Graduate Assistant Cover Letter Example

As a third-year PhD student in sociology, I've taught my own discussion sections for Introduction to Sociology for four semesters, currently leading two sections of 22 students each under a faculty member's large lecture course. I'm applying for the Graduate Assistant opening in your department because the position combines a methods-course TA role with your department's undergraduate research mentoring program, a combination that matches exactly what I want to keep developing.

My section evaluation scores have averaged 4.5 out of 5.0 across four semesters, and the pass rate on the course's statistics module rose from 71% to 89% in the two semesters after I introduced weekly problem-solving workshops ahead of each exam. I've also co-authored one peer-reviewed article with my advisor and presented research at two regional conferences during my assistantship.

I hold a graduate certificate in college teaching and have completed our university's TA training institute, and I hold weekly office hours that regularly draw 8 to 10 students rather than the one or two typical for a discussion section leader. I'm comfortable grading to a shared rubric across multiple TAs to keep evaluation consistent, and I've trained two newer TAs on our department's grading calibration process.

I would welcome the opportunity to bring that same teaching consistency to your department and to talk with you about which course or research mentoring role I'd support first. I'm glad to share my teaching evaluations or a sample workshop I've run. Thank you for considering my application.