GTAs and Student Wellbeing and Support: Focus Group Invitation

Deadline: 1 August 2022

We understand from departments that Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) may be being approached for support by students in need or distress, or encountering them unexpectedly in the routine course of your teaching, even as you are strictly speaking not supposed to be offering wellbeing support to students. Not only is this increasing GTA workload, the nature of the support needed often carries a psychological burden, even when you are able to successfully signpost the students to more senior colleagues. 

In response, the Open Door and Academic Practice teams are inviting participants to join us for a focus group to discuss the issue. The intention is to use information from this conversation to consider revising guidance and resources on supporting students and inform our GTA training. 

Further information on the project is available in the information and consent materials. The focus group will be based on a discussion of case studies on the kind of issues we are aware GTAs have been encountering, which are included in the materials.

If you are interested in participating, please complete this expression of interest form by 1 August 2022.

We are aiming to run the focus group mid August. Suggested times are included in the expression of interest form.

If you have any questions on the focus group, please email academic-practice@york.ac.uk.

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