New TA Institute
Friday, August 17, 2018 — 7:30 am - 5:00 pm — B115 Wells Hall
The New Teaching Assistant Institute is a university-wide orientation for graduate teaching assistants, in partnership with academic and support units on campus. It is up to departments to decide to require or recommend that their students attend this program (*graduate students should ask their graduate program directors if they are unsure about participating). All attendees must register and are expected to attend the entire day.
Graduate students started the day engaging in breakout sessions with trained facilitators talking about their important roles in undergraduate student success at MSU, and participating in student success case study analysis. They were introduced to the important components of the educational design process (establishing learning objectives, assessing learning outcomes, and engaging students). Recognizing the dual role that TAs hold as teacher and student, participants learned about various resources for self-care including mental health and safety. Finally, they were introduced to important policies that pertain to students, including hands-on problem solving strategies for contextualizing these policies in practice.
In assisting graduate students with determining whether or not to attend this orientation, we provided the following information:
The New TA Institute has been designed to intentionally focus on and consider important MSU policies (like Academic Integrity) and topics