Because many college communication departments employ graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) to provide instruction in undergraduate courses, a study was conducted to determine how much inservice training departments provide their GTAs to prepare them for effective teaching. A questionnaire was completed by 136 speech communication departments across the United States with 15 items designed to elicit information on the nature of their graduate teaching assistant program and on the depth and content of their GTA training. The results of the survey indicated that GTAs were assigned to classes based on the enrollment needs of the courses and taught hundreds of students each term, primarily in a lecture/recitation format. Although the GTAs assumed a great deal of responsiblity in planning their teaching activities, the training they received consisted mostly of staff meetings and course orientations, which would be adequate for those GTAs with several years of teaching experience. However, as shown by the survey, the majority of GTAs had less than one year's teaching experience. Most GTAs received feedback from the faculty and students, but nearly one-fourth were not observed by the faculty in the classroom, and one-third were never given feedback from the faculty in appraisal interviews. The study concluded that it is the departments' responsibility to improve their training of GTAs. (HTH)