Teaching Fellowships and Teaching Assistantships

Teaching fellows serve as section leaders and tutors under the supervision of faculty members; these faculty members serve as heads of instruction for their courses and hold ultimate responsibility for all aspects of the course, including grading. Teaching fellow appointments are reserved exclusively for individuals registered in a program of the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) or an advanced degree program at another Harvard School, with the exception of those enrolled at the Division of Continuing Education (DCE). Undergraduates may not serve as a teaching fellows.

Teaching assistants engage in the same kinds of supervised instruction as teaching fellows but are not eligible for teaching fellow appointments or for membership in the HGSU-UAW. I.e., they are individuals who are not enrolled at Harvard, or they are students enrolled in the Division of Continuing Education, or they are students in Harvard non-degree programs outside of GSAS. Ordinarily, teaching assistants will have received at least the AB before the appointment begins. TAs may or may not hold a doctorate.

For more information on TFs and TAs

Experiential Learning including Internships

Experiential learning (EL) is a broad category representing opportunities such as volunteering, shadowing, externships, internships and intern-to-hire roles that our graduate students may pursue.  The Office for Graduate Education (OGE) at Harvard Medical School (HMS), through the Career Navigator Team, provides support for HMS master’s and HILS doctoral students pursuing EL opportunities. 

Successfully completing an EL opportunity occurs through 3 phases.  First, students should ensure their eligilbility to complete EL including internships and determine whether and when an EL opportunity is right for them.  Students should discuss eligilbility and feasibility with the appropriate academic advisors as defined by their programs.  Student should schedule an appointment with a career advisor to discuss alignment, goals, search and applications.   Second, students should complete and get signatures for all necessary forms and then complete the EL Application and EL Placement Record on Career Launchpad.  Third, students complete their EL experience while concurrently registered for an approved internship course.  At the end of the EL experience, students should complete the internship course evaluations and Career Launchpad EL Evaluations.  Students are encouraged to share their experiences with their peers.

For full details for each step are available here.