Please read the information below before completing the form to understand the guidelines for readers and the basis on which requests are evaluated.
Current practices regarding readers in courses (see Appendix B, Faculty Code) are as follows:
A faculty member may request a reader if either (a) the number of students in a single course is 50 or greater, in which case a reader may be assigned for that course; or (b) the faculty member's total student enrollment in all courses for the semester is 100 or more, in which case a reader may be assigned to the largest course. Readers are not generally granted for team-taught courses.
A reader is expected to assist with the grading of three large items (e.g., midterm, final examination, and paper) or the equivalent for each student in the course and normally must attend the lectures in the course.
A reader cannot be an undergraduate at a Five College institution or a member of the faculty member's immediate family. If the proposed reader is an employee of Smith College, there may be limits to the number of hours the individual is authorized to work each week as a Reader. Particularly if the proposed reader is employed full-time, the authorization to work as a reader may not be possible.
Starting January 2025, Readers (excluding UMass graduate students) will be paid Readers/Graders should be appointed for a period of 13 weeks. We expect that a course with 50 students would require 3 hrs/week and a course with 100 students would require 5 hrs/week. This should scale linearly. The pay rate should be set to an amount equal to a UMass TA, Spring rates $36.67/hour. Please note that payroll for readers will be processed after final enrollment figures are verified. These rates are for 4-credit courses and will be prorated for courses with fewer than four credits. UMass graduate students are paid the minimum hourly rate set by the University.
Contact Rachel Siegel (rsiegel@smith.edu) in the Office of the Provost/Dean of the Faculty for more information. For UMass graduate student readers, contact Rachel Siegel (rsiegel@smith.edu).