CAREERS

Graduate Teaching Assistant, English for Academic Purposes

UBC Vantage College invites applications for up to 9-10, full-time Graduate Teaching Assistant positions in the 2021/2022 academic year to assist with academic English courses in Vantage College’s Arts, Science, and Engineering Programs.

UBC Vantage College offers first-year curriculum in a cohort program to academically strong international multilingual students whose English language proficiency does not yet meet the English language requirements for direct admission into UBC degrees. Students take courses in one of the Vantage One programs (Arts, Science, or Engineering) before transferring into second year in their degree program. The primary goals of the Vantage One curriculum are: (1) to encourage students’ cultural, linguistic, and academic engagement in disciplinary communities and (2) to maximize students’ successful transition to Year Two in the Faculties of Arts, Science, or Applied Science. For more information about the Vantage One programs, please see https://vantagecollege.ubc.ca/

The Vantage One programs are hiring up to the equivalent of  9-10, full-time Graduate Teaching Assistants. These programs include specific courses focused on academic English language and literacy development, such as LLED 200 (Introduction to Writing in Academic and Professional Registers), LLED 201 (Critical Reading and Writing in Academic and Professional Registers), and VANT 140 (Content and Language Enrichment Tutorials). These courses are developed and taught in close coordination with the other courses in the program; for example, VANT 140 in the Vantage One Arts program focuses on academic English specific to the Arts courses taught in that program (Political Science/Psychology/Sociology).

The Teaching Assistant positions will involve up to 192 hours in Winter terms 1 and 2 of the 2021-2022 academic year and are subject to final budgetary approval. Each course section is allocated 32 hours of GTA support. Therefore, a full GTAship would involve assisting in multiple course sections.

Duties

The Graduate Teaching Assistant supports the academic English instructors with teaching, assessment and feedback, as well as coordination, with an emphasis on qualitative feedback, tutoring and marking. Duties may include attending regular program/course meetings/classes, holding office hours, providing student feedback where applicable, conducting research to support materials design, attending mandatory training sessions and marking/collaborating in assignment and exam design, as well as potentially designing and facilitating study skills workshops with students (e.g., library skills).

Qualifications

Graduate Teaching Assistants must be registered as full-time graduate students at UBC and must have experience teaching and/or tutoring English language learners for academic purposes. Formal training and teaching in TESOL or Applied Linguistics is an asset. The academic English courses at Vantage College are informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics and genre-based pedagogies; therefore, while prior knowledge in these areas is not required, depending on the assigned duties, applicants may be expected to have an interest in familiarizing themselves with the theoretical and pedagogical approaches used in the courses they support.

In addition, familiarity and prior experience with any or a combination of the following disciplines is also an asset for applicants interested in serving as GTA for the VANT 140 courses:

• Political Science, Psychology, or Sociology (For VANT 140 Arts)
• Chemistry, Physics, Math, Computer Science or Earth and Oceans Sciences (For VANT 140 Science)
• Matter and Energy, Electricity, Magnetism and Waves, Sustainability, Computer Programming or Engineering Design (For VANT 140 Engineering)

Application instructions

The following application materials must be sent (as separate Word or .pdf files, using this file-naming convention: LASTNAME, Firstname_Application Form; LASTNAME, Firstname_CV; etc.) by email with the subject heading “Graduate Teaching Assistant – English for Academic Purposes, Vantage College” to the following address: employment@vantagecollege.ubc.ca. Review of applications will begin on May 1st. Applications will continue to be accepted until the positions have been filled.  

All Applicants are required to include the following in their application package:

(1) a completed Vantage College EAP Courses GTA Application Form (Download the EAP Course GTA Application form)
(2) curriculum vitae, including a list of all teaching-related activities,

(3) evidence of teaching effectiveness (e.g. teaching evaluations), if available

For questions about this position, please contact the Director of our Academic English Program, Dr. Sandra Zappa-Hollman: sandra.zappa@ubc.ca  

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Métis, Inuit, or Indigenous person. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians citizens and permanent residents will be given priority.

UBC Vantage College invites applications for 2 Teaching Assistant positions in the Summer Term (May – July 2020) in the Vantage One Arts program, to assist in the teaching of a unique, coordinated, multi-sectioned research methods course culminating in student-led conference at UBC -- VANT 149: Multidisciplinary Research Projects.

UBC Vantage College offers first-year curriculum in a cohort program to academically strong international students whose English language proficiency does not yet meet the English language requirements for direct admission into UBC degrees.

Students take courses in one of Vantage College’s three streams (Arts, Science, or Engineering) before transferring into second year in their degree program.

