Has anyone here been an academic note- taker?

[Greaterwaterparsnip]

Hi
I've applied for this role starting next term.
Interested to know how you take and share notes, what sort of hours you do and if it is an enjoyable job?

No one?

Do you mean taking notes during lectures for students?

Lectures, tutorials and labs etc.

Hours are usually flexible but you will need to fit in with the teaching day. At my institution this is 09:00 to 19:00. Although Wednesdays are essentially a half day for undergrad students.

Do you mean taking notes to support disabled students? I did this for a bit about 10 years ago and really enjoyed it. There was a lot of flexibility in how many hours / shifts you took on.

I really enjoyed supporting the students, and I got to sit in on some courses I could never have otherwise experienced like criminal law. Although I should say that isn’t a reason to want the job and would be the wrong thing to focus on in an interview. You are not there to learn about the subject matter - that’s just a side benefit!

One of my students got a first in the module I supported her on and I was so so proud.

To do this job well you need to care about supporting people and levelling the playing field. You need to be reliable. You need to adapt to the needs of different students, in terms of the notes you take and also things like how you interact with them (eg whether you sit with them).

And you need to be willing to advocate for the students you support when appropriate and to be polite but assertive. I’d sometimes have lecturers imply that I was giving someone an unfair advantage, or try to restrict my access to things like handouts, or not let me record a meeting I was supposed to record for the student, and would have to calmly and assertively make sure the students got the adjustments they were entitled to.

Best of luck!

Comment for the bump: I hired one one, she was lovely. I could not read her writing though!

I’m an academic. The visually-impaired students often seem to use voice dictation software in my lectures. Some students registered with disability services have access to my lecture recordings for a limited period after each lecture, some who use note takers have the note takers type onto laptops. I’ve not noticed anyone taking handwritten notes for someone else in a while…?