TA Guide: Navigating challenges in the instructor-TA relationship
Address common challenges and find support
Challenges happen in any relationship and don’t indicate that either party has failed. In fact, when approached intentionally and with curiosity, challenges can lead to deeper understanding and stronger connections.
Tips for handling common challenges
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- Maintain professionalism and patience: slow communication is usually due to workload, not a sign of intentional disrespect. Staying calm helps you preserve the relationship.
- Ask your lead instructor about their preferred way for you to reach them, when you can expect responses, and if they appreciate follow-up emails. If you work on a teaching team, coordinate with other TAs.
- Potential communication methods include:
- During weekly meetings
- In a shared document that you both have access to (with an agreed-upon response time)
- Via email (with an agreed-upon response time)
- When writing emails to the instructor, put your question(s) or request(s) at the top, either in the subject line or first sentence. For example: “Your advice for running review session”; “How to address grade dispute.”
- Make your questions specific, with options already identified. It is easier for an instructor to choose between two ideas rather than generating a new idea.
- Batch questions into one email if possible, using formatting such as bullet points for visual organization.
- Keep your messages short and clear. This writing style is known as “Plain Language” and campus trainings are offered. Being concise is not rude; it demonstrates that you respect others’ time enough to be intentional with your language. However, individual preferences do vary, so when in doubt, mirror the tone and depth of your instructor’s communications.
- Use your regular meeting time effectively; prioritize your questions in advance. If you attend lectures, ask questions before or after.
- For low-stakes decisions, use your best judgment and inform them afterward. Make sure that you both agree on what is a “low-stakes decision.”
- Ask for clarity promptly.
- Send an email to confirm what you heard from the instructor: “To confirm, for this week I will…”. It is common to send confirmation emails like this in a professional setting, and having things in writing helps prevent misunderstandings.
- When you have ideas for better ways to communicate about changes, share them! Your judgment and insight as the TA can be very valuable here. (“Would you be open to using a shared document to list the Canvas updates you need in one place?”)
- If this pattern continues, gently name it: “I’ve noticed that the plan has changed a few times – can we take a little time to settle on a final version?”
- Set boundaries around last-minute changes. It is okay to say you can’t implement a major change with only a few hours’ notice. (“While I can’t change the lesson plan for Tuesday, I will be happy to do this for the class after that.”)
- If you are in a teaching team with other TAs, check in with them about things that need to be consistent across the whole course (e.g., grading and feedback, or messages that all students need to receive).
- Departments may or may not require instructors to proactively give scheduled feedback. Understand department norms by asking peer TAs or the graduate program coordinator.
- Consider getting feedback from your students through exit tickets (a short survey at the end of a class session).
- If your instructor is not scheduled to give feedback soon:
- Ask for short, focused feedback on one specific area
- Ask direct questions to give structure to the feedback process
- Offer to share a sample of graded work, your lecture slides, or other materials for structured feedback
- Ask for a conversation to clarify where you have autonomy vs. where the instructor would like oversight.
- Propose a manageable schedule and format for you to provide updates (“I suggest that I send you a weekly email where I outline what has been completed, what is in progress, and what I will do next. Would you like to try this and see if it works for you?”).
- First, assume that the instructor has good intentions. They may know relevant information that you don’t, and they may be operating with the bigger picture of the course or the department in mind.
- Do not indicate disagreement or otherwise question the instructor in front of students.
- In private, ask for reasoning: “Can you help me understand how you made this decision?”
- If the decision relates to student support, share your perspective using student-centered language and citing student feedback. For example: “I’m worried that the students may find this rubric too vague. On the previous assignment, it seemed like many of them didn’t understand what we meant by this. Is there a way to reword it that gets the point across more clearly?”
- Consider where your disagreement is coming from. You may have a specific experience that is influencing your opinion, or your teaching approach may be different from your instructor. Understanding the source of your disagreement will help you talk constructively with your instructor.
- Accept that ultimately, the instructor makes the final decision about policies in the course, including whether they’ll accept late work, offer extra credit, etc. You are responsible for supporting the policies and decisions made by the instructor. Remember that instructors need to enact these policies every semester and consistency is important.
- Ask your graduate program coordinator for advice. They may also be able to direct you to someone in your school/college who specializes in supporting graduate students or discussing difficult teaching situations.
- Make notes of what is happening and when (e.g., dates, times, whether you observed the behavior in class or outside of class) with as much detail as possible.
- Avoid handling serious issues alone. You are not expected to manage misconduct, ethical violations, or safety concerns on your own. For additional resources, visit Get additional support.
- Consult with a fellow TA or trusted colleague, without sharing confidential student information.
- Seek assistance from UHS if the situation is affecting your mental health. You cannot support your students if you aren’t being supported.
- Document how much time certain tasks are taking you and compare to your weekly hourly total, based on your appointment level.
- Share any discrepancies between these numbers that you discover and work with the instructor to brainstorm a creative solution. They should be able to help you prioritize tasks or find more efficient ways to get things done. It may be that you are providing much more feedback than the instructor expects, for example, or that you are being generous with extra appointments for students who cannot attend your regular office hours. Assume positive intentions from your instructor.
- Share deadlines and obligations in your other roles (e.g. your research and coursework) so the instructor knows when you will be busy.
- If the above strategies are not successful, reach out to the resources below for additional support.
Get additional support
Sometimes, issues with instructors can persist or escalate even when you have made reasonable efforts to address the issue. There is an academic support network available to help you – reach out!
If you are employed in a different department than the one in which you’re pursuing a degree, contact individuals in the department that employs you as a TA.
If you aren’t sure who to contact, start with one of the following:
- The Department’s Director of Graduate Studies or Graduate Program Coordinator. This role exists in almost every program and is prepared to handle TA issues.
- The Department Chair
- Dean’s Office of your College
- The Graduate School