compare the students to each other.– We have all met people who are very likable, but fa-voring them with ”hints” or ”extra help” that othersdon’t get is not fair.– Socializing can lead to difficulties, even in the m ostbenign situation∗ If you are not sure how much fraternization tohave with students (after all, we don’t want to betotally standoffish), ask trustworthy colleaguesand faculty for their advice.∗ Be careful the kinds of jokes and comments youmake in front of students, who can be sensitivein very unusual ways.3∗ Risky Behaviorsocializing with a few students from your classMeeting with individual students off campus (re-strict your meetings to office hours with the officedoor left open).Dating students currently in your class.• Responsibilities to the Faculty and Other TAs:– Do not insult or belittle others’ teaching styles, ortheir approach to research.– Pitting your class ag ainst every other instructor’s isnot professional.• Responsibilities to the Discipline– Prepare the material.– Show some interest in your assignment, and in thediscipline s in general.4Case StudyQ: I was discussing mountain biking wit h one of my students.The student informed m e that her mother owned a bike shopand o ffer ed me a 50 per cent discount on everything in thestore. I couldnt believe my good fortune. Should I take ad-vantage of the offer?A: Many TAs (and often younger faculty) often feel a closerkinship to their students than more experienced faculty mem-bers, making them vulnerable to dual role relationships withstudents. Although it is impossible to avoid all dual role re-lationships, it is important to be wary of possible conflicts o finterest such as that described above. Gifts or favours fromstudents currently enrolled in your class should be pol it el yrefused because of the potential for misunderstanding or ma-nipulation. (Small gifts of appreciation from students once thecourse is over and gr ades have been distributed are usually nota