The Chemistry Department offers employment opportunities in our general chemistry as well as our upper division courses working as lab assistants and/or graders. Graders are primarily responsible for grading student data report forms that are turned in weekly. Assistants are expected to assist lab instructors by helping students understand experimental procedures, correct poor lab techniques and answer questions.
Benefits of the positions include your increased understanding of chemistry, a chance to improve your communication skills, and to gain a valuable work reference for graduate/professional school or job applications. A fringe benefit is that you do not need a breakage card for a chemistry class you are taking during the semester you assist or grade.
For any student interested in becoming a lab assistant or grader for the fall semester 2008 contact me for more information:
Dr. Batema at 488-2795 or by email: dbatema@evansville.edu
All workers in the department are required to attend an orientation meeting at the beginning of the fall semester. Contact Dr. Batema for details. At this meeting we will discuss safety, job responsibilities and payroll/personnel matters. Sometime before this meeting or shortly thereafter, you should see the instructor for whom you will be working. Introduce yourself, pick up the appropriate lab manual or syllabus, arrange for picking up and returning papers to be graded, and clarify any other job responsibilities.
Your work makes a significant contribution to the chemistry department and we appreciate your willingness to work with us. The instructor for whom you work depends on you to be present, prompt, conscientious and thorough in your work.
If you are a lab assistant you are expected to (1) have read the relevant material and refreshed yourself with the procedures (2) arrive a few minutes early to see if any preparations are necessary before lab begins (3) help students during the lab with questions, proper technique, etc and (4) at the end of the lab see that students clean up their space and that common work areas are also clean. Lab graders are expected to report to Dr. Batema directly. On a weekly basis, usually on Friday, lab data report forms can be picked up, along with a key, so that these materials can be graded. Usually a turn around time of a few days is needed so that the report forms can be returned to students in a timely fashion.
If, for some reason, you can not be present in lab or to grade, it is your responsibility to notify the instructor. If possible, you should make arrangements to secure a substitute from among the other lab assistants/graders. See Dr. Batema for a list of other workers.
Your actual work load may vary from week to week. However, if you begin to average more time OR less time than has been allotted, report this to your supervising instructor so an adjustment can be made.
Chemistry Department Home Page
This page was updated 6/26/06