Before the semester starts:

• E-mail instructor@columbia.edu to request class account and bulletin board (and also upgrade your cunix account to an instructor account, if you care)
• E-mail copier@cs.columbia.edu to request copier code
• If you haven't been assigned an electronic classroom, and you want to be able to project slides, show a computer session on the screen, etc., talk to Lenore Hubner in the registrar's office (854-3240) to see if one is available. Possibly need to contact AcIS as well. Everything you need to know about electronic classrooms is at http://www.columbia.edu/acis/classrooms/.
• Choose your textbooks and tell a bookstore to order them. Choose a bookstore (usually one of: Main Columbia B&N Bookstore, Labyrinth, or Morningside). Morningside (when it was still Papyrus) used to give you a 25% discount card if you order through them Don’t forget to request a Desk copy and TA copy/copies. Don’t buy any books! Publishers are generally happy to send you examination/desk copies.
• If you’re going to use the AcIS submit program (/opt/ACISsubmit/bin on cunix), you'll need to configure it with the right accounts and e-mails
• Choose grading scheme and homework lateness policy
• Sketch out full syllabus. Check the academic calendar at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/registrar/cals_academic.html to find school holidays. Also figure out when Jewish Holidays are (assume no Orthodox students will be able to attend on those days). Final exam dates are based on class time and can be determined from http://www.columbia.edu/cu/registrar/exam_master.html
• If necessary, end an e-mail to Betsy Sklar (sklar@cs.columbia.edu) and TA Coordinator (tacoord@cs.columbia.edu) making sure that they assign you TAs. When you have the list, e-mail instructor@columbia.edu and request that their cunix accounts be upgraded to TA accounts.
• Have a TA meeting before class starts, if possible
• See if you can beg, borrow, or steal full materials from an earlier version of the class (do not reuse homework or exam questions)
• Look up equivalent course at other universities to see how they do it (good places to start: CMU, MIT, Stanford)

Typical TA duties:

• Grading homeworks and exams (make sure you give out grading sheets)
• Office hours (typically two per week, held in the CS TA room on the first floor of Mudd)
• Creating and maintaining class web page

TA grading strategies for large classes:

• Assign students to a particular TA (bad: gives uneven grading)
• Have each TA grade a portion of each homework, e.g. questions 1-4 (logistics are tricky, homeworks have to be repeatedly and rapidly shuffled)
• Have each TA grade one or two homeworks for the entire class (best: consistent grading and cheaters likely to be spotted. Make sure Tas know the schedule well ahead of time)

Web pages should include:

• Everyone’s contact info
• Everyone’s office hours
• Syllabus
• Relevant Links
• Grading and lateness policy
• Class location and time
• Books and where to get them
• Homework and reading assignments (preferably linked from syllabus)
• Plagiarism/Cheating statement. Mention that victims of plagiarism are often unwitting: someone asks to look at your homework, then copies it. Burden of proving innocence will be on you.

Look at the web pages of well-established classes for models.

Other stuff:

Slides

This is a good link from a famous presenter: Edward Tufte’s presentation tips

Class List

Cheating

Letting cheating slide devalues the work of the rest of the class and frustrates the TAs (who generally discover it in the first place) immensely. Also, word will get around that you’re a soft touch on cheating.

Avoid letting students sit next to each other during exams and circle the classroom frequently. Look around for students checking to see if you’re watching them. Have TAs doing the same.

If you assign homework problems from a textbook, do not post solutions on the web. They will be all over the Internet in minutes, and the textbook publishers (and their lawyers) will definitely not be amused.