Policy on the Assignment of Research Assistants
This year the English Department has only five Research Assistants. Each RA is supposed to work twenty hours per week. Two of them are assigned to work in the department office.
Because of the limited number of Research Assistants available, it was necessary to draw up the following policy regarding their assignment.
1. Research Assistants are assigned to faculty members according to the following priorities: 1) Program Directors who have no other assistance; 2) editors of journals; 3) faculty with research projects. Please remember that their hours are limited, so the jobs you ask them to do should only take a few hours occasionally.
2. Please be sure to use the RA for no more than the number of hours specified each week. All these graduate students are assigned to two to four other faculty members and it is important that their assignments be reasonable and equitable. If you find that you do not need the RA for the number of hours assigned, let Jim Clark know immediately. If you have a task that requires more time than assigned, check with the other faculty who work with this RA and see if they can spare him/her for those additional hours.
3. Let Jim Clark know immediately should any problems develop. You will be asked to evaluate briefly your RA=s performance and your own needs at midterm and at the end of the semester.
4. Your RA has been asked to contact you by Sept. 2. (If you wish to initiate the contact, all of these graduate students have mailboxes in the MFA office.) Please set up an appointment with the RA assigned to you as soon as possible.