The department has organized an "afternoon of general orientation and preparation for first-time teaching fellows in the department with some faculty present and also other teaching fellows who have had a lot of experience as TFs already," says chair Irene J. Winter.

The English department will use two "master teachers," experienced lecturers who will work with new TFs throughout the semester.

"In addition to expecting lecturers to closely monitor their TFs, we have two very senior lecturers who are to work closely with beginning teachers," says chair Leo Damrosch.

Buell, who had originally pushed for a more stringent University-wide training requirement, says he is satisfied with the progress the departments are making.

"I am optimistic that the plan will improve TF training and orientation significantly FAS-wide," he says.

Departments like Near Eastern languages and civilizations, for instance, didn't even have a TF training requirement before the new guidelines. Many required only an initial training session for first-year TFs.

"I think it's a good start," says David Porter, the treasurer of the Graduate Student Council. "I think it'll end up being effective because just by the faculty giving more attention to teaching grad students how to teach, that will improve the quality of teaching."

Not Enough

But both Buell and Director of the Bok Center for Teaching and Learning James D. Wilkinson '65 say that just relying on Bok Center orientation training is probably not enough.

"I think that there needs also to be more extensive preparations for the specific tasks that will be required of the teaching fellows in his or her field," Buell says. "There needs to be training and feedback over a longer period of time than just a one or two day orientation."

Wilkinson suggests the full-semester apprenticeship program in the math department as a good example of a successful training program.

"Teaching fellows observe classes taught by experienced teaching fellows and get an opportunity to practice teaching in this semester before they themselves teach," Wilkinson says.

Many new plans don't go as far as the math department, however, and some advocates for improved TF training say the individual departments' initiatives are not enough to guarantee good teaching.

The proposal that the Faculty Council passed "is just the beginning," says Joseph S. Evangelista '96, who drafted an Undergraduate Council proposal last year for common evaluation guidelines for all section leaders. "It is a method to start, not a solution to end all solutions."

Some graduate students may agree with the undergraduates' criticisms.