Teaching Assistantships

Students are generally assigned to be a teaching assistant in their second year. The Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), cooperating with the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS), is responsible for the distribution of available teaching slots. We try, as much as possible, to match students’ interests with the teaching available.

Students in their third and fourth years are generally able to teach their own course. Students with special teaching needs or wishes should consult the DGS at the earliest opportunity. In general, you should be aware that teaching opportunities are a function of the DGS’s budget procedure, which starts in October every year. It is useful for the DGS to know by early October what teaching needs you might have in the following academic year. The DGS has little power to find teaching for anyone once the budget allocations have been finalized, usually in early April every year.

Teaching Guidance

Duke Resources

  • Duke Graduate School Teaching IDEAS Series - Instructional Development for Excellence And Success is an annual workshop series open to Duke graduate students, postdocs, faculty and staff. Invited speakers in this series will drawn upon their experiences to address topics relevant to classorom teaching, dealing with students, or faculty life and career plans.
  • Faculty Handbook - The handbook is mostly intended for faculty, department, tenure and other faculty, but Chapter 6 is about academic policies, assessing students, expectations in the classroom, grading, add/drop policies, withdrawals, etc. 
  • DukeHub - Enter your grades, see student photos, student information, class lists.
  • Academic Integrity - Read policies for grad students, undergrads, and faculty (in terms of teaching policies). Includes information on plagiarism, ways to promote academic honesty (i.e. how to encourage your students not to cheat!), honor codes.
  • Academic Calendar
  • Exam Schedule - Find out when your final exam or final paper should be due. You are theoretically supposed to get your final grades into the registrar 48 hours after the final exam.
  • Academic Advising Center - First year students are assigned an academic dean based on their residence hall, and an academic advisor who will help them with academic planning until they declare a major. If you think a student is struggling with the transition to Duke or other personal issues, the academic dean can help figure out how to proceed. The Academic Advising Center is also a liaison between the academic deans and the CAPS psychological counseling.
  • A/V training and access - Email ahead of time to schedule a training session in your classroom on the a/v equipment if needed. Email: askav@aas.duke.edu, Phone: 660-3088
  • Facilities Management (Air conditioning, desks, windows, blinds, etc.) See main Literature office. Work Control Center (and after-hours calls): 919-684-2122 (Note, there is a $65 charge for after hours service, which may be charged to the individual if this is used for non-emergencies such as forgetting your ID to get into the building.)
  • Ordering Textbooks - Textbooks and other course materials can take at least 4-6 weeks to arrive. You should request a complimentary desk copy for yourself through the publisher. Order them as early as possible to ensure they’re in stock for the start of the semester. Duke Bookstore Email: textbook@notes.duke.edu, Phone: (919) 684-6793. Regulator Bookstore Email: mail@regbook.com, Tel: (919) 286-2700
  • Professional Development - The Graduate School offers several professional development programs for graduate students.
  • Writing Studio - Students can make an appointment online with trained writing tutors. Tutors will work with students on papers-in-progress on every stage of the process- from the brainstorming or conceptual stage, all the way through polishing and editing. Students can request that the tutor send you a brief overview on what they worked on, so that you can pay attention to that aspect in the final paper. You can request for the Writing Studio to send someone to your class at the beginning of the semester to give your students an overview on what kind of help they provide.