(1) Description
Teaching fellows serve as section leaders and tutors under the supervision of faculty members; these faculty members serve as heads of instruction for their courses and hold ultimate responsibility for all aspects of the course, including grading. Teaching fellow appointments are reserved exclusively for individuals registered in a program of the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) or an advanced degree program at another Harvard School. Undergraduates may not serve as a teaching fellows.
Appointments are effective for specified terms of teaching and are part-time. Individual graduate schools may have specific limitations on the fraction of time and the number of years that their degree candidates may serve as teaching fellows.
(2) Appointment Process
Approval to appoint a teaching fellow is granted by the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE). Every spring the OUE prompts departments to submit requests for course sections for the coming academic year. (PLEASE NOTE: Due to the new course registration process starting for spring semester 2024, this schedule may change in future years.) Once a course is allocated a section, the department will identify a teaching fellow for the appointment. FAS policy requires that students in the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) who have been guaranteed teaching fellow appointments as part of their funding packages (students in certain FAS-based programs and typically in their third and fourth years in residence) be considered for the appointment before any other graduate student or instructor. Appointments must be endorsed by the relevant department chair (GSAS students) or the candidate's home School (all others); appointment recommendations are then forwarded to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for review.
Departments may contact the Office of Undergraduate Education for further details on the appointment process. Information on teaching fellowship policies for GSAS students can be found at https://gsas.harvard.edu/financial-aid/teaching. Noël Bisson, Dean for Academic Programs, can also be contacted (bisson@fas.harvard.edu) with questions about teaching fellow appointments.
(3) HGSU-UAW Collective Bargaining Agreement
The collective bargaining agreement (contract) between Harvard and the HGSU-UAW applies to most TF appointments, and includes detailed information about titles, compensation, appointment letters, and related matters. The complete agreement as well as an executive summary can be found at this link. The articles most relevant to TF appointments are:
Article 2: Titles and Classifications
Article 3: Employment Appointment Letter
Article 4: Employment Appointment Security
Article 5: Job Posting
Article 16: Workload
Article 20: Compensation
Questions relating to the HGSU-UAW contract should be directed to your department administrator or to studentunionization@harvard.edu.