A conflict of interest occurs when what you’d want as a TA and what you’d want personally are not the same. From a legal perspective, the reasonable assumption of a conflict of interest is generally as important as your actual interests.
There is one overriding rule when a conflict of interest arises:
Inform your supervisor of the conflict of interest, and abide by any decision they make.
The following conflicts of interest arise often enough that every TA should be aware of them all.
There are various groups you might want to help, such as
In general, it is reasonable to expect you will want to help them more than their fair share or give then better grades than they earned. Because of that, you might try to compensate by being inappropriately harsh with them. Both reactions create a conflict of interest.
Some of these cases are known in advance due to preexisting relationships. Your supervisor must be told about those.
Tell your supervisor who in the class you know and like.
Others develop as the course progresses and you get to know students. General learning to like students in the classroom does not need to be reported, but if it grows into friendship that extends outside of class, let your supervisor know.
There are various groups you might not want to help, such as
In general, it is reasonable to expect you will want to help them less than their fair share or give then worse grades than they earned. Because of that, you might try to compensate by being inappropriately nice to them. Both reactions create a conflict of interest.
Some of these cases are known in advance due to preexisting relationships. Your supervisor must be told about those.
Tell your supervisor who in the class you know and dislike.
Others develop as the course progresses and you get to know students. In particular, some students can be quite annoying. General learning to dislike students in the classroom does not need to be reported, but if it grows into feelings of hate or antagonism, let your supervisor know.
Also note that there is a tendency to want to commiserate with other course staff over annoying students. If you do this, avoid attributing blame to the student; X is so annoying
is not OK; I have a hard time relating with X
is OK; and I don’t seem to be communicating well with X; any suggestions?
is good.
Paid private tutoring is almost always a conflict of interest when you are a TA. In essence, it is selling something that is no your to sell: your special knowledge and special status as a TA, value created by the instructor of the course. Never accept money, gifts, or the like for additional help without prior approval by your supervisor.
Get supervisor permission before tutoring for the class you TA.
Not that instructors sometimes make tutoring decisions based on extra information about specific students’ situations. Don’t assume that permission to tutor one student means you can tutor others too.
Also, even if you receive permission to tutor, you don’t have permission to use class resources to advertise your tutoring.
By romance I mean the love of my life
, the lust of the moment
, and everything in between.
This is tricky territory. You can leave emotional scars that will last a lifetime if you act inappropriately. You can go to prison if you appear to act inappropriately.
Tell your supervisor every student you are now or have previously been romantically involved with.
There are no allowable exceptions to that rule. In almost all cases, your supervisor will ask you to refrain from interacting with those students as a TA; there may also be additional recommendations given.
You and your students are likely in the same social circles, so you might find yourself meeting them socially or finding yourself attracted to them.
If you want to initiate a romantic relationship with a student in your class, wait for the class to end.
Wait. No, really, wait. If they are really your soul-mate, they’ll still be your soul-mate at the end of the term.
If you lack the willpower to wait or fear the competition will get there first, talk to the teacher of the TA training course and we’ll see what we can do. It is almost impossible to enter a relationship with a student because of the implication of someone with power seeking sexual favors,
but there are some rather involved options that involve breaking the power relationship first; we can work together to find a way to move forward.
They may not hear what you meant.
Part of being professional is creating a space conducive to professional thought. In all professional interactions, including as a TA, the hearer’s understanding of what you said matters more than your intent. Innuendo, intended or not, can undermine the professional atmosphere.
One place this comes up is in the line between being complimentary and being forward. This line is culturally defined, and students enter the classroom from many different cultures. Assume that any comment on the attractiveness of the face, figure, grooming, or attire of any person will be seen by someone as a sexual remark. You and the person you address might both hear it as a compliment or joke, but someone else might overhear it as flirting or negging. We recommend you steer clear of this whole topic.
Another example is the line between sharing about yourself and trying to make others see you as a sexual creature. Don’t talk about or allude to the sexual activities, desires, or attractiveness of yourself or others, even in a legitimate reply to what did you do last night?
from a friend. You and the person you address might both hear it as a compliment or joke, but someone else might overhear it in a different light. If you need to share these things, do it when off the clock and with people who will hear them in the way you intend them.