What is an IA?

IA is terminology used often throughout Newhouse. As a matter of fact, IAs are very popular around Newhouse.

But, what is an IA?

IA stands for Instructional Associate. They are graduate students selected to help professors with a number of tasks and assist students who may need technical help, or just have a question.

Being an IA has its benefits, but the job is a time commitment.”It’s very busy,” said Broadcast & Digital Journalism graduate student Ray Hernandez. “It is quite time consuming, but it’s worth it.”

One perk of being an IA is that the IAs get an opportunity to sit in on classes that may not be on their schedule.

“You kind of get an opportunity to see classes that you sometimes can’t fit in your schedule. That’s the best part,” said Hernandez. “I couldn’t take sports reporting or master story telling, but I am able to learn from both professors because I work with them.”

This gives them the opportunity to be a sponge and soak up as much knowledge they can from the professors they work with.

“It’a like taking a class without, actually taking the class,” he said.

IAs have many different roles, depending on what each professor wants from them. Some IAs do a lot of work with students in class, and sometimes they are assigned work to do outside of class. Other IAs only play a limited role in the classroom and only do what is asked of them.

“It’s all the tech stuff; (adobe) premiere, exporting, making sure everything is going to get on the server, get into a (ENPS) rundown and run smoothly. Making sure the printer is stocked, making sure rooms are locked or unlocked and sometimes I have to go outside and run a weathercam”

Hernandez says it feels good to know other students look to him when they need assistance and he likes the fact that the students trust him.

“It’s kind of reassuring that they trust that I know what I’m doing,” said Hernandez. “One of the best ways to reinforce something that you’re taught is to also try and teach it to someone else.”

He says being in the students shoes and understanding what they are going through makes it easier to help them. As a Newhouse student, he faces a lot of the same challenges they do.

“If it’s something I’ve done it’s always easier to help somebody because it’s like ‘you know what? I’ve been there, I’m going to help you out, so you don’t have as hard of a time as I had.'”

Students who are not selected also have an opportunity to apply for IA positions when they are posted in the Spring, Summer, and Fall semester.