Faculty

The learning assistant (LA) position at Concordia University was developed by the Library and Academic Support Services in collaboration with academic departments and academic leadership in order to bring peer tutors in during designated class times. LAs work with instructors directly to provide students with additional academic support in introductory and general education courses. This page is intended for faculty interested in learning about the position.

Learning assistants are peer tutors that work with a faculty member to assist students during designated class times. They provide individualized attention and assistance to students during active learning opportunities by answering questions, facilitating discussion, and helping students understand course material. Learning assistants are hired on a term-by-term basis.

Learning assistants are designated as student employees in the Library and Academic Support Services department and under the direct supervision of the Tutoring Manager. Although learning assistants work primarily with instructors, they report to the Library and Academic Support Services department, which handles their hiring, orientation, assignment, training, and termination.

The learning assistant model is designed to have LAs embedded into all sections of a course. In order for the LA model to be effective in a class, learning assistants need to be included meaningfully in the course. If the course has previously never had a learning assistant, or if an instructor has never previously had an LA in their class, then the faculty or instructor will need to set up a meeting with the tutoring manager. Additionally, faculty may be asked to work with the Curriculum and Instruction Center (C&I Center) to redesign or update their course curriculum to ensure LAs are embedded in the course in a sustainable way. 

Students are required to spend at least one semester as a peer subject tutor before they can become a learning assistant. After that semester, the Tutoring Manager will determine if the tutor is eligible to serve as a learning assistant based on their performance as a tutor and attendance and communication during additional training opportunities. Although faculty cannot hire learning assistants directly, they can refer and recommend a student become a peer tutor using the Faculty Recommendation Form. They can also request that a specific tutor be a learning assistant for their course.

Learning assistants must maintain at least 6 hours of tutoring availability per week outside of their learning assistant position. These times are available for students to reserve for one-on-one or small group tutoring sessions. These hours can be shared with faculty and students if requested, so students in the class know when they can seek additional help from their LA outside the classroom. Learning assistants will be paid for their time in the classroom, any prep time needed with the instructor, and for any tutoring sessions outside class.

Since student schedules are subject to change up to and during the first week of classes, learning assistants are asked to start the second full week of classes.

The responsibilities of a learning assistant may vary depending on department, class, and instructor. The responsibilities of LAs must be approved prior to the start of the semester by the Tutoring Manager.

Here is a list of possible responsibilities a learning assistant may be asked to do by an instructor:

• Come to class(es) an average of 1 hour per week.
• Walk around the classroom and help students one-on-one or in small groups.
• Assist a student or group of students during a class period.
• Facilitate a group discussion or activity.
• Meet with the instructor at the beginning of the week to talk about what course material will be covered in class that week or catch learning assistants up with what was covered the week before.
• Meet with students after class to answer any questions about course content or questions about a course assignment or problem set.
• Hold an exam study session.

Since learning assistants are student employees and not teaching assistants, they cannot be asked to undertake the responsibilities of the instructor of the course. This means that learning assistants cannot be asked to do the following tasks:

• Lecture a course
• Grade assignments
• Hold a discussion section
• Proctor exams
• Add course content to D2L
• Work in a classroom unattended or without supervision

Additionally, the Library and Academic Support Services department can only pay LAs for time directly interacting with students or collaborating with instructors to help students. LAs cannot be paid for time spent emailing students, responding to students on Slack, or checking the work of students that are not present for class or a tutoring session.

There are a few practices that instructors can undertake to maintain the partnership between department faculty and the Library and Academic Support Services department. These include:

• Notifying the tutoring manager of your need for learning assistants (# of learning assistants, # of sections taught) before a new semester begins.
• Encouraging students interested in becoming a learning assistant to apply to be a peer tutor using the employment application.
• Filling out the Faculty Recommendation Form for students interested in becoming a tutor.
• Sending the tutoring manager a brief description of the tasks learning assistants are asked to do in a classroom along with an approximation of the amount of time per week learning assistants are utilized.
• Establishing a regular schedule for learning assistants each week.
• Asking learning assistants if they need any additional prep time outside their scheduled class time.
• Informing learning assistants about what they will be asked to do during a given class period.
• Introducing the learning assistant to the class and letting students know about their available tutoring times outside the classroom.
• Informing the tutoring manager of any issues they are having with a learning assistant or if they would like a learning assistant warned or terminated (it’s not recommended that faculty undertake these actions themselves).

In agreeing to bring a learning assistant into the classroom, instructors agree to have them during a designated class time at least once a week for the duration of the semester. At this time, faculty who request a learning assistant are limited to 1 learning assistant per section of the course being taught. If changes need to be made at any point in the semester, please email the tutoring manager to discuss.

Faculty who are interested in having a learning assistant come and work for a particular course are encouraged to email the tutoring manager at least two weeks before the start of the new school year or 1 month before Spring Semester begins. If the instructor is new, or the course is new, faculty will need to set up a meeting with the tutoring manager before learning assistants can be assigned to a section of the class.

Once a course has been approved to include learning assistants, the tutoring manager will request some additional information about the class for the upcoming semester. These include:

• The number of sections of that course that will taught.
• The name(s) of instructor(s) or faculty that will be using an LA.
• About how many learning assistants would be needed for the semester.
• Approximately how many hours per week a learning assistant would need to work for the course.
• A short description of tasks or duties that a learning assistant will be asked to help with throughout the semester.
• The name of any tutors they’d prefer having in the course.

Before the start of a new semester, the tutoring manager will reach out to instructors with a list of names of tutors eligible to be learning assistants for the course and the class time(s) they are available for. Faculty can then select the tutors they’d prefer as LAs for the course or section time. Once the schedule is set for the semester, the Tutoring Manager will give the okay to instructors to email their learning assistants and schedule them to come into their classroom.