Teaching Assistant Instructions
1. Clarify Academic Activities
Review the official syllabus, LMS instructions, faculty announcements, grading criteria, deadlines, and submission formats. Explain what the instructor has required without creating new requirements.
- Clarify wording and process.
- Reinforce the student’s responsibility for completing the work.
- Do not suggest answers, provide content guidance, review academic work, or create an academic advantage.
Principle: clarity without dependency.
2. Monitor Engagement and Progress
Observe authorized indicators such as lecture access, submissions, participation, repeated delays, or recurring absences. Communicate with the student in a professional institutional manner and document persistent concerns for faculty or authorized academic review.
- Do not punish, judge, impose sanctions, grant exceptions, or negotiate deadlines.
Principle: monitoring without judgment.
3. Reinforce Faculty Expectations
Help students understand expectations already established by faculty, including academic conduct, communication standards, ethics, deadlines, and policies. Document recurring misalignment and refer disputes appropriately.
- Do not represent the instructor, defend one party against another, or formally mediate academic disputes.
Principle: alignment without mediation of authority.
4. Support Accessibility Workflows
Monitor the processing of recorded lectures, verify the presence and basic functionality of captions or other approved accessibility resources, and notify students when materials are available.
- Do not edit academic content, alter instructor speech, or independently select alternative formats.
- Report accessibility defects through the approved DOXA process.
Principle: accessibility without pedagogical intervention.
Prohibited Actions
- Deliver instruction independently.
- Define learning outcomes.
- Assign or change final grades.
- Provide answers or review student work for correctness.
- Grant academic exceptions or negotiate deadlines.
- Act as a personal administrative or pedagogical substitute for an instructor.
- Access courses, students, or records outside the TA’s assignment.
- Disclose student, academic, administrative, or partner information without authorization.
- Claim or promise licensure, exemption, approval, accreditation, transferability, employment, salary, or professional eligibility.
Confidentiality, Privacy, and Referrals
Use discretion, empathy, and professional language. Keep sensitive information inside approved DOXA systems. Refer special requests, disputes, suspected policy violations, accessibility issues, and matters outside TA authority to the instructor of record, authorized academic leadership, or the designated institutional office.
A suspected violation of TA responsibilities must be documented and reviewed through an authorized suspension or removal process. The system does not automatically remove a TA based solely on an allegation.
Frequently Asked Questions
May I explain an assignment?
Yes. Explain the official instructions, assessment criteria, deadline, and submission process. Do not teach the answer, reinterpret the task, or add requirements.
May I review a student’s draft?
No, unless a separately approved institutional process explicitly authorizes a limited non-evaluative check. The default TA role does not review academic work or suggest answers.
May I extend a deadline?
No. Refer the request to the instructor of record or another authorized academic decision-maker.
May I grade work?
No. Final evaluation authority belongs to the instructor of record. The TA role does not assign final grades.
What should I do when a student repeatedly misses work?
Document the authorized engagement indicators, contact the student professionally, and report persistent patterns through the approved faculty-supervision process. Do not impose a penalty.
What if a student disputes an instructor’s decision?
Explain the applicable published process and refer the student to the correct academic complaint or appeal channel. Do not represent either party or mediate the dispute.
What should I check for recorded lectures?
Confirm that processing is complete, required captions or approved accessibility resources are present, and students have been notified. Report defects; do not alter the lecture content.
Can I email sensitive student details?
No. Email should contain only limited operational information and a secure-portal direction. Keep sensitive facts and records inside authorized systems.
Who supervises my work?
Follow the assignment and supervision recorded by DOXA. Academic authority remains with the instructor of record and authorized academic leadership.
Does this guide prove DOXA accreditation or regulatory status?
No. Institutional status statements must be supported by current official documentation. This guide describes the TA role and does not establish licensure, exemption, approval, or accreditation.
This guide supports DOXA Christian University’s academic-support, privacy, and institutional-control practices. It does not replace the academic catalog, course syllabus, faculty instructions, complaint and appeal procedures, or other official policies. Regulatory references support traceability but do not independently establish licensure, exemption, approval, accreditation, or legal compliance.