How will the campaign impact King's students?
1. Graduate Teaching Assistants will be properly trained and paid for their work. Improvements to GTA working conditions will mean that Graduate Students who teach will benefit from quality professional development, gaining transferable skills for their future careers.Proper training and adequate compensation will drastically improve the wellbeing of Graduate Students who teach, with their contributions to academic life recognised.
This will also open up teaching oppurtunities for Part-Time and self-funded PGR students. Other forms of employment are able to provide living wages and/ or professional skills development which the GTA package currently lacks.pBetter pay and training, and ensuring that all Graduate Students who teach are employed in-house, will be an important step toward resisting the commercialisation of the university and prioritising the needs of the community of learners and teachers above profit.
These changes to the College's GTA policy will produce GTAs who's training reflects the high standard of King's College London and who are treated with the dignity that they deserve as professional teachers and experts in thier field.
2. Fair compensation and proper training for GTAs will result in a significant increase in the quality of education received by their undergraduate students. As it stands, GTAs have to choose between preparing and marking work thoroughly or sticking to the time that their pay allows. GTA working conditions impact directly in undergraduate learning conditions.
Which students at King's will the campaign impact?
All postgraduate students who are GTAs or are considering becoming a GTA. All students who are taught by GTAs.
Who should support the campaign?
KCLSU