BYU GSCM Students can apply to be a Teaching Assistant for
GSCM 200 Intro to Global Supply Chain Management
and GSCM 300 Operations Management

This is a great opportunity for undergraduate GSCM students – great experience, great pay, and great for your resume!

GSCM 200 is a hybrid first-block course that meets one day per week, usually in a TA-led Lab.  The rest of the course content is online, including reading assessments, videos, and quizzes.

There will be two TAs assigned to each section of GSCM 200.  TA responsibilities include:

  • Meet with other TAs in a weekly inservice meeting to discuss course material, lab effectiveness, and other course issues.
  • Conduct the lab sections, reviewing material from book chapters (listed below)
  • Help with setting up and checking MyOMLab assignments and quizzes.
  • Manage online assignments through MyOMLab, including help students having trouble with MyOMLab.
  • Manage the course Canvas website, including posting needed announcements.  Canvas is a replacement for LearningSuite that does what LearningSuite does, only better
  • Answer student questions/emails in a timely manner.
  • Help grade project papers based on a grading rubric provided by the instructor.
  • Prepare for and conduct exam reviews sessions.
  • Hold weekly office hours in the TA lab.

TAs will be supervised by a faculty member.  The faculty member will take care of the following:

  • preparing the syllabus
  • setting up Canvas
  • preparing exams (in the Testing Center)
  • determining final grades

Topics from the Foster textbook typically covered in GSCM 200 (giving students a high-level orientation to GSCM):

  • Chapter 1: Introduction to supply chain and operations management
  • Chapter 2: Supply chain and operations strategy
  • Chapter 6: Strategic Sourcing
  • Chapter 7: Supplier Management
  • Chapter 11: Logistics
  • Chapter 13: Supply Chain Quality management

Qualifications and Pay:

  • Must have successfully completed GSCM Core courses: Operations, Sourcing, Logistics, and Quality.
  • Must be able and willing to lead a lab discussion each week.
  • TAs are hired in December and are non-teaching apprentices Winter semester ($10 per hour, 3-4 hours per week).  This allows TAs to observe lab instruction and offer improvement ideas while preparing to personally teach the content.
  • TAs must then be available to teach the next Fall and Winter semesters ($13 per hour, about 4 hours per week per section).  It is good if each TA can instruct at least two sections.
  • Most GSCM 200 TAs will be TAs for GSCM 300 during the second block.

Second block TA for GSCM 300:

  • The second-block course, GSCM 300 (Operations Management), is required for all non-GSCM undergraduate students in the Marriott School.
  • The TAs will not lead GSCM 300 lab sections other than two exam review sessions.
  • TAs will attend assigned sections of GSCM 300 and take roll, record student participation, and assist with class activities.
  • Topics from the Foster textbook covered in GSCM 300 typically include (showing analytical methods that are included):
    • Chapter 3: Product and process design and mapping (assembly line balancing)
    • Chapter 4: Service Design (queuing theory)
    • Chapter 8: Demand management and forecasting (forecasting)
    • Chapter 9: Inventory management (inventory theory)
    • Chapter 12: Project management (CPM)
    • Chapter 14: Statistical process control
  • GSCM 300 also has a class team project paper that needs to be graded using an rubric provided by the instructor.
  • We continue with weekly TA meetings during the second half of the semester.

To apply to be a GSCM 200/300 TA:

Comments from prior GSCM 200/300 TAs:

  • “Being involved with the Supply Chain department as a TA has been a great experience. I’ve developed a passion for teaching and have mastered the basics of supply chain. It’s a unique opportunity to share the major you love with people considering majoring in it.” -Renae F. Rockwood
  • “I highly value my experience as an Introductory TA. While I’ve considered opportunities for mid-semester internships, this gives me additional time/exposure to master the course content. The time spent with the faculty covering the courses is the best!” -Doug Westwood