The primary goals of the Vantage College curriculum are:

(1) to encourage students’ cultural, linguistic, and academic engagement in disciplinary communities and

(2) to maximize students’ successful transition to Year Two in the Faculties of Arts, Science, or Applied Science.

For more information about the Vantage One Arts program, please see https://vantagecollege.ubc.ca/program-overview

Duties:

VANT 149, “Multidisciplinary Research Project,” offers a first-year introduction to designing academic research and to quantitative and qualitative research methods such as conducting surveys and experiments, interviews, analyzing interview and survey data, and doing discourse analysis. The end product of VANT149 is either a poster presentation or a scholarly talk delivered at the student-led Vantage One Capstone Conference.

Duties include providing instructional support to the VANT 149 faculty who teach and mentor groups of approximately 25 students. The successful applicant will be responsible for marking and providing feedback on assignments, will hold regular office hours, will meet with students periodically, and will meet regularly with the course coordinator, who will supervise the Teaching Assistant’s activities. 

Qualifications

Applicants will have an interest in social science research methods and/or multidisciplinary approaches to the teaching of social science, and have experience marking student papers and tutoring undergraduate students. Applicants will have a demonstrated knowledge or qualitative and/or quantitative research methods used in the social sciences and have some experience presenting at conferences (e.g., poster presentations).  Experience working with international students and/or with using the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) to inform their teaching practice will be considered assets.  Applicants must currently be either a senior level (4th year) undergraduate student or enrolled in a graduate program at UBC.

Application instructions

The following application materials must be sent electronically (as separate Word or .pdf files, using this file-naming convention: LASTNAME, Firstname_Cover; LASTNAME, Firstname_CV; etc.) by email to the following address: employment@vantagecollege.ubc.ca no later than noon on Thursday, April 15th, 2021:

(1) a cover letter indicating your suitability for the position and your availability,
(2) curriculum vitae, including a list of all teaching related activities,

(3) evidence of teaching effectiveness (e.g. teaching evaluations) if available

(4) names and contact information of two referees.

For questions about this position, please contact katherine.riddell@ubc.ca

This Undergraduate Teaching Assistant position will involve a total of 192 hours over the Summer Term of the 2019-2020 academic year and is subject to final budgetary approval.

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Métis, Inuit, or Indigenous person. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

UBC Vantage College invites applications for one or more Sessional Lecturer position(s) in Summer (May-July 2021) in the Vantage One Arts program:

2 sections of VANT 149 (2 X 2 cr) to be taught in Summer term 1 (May- July, 2021).

UBC Vantage College offers first-year curriculum in a cohort program to academically strong international students whose English language proficiency does not yet meet the English language requirements for direct admission into UBC degrees.

Students take courses in one of Vantage College’s three streams (Arts, Science, or Engineering) before transferring into second year in their degree program.

The primary goals of the Vantage College curriculum are:
(1) to encourage students’ cultural, linguistic, and academic engagement in disciplinary communities and
(2) to maximize students’ successful transition to Year Two in the Faculties of Arts, Science, or Applied Science.

For more information about the Vantage One Arts program, please see vantagecollege.ubc.ca/arts

Teaching duties

VANT 149, “Multidisciplinary Research Project,” is the course in which students carry out a small individual or group research project leading to the Vantage College Capstone Conference in July, in which they present their research via posters or oral presentations.

Duties include lesson planning, teaching, holding regular office hours, marking assignments, providing feedback, and reporting grades. Successful applicants will work closely with the Chair of the Vantage Arts One Program Committee and other members of the instructional team at UBC Vantage College in a highly collaborative environment.

Qualifications

Applicants will have a doctorate or be doctoral candidates (ABD) in a relevant discipline or field in the Social Sciences or Humanities. Evidence of expertise in social science research methods is required. Evidence of teaching excellence is an asset, as is evidence of experience working in a team.

The ideal candidates will also have:

• experience teaching undergraduate students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and

• experience working in a collaborative environment and/or a positive disposition towards working collaboratively in the design of materials, educational innovation, etc.

Application instructions

The following application materials must be sent electronically (as separate Word or .pdf files, using this file-naming convention: LASTNAME, Firstname_Cover; LASTNAME, Firstname_CV; etc.) by email with the subject heading “Vantage One Arts, Sessional Lecturer- VANT 149” to the following address: employment@vantagecollege.ubc.ca.

Review of applications will begin April 15, 2021.

 (1) a cover letter indicating your suitability for the position and your teaching availability,
(2) curriculum vitae, including a list of all post-secondary courses taught, indicating credit value of each,
(3) evidence of teaching effectiveness, if available, and/or a statement of teaching philosophy,
(4) names and contact information of two referees.

The salary for these Sessional Lecturer positions will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. This position is subject to final budgetary approval.

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Métis, Inuit, or Indigenous person. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.