Retaining Undergraduate Teaching Assistants by Promoting Professional Growth and Fostering a Strong Community

In the face of increasing enrollment in CS1 classes, high undergraduate teaching assistant (UTA) retention rates are necessary for a strong and sustainable teaching assistant (TA) program. However, the motivation for UTAs to ascend to more rigorous courses and the onset of boredom through fulfilling monotonous responsibilities disincentivize UTAs from staying with introductory courses for more than a few semesters. This submission reports on a unique UTA-led management model that prioritizes professional growth, facilitates leadership development, and fosters a strong community--all while enhancing the student educational experience. A three-tier organizational structure is established, assigning roles based on experience and aptitude: Head TAs oversee teams, senior TAs lead functional sub-teams, and remaining UTAs execute specialized tasks. This structure enhances professional growth through resource creation, course management, and leadership roles, while fostering a strong sense of community through mentorship and social events. UTAs contribute meaningfully to cross-functional, efficient teams, developing professional and managerial skills applicable to the workforce. A team that is enabled to express creativity to impact instructional efficiency and course management results in positive student experiences. An improved relationship between students and UTAs is directly observed, and the efficient transfer of knowledge between UTA generations results in consistency of student interactions in office hours and recitations. The UTA team is given the opportunity to blossom, and mutual relationships between the course instructors, UTAs, and students benefit the course experience and incentivize UTAs to stay.