Today, one of my FSU professors asked if I would like to mentor Theory of Computation in the fall. For those of you that aren't familiar with the FSU mentor program, they are sort of like teaching assistants in that they grade papers, help students understand the material being taught by the professor, and to detect, report and discuss any significant class issues with the professor. Even though I think I will need to reduce my class load to accommodate this opportunity, I think it’s probably worth it because it will give me some experience that will help build my credentials for future teaching jobs. Does anyone disagree that this will help build my C.V.? If you do, can you explain why?
To me this sounds like a good opportunity. Do a good job and it could result in many benefits. Good luck. Jack
Yes, It should help to beef up the CV, but be carefull these things can sometime take more time out of your schedule than you planned. (i.e., everything gets dumped on you.) Make sure you know what is expected of you.
Jack -- Thanks for the encouragement. I think its a good opportunity as well. In fact one that I couldn't pass up even though it slows my progress towards my MS. edowave -- Thanks for the advice. At this point it looks like the class will have 25 students and I will have to grade about 8-10 homework assignments for each student over the semester. This is why I decided to reduce my course load from two graduate courses to one so I have the time necessary to fulfill my responsibilities. If everything goes well, I may want to voluteer to mentor another semester after the Fall because many mentors have been dropped after one semester because they didn't meet their responsibilities. (Sometimes they were dropped sooner than that.) So if I do a good job and am asked to do it again I think that might say something. The only regret that I have is that this slows down my progress towards finishing my MS. I don't plan on pursuing teaching assignments until after I retire from industry so any benefit I might get from being a mentor or teaching assistant might not be realized for some time. (I'm 44 and don't plan on retireing until I'm at least 60) But all in all, I think its an opportunity that I can't pass up.
Jack -- Thanks for the encouragement. I think its a good opportunity as well. In fact one that I couldn't pass up even though it slows my progress towards my MS. edowave -- Thanks for the advice. At this point it looks like the class will have 25 students and I will have to grade about 8-10 homework assignments for each student over the semester. This is why I decided to reduce my course load from two graduate courses to one so I have the time necessary to fulfill my responsibilities. If everything goes well, I may want to voluteer to mentor another semester after the Fall because many mentors have been dropped after one semester because they didn't meet their responsibilities. (Sometimes they were dropped sooner than that.) So if I do a good job and am asked to do it again I think that might say something. The only regret that I have is that this slows down my progress towards finishing my MS. I don't plan on pursuing teaching assignments until after I retire from industry so any benefit I might get from being a mentor or teaching assistant might not be realized for some time. (I'm 44 and don't plan on retireing until I'm at least 60) But all in all, I think its an opportunity that I can't pass up.
