The department also has an open classroom program that facilitates and encourages TAs to visit other TAs' classrooms. Such visits not only allow TAs to observe different teaching styles, but also ease the transition to a higher level teaching assignment. For more senior TAs with academic career plans, the department regularly offers a course on how to design a course, covering topics such as choosing a textbook, establishing course policies, etc. Dr. R. Saerens, Assistant to the Head, is in charge of providing and coordinating these various programs. Lecturers for whom TAs conduct recitation or other members of the department visit graduate instructors' classrooms at least once a semester to give them feedback and advice.
All instructors administer teaching evaluations toward the end of each semester.
Both the classroom visit reports and the evaluations are used by Dr. Saerens to evaluate each TA's performance and progress in teaching and to determine a suitable assignment for the next semester. TAs receive at the end of each semester a letter evaluating their teaching performance and progress and outlining the department's expectations. A TA who has performed satisfactorily during the year also has the option of teaching or grading in the summer. First year students in the Ph.D. program who are studying for the Ph.D. Qualifying Exams are given a grading assignment in the summer if they want one. Other TAs may be given a teaching assignment commensurate with their abilities and experience.