If, as an instructor, you are not getting the support needed to deliver a high quality course, and (1) expectations have been clearly communicated to teaching assistants, graders, and/or support lecturers and (2) the course is designed to fit within the available support, you should connect with additional support for your course and your instructional team.

PhD student TAs can use sick time or apply for medical leave/family leave/childbirth/adoption. Both sick time and leave are described in article 17 of the ASE contract.

• TAs may use sick time (short-term) by notifying the instructor, and time off use must be recorded and tracked in Workday. For short-term sick leave, the instructor should work with the instructional team to adapt the course, similar to if the instructor were absent (e.g., adjusting timelines, reducing feedback received). If adaptations are not feasible without the instructor taking on other work, the instructor should reach out to the associate chair for educational programs to assess if other resources (e.g., temporary reassignment of another TA, increasing another TA's hours, appointing a short-term grader) can be brought to the course.
  
  UW has a FAQ on time off for student employees, including sick time and personal holidays.
   
• TAs may apply for leave by reaching out to the associate chair for educational programs, the director of academic services, and the department administrator. Leaves in employment may have effects for academic status and vice-versa, so it is important that both HR support (department administrator) and academic support (director of academic services) be engaged. Leaves in academic status, in particular, can affect visa status for international students.

When a TA is experiencing external factors affecting their ability to work, it can be helpful to remind them of these options and the path for using them.

Instructors should reach out to the relevant program director and associate chair for educational programs for support. In the event that an instructor is not receiving needed support in a course they should reiterate expectations to the TA (and note that you will/may need to reach out for support to ensure a high quality class). Then, reach out to the associate chair for educational programs and relevant program director to make them aware of the situation and initiate support. Such support could include: (a) the associate chair or academic services checking in with the TA, (b) increasing another TA's hours or reassigning a TA from an under-enrolled course, and/or (c) hiring a reader/grader on an hourly basis.

When working with a TA is not going well, instructors often seek to see if it is a short term problem or to see if additional conversations or check-ins can turn things around. However, at the pace of a 10-week quarter, that can cause work to build up to a point that it affects student learning and the entire instructional team's wellbeing. Do not wait too long; reach out for support before taking on additional work or reducing the quality of instruction. We can initiate some short-term support in parallel to working to understand how to best engage and support the TA.