UTA Program
Applications for Spring 2026 are now open. We will be reaching out to prospective hires during the months of November and December.
Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs) play a key role in supporting students by co-leading undergraduate lab and discussion sections. This experience allows UTAs to deepen their chemistry knowledge and enhance communication skills, while students benefit from the valuable near-peer teaching and mentorship.
The potential list of courses that will be using UTAs in Spring 2026 are:
- CHEM-C 103 INTRO TO CHEMICAL PRINCIPLES
- CHEM-C 117 PRINC OF CHEM & BIOCHEM I
- CHEM-C/J/H 341 PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIC CHEM I
- CHEM-C/J/H 342 ORGANIC CHEMISTRY LECTURES 2
- CHEM-C 383 HUMAN BIOCHEMISTRY
- CHEM-C 483 BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
- CHEM-C 484 BIOMOLECULES AND CATABOLISM
- Other courses may be added once we have more information on the teaching needs for Spring '26.
Description of UTA Program and Duties
After prior mentorship as undergraduate teaching interns enrolled in CHEM‐X371, students may apply to be hired as hourly Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs) at a rate of $15/hour and following all guidelines outlined by Indiana University. UTAs, having been trained as UTINs previously will be responsible for leading discussion or lab sections with continuing guidance from the instructor and other Associate Instructor(s), i.e., AIs, for the course.
We will follow Indiana University policy with regard to duties and responsibilities asked of UTAs.
Tasks may include:
- Attend lecture and/or discussion to assist in active learning activities.
- Attend weekly AI/UTA meeting with course instructor.
- Attend laboratory report writing sessions and assist undergraduates in this work.
- Complete pre-lecture reading/assignments.
- Assist with or lead laboratory sections (a highly selective position).
- Assist with or lead office hours and discussion sections.
All UTAs will be required to complete FERPA and Title IX online training through our Chem-UTA Canvas site. To be clear, UTAs will not enroll in CHEM-X371 but rather will be added to the Canvas roster in order to complete and document the aforementioned FERPA and Title IX training.
Any UTA assigned to work in a laboratory will be required to complete standard AI lab safety training.
Duties for UTAs will not include:
- Grading of any subjective component of the course.
- Assigning grades.
UTAs will be evaluated continually to ensure they meet or exceed the standard of excellence in teaching that we expect of our graduate student AIs.