Sarah Emory, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Elizabeth Wittner, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Research suggests that developing relationships and connections between undergraduates and ITAs can result in enhanced mutual understanding (Kang & Moran, 2015; Kang, Staples, Wittner, 2014). For many ITA practitioners, it is natural to focus on the positive impacts working with undergraduates can have for our students. These benefits may include (but are not limited to) learning more about undergraduate life, discussing undergraduate expectations for TAs, engaging in social and academic conversations, connecting with someone with a different background, discussing cultural differences in the classroom or in general, talking with someone outside their field or to someone who is entering their field, gaining language feedback, and practicing English.

Despite these benefits, depending on how an ITA program is organized and funded, there can be challenges in garnering organizational support to work with undergraduates either through paying them or having the staffing to oversee volunteer programs. Furthermore, recruitment may be challenging when framed to undergrads solely based on the benefits to the graduate students or ITAs.

Through reflecting on how we work with undergraduates who support our ITA programs and conversations with these students, our presentation considered the professional benefits to undergraduates and the positive impact their participation has on our campus communities.

At TESOL, Elizabeth Wittner provided an overview of the VISAS (Volunteers with International Students, Staff, Scholars, and Spouses) program at the University of Virginia. The VISAS program mobilizes over 200 undergraduate volunteers who support more than 340 international students, staff, scholars or spouses via different programs. Overseen by ITA program administrators, undergraduate interns take leadership roles in coordinating program logistics, recruitment, training, and supervision for all of these undergraduate volunteer programs. Volunteers may be selected for any one of the following programs:

1. Language consultant – casual English conversation partners,
2. Teaching consultant – observing and consulting with new ITAs,
3. Student classroom consultant – providing audience and feedback for potential TAs,
4. ESL assistant – supporting ESL learners in the classroom,
5. Workplace ESL assistant – assisting UVA staff members with language, and
6. VISAS Café host – casual group discussion on topics of cultural interest for or all in the campus community.

To work with the program as a volunteer, undergraduates are required to submit an application and go through training. Because of the scope of the VISAS program, it’s an interesting model to consider for ITA programs which are looking to collaborate with other campus entities, like HR. The undergraduates who volunteer in this program note many of the benefits they experience in this VISAS overview video Elizabeth shared during our presentation.

The ITA programming at my institution is part of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, and we employ a small group of undergraduates asCulture and Communication Consultants. We accept rolling applications, with new consultants typically starting at the beginning of a semester. The consultants study a variety of disciplines, and our application process considers if they have had teaching, tutoring, or coaching experience. We are also interested in hearing undergrads describe what they believe makes a good TA and what challenges they think ITAs experience in the classroom.

Culture and Communication Consultantsinteract with the ITAs in multiple ways as part of their role. First, they act as course assistants for ITA-targeted seminars where they participate in pair/small group activities, provide feedback relating to language, cross-cultural communication and teaching skills, share their perspective on what they expect from TAs, and discuss their experiences as undergraduate students. Being a course assistant is required training for new consultants. Second, consultants also work as language partners with ITAs and other graduate students who are working on language skills. Because they attend the ITA training seminar, the consultants are aware of the aspects of communication we are discussing in class. They receive training and feedback on how to ask questions and give their partners feedback. More experienced consultants may also work on projects such as hosting an ITA discussion group, developing a resource website for both other consultants and ITAs, and hosting events like board game nights or campus tours.

As Culture and Communication Consultants, they are expected to be strong communicators, willing to ask questions, and comfortable giving feedback to the students they work with. They manage the logistics of their one-on-one meetings and are expected to submit weekly summaries of their language partner interactions. While they are language partners, the students are not expected to be language experts or tutors. The consultants receive training while taking the seminar and also in 3 semester meetings. However, when working with ITAs, they need to be comfortable sharing when something is unclear or confusing. They do not have to explain to their partner why it is unclear or what is problematic about the other person’s oral communication.

I interviewed several of my consultants and created this Culture and Communication Consultant video for our TESOL presentation. They were asked why their work is important, what they enjoy about working with international TAs and why they believe teaching and learning centers – or ITA programs – should hire undergraduates.

UVA and Harvard integrate undergraduates differently into our programs but found overlapping benefits for undergraduates through their roles supporting ITAs. While not every undergraduate experienced the same benefits, the benefits or professional development undergraduates associated with their roles include:

• Training in giving feedback
• Training in language and cross-cultural awareness support
• Experience as a course assistant, consultant, or in designing special projects
• Experience with material or resource creation (ITA website, resource site for language meetings, handouts, partner activities)
• Exposure to good teaching practices and good learning practices
• Building relationships with graduate students in either their field or a different field
• Learning about different cultures authentically
• Preparing for new career/intern options and paths
• Opportunities to appreciate the TAs’ strengths as scholars and experts without anxiety of a grade
• Community building across campus groups
• Learning and practicing workplace culture and norms
• Gaining an understanding of and value for international TAs

The last part of our session allowed time for attendees to brainstorm and discuss their programs. As ITA programs differ significantly from each other, these conversations encouraged attendees to reflect on their own contexts. The first set of questions targeted programs which were considering working with undergraduates but that did not yet incorporate them into their programming.

1. In your context, how would it benefit your program to have undergrads working with ITAs?
2. How would working with your ITAs help undergrads develop professionally?
3. Are there opportunities for your ITAs to work with undergrads at your university? What are those opportunities?

The longer, second series of questions encouraged attendees to share their programs, to collaboratively workshop new approaches to working with undergrads, and discuss how to frame their programming to target undergraduate professional development.

1. When recruiting undergrads - how do you promote the role as beneficial to their professional development?
2. What are roadblocks you have to working with undergrads?
3. If you do work with undergrads, what is challenging about it? What are potential solutions to these issues?
4. How is the partnership between your ITAs and undergraduates framed and promoted?
5. What type of training have you found benefits your programs?
6. What kind of support do you provide undergraduates as they participate in your programs?
7. Have you encountered any intercultural conflict? How have you handled this?

As universities are looking for broader ways to build dynamic relationships and collaborative interactions for undergraduate and graduate students as well as the larger campus community, our session was designed to look at the mutually beneficial relationships we can foster through

ITA-undergraduate programming.

Special thanks to Pauline Carpenter, my predecessor at the Bok Center, who developed the initial proposal with Elizabeth Wittner and created the framework used for our presentation.

Kang, O., Staples, S., & Wittner, E. (2014). Considering interlocutors in university discourse communities: Impacting U.S. undergraduates’ perceptions of ITAs through a structured contact program. English for Specific Purposes, 35(July), 54–65.

Kang, O., & Moran, M. (2014). Functional loads of pronunciation features in nonnative speakers' oral assessment. TESOL Quarterly, 48, 176–187.

Elizabeth Wittner is the academic director and ITA Program coordinator for the Center for American English Language and Culture at the University of Virginia. She founded the VISAS (Volunteers with International Students, Staff, and Scholars) Program 20 years ago and has watched it grow from 10 students to more than 550 participants, university wide. Her interests include intercultural communication, undergraduate engagement, pragmatic competence, pronunciation, and adult literacy/workplace ESL.