MSU drafts policy for learning assistants

Departments across campus soon might have a reference point for the training and duties required of undergraduate learning assistants as a drafted policy winds its way through MSU’s Academic Governance system.

Sekhar Chivukula, chairman of the University Committee on Academic Policy, said a policy was created because there are no university guidelines for what the undergraduate learning assistants can and cannot do.

Undergraduate learning assistants, often known by different names throughout departments on campus, are undergraduate students used to assist faculty with their courses by doing grading and providing academic support to students, Chivukula said. The positions often are paid.

The committee was asked to look into creating a policy by the Office of the Provost, where they are currently seeking feedback, Chivukula said.

Lauren Liddell, a genetics senior and undergraduate learning assistant in Lyman Briggs School, said she is responsible for helping students with problem sets, giving quizzes and answering questions students might have from lectures.

Liddell said she runs three sections of a chemistry course, each with 15 to 25 students enrolled, and holds office hours two hours per week.

Being an undergraduate learning assistant has helped her with experience in applying to graduate school, where she likely will conduct similar tasks as a teaching assistant.

The position also serves as a refresher with chemistry, Liddell said.

“You don’t know how much you actually know about a subject until you have to teach it,” she said.

Doug Estry, associate provost for undergraduate education, said the point of the policy is to help faculty and students understand the important role undergraduate learning assistants can play in students’ deeper understanding of course material.

“(Undergraduate learning assistants) are really in a mentor-mentee relationship with faculty,” he said. “They assume the role of helping students understand topics more deeply.”

The undergraduate learning assistants often are used for monitoring labs and helping professors prepare for their classes, but do not assign grades or assist with subjective grading on assignments, Estry said.

The committee’s undergraduate learning assistant policy is expected to be sent through the university’s Academic Governance system this semester and be implemented in the fall.

“(The policy) is clarifying for everyone that (learning assistants) is not in a teaching role,” Estry said.

Published on Sunday, March 23, 2008