The letter acknowledges that the CUE guide scores may be due to unusual circumstances but offers some specific suggestions on where TFs can get teaching advice. Talking to the course-head and meeting with Bok Center staff are two of the usual courses that TFs take.

If a TF receives a low score for a second semester in a row, the CUE may prohibit the TF from further teaching. In extreme cases, according to Todd, the TF can be removed during the middle of a semester, but it is a rare occurrence.

Sending TFs Back to School

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While it may seem that everyone and their roommate complains about "bad" TFs, the reality is that very few TFs receive the minimum CUE guide score of 3.0. Last semester, 37 TFs , out of over 1000, received letters advising them to seek help with their teaching.

This number is slightly higher than previous years, according to Wilkinson because the expected standards of teaching were raised this year. Previously, the minimum score for TFs was 2.8, and because fewer and fewer people were getting such low scores, the CUE decided to up the ante.

Wilkinson attributes the increased quality of teaching to the pre-semester training that is now mandatory, and praises Harvard for this step.

"It sets Harvard apart from other research universities," he says. "We're on the cutting edge in terms of teaching."

Even if 37 seems high, numbers can be deceiving, and Almadjen says that because the system is not perfect, 37 is not necessarily significant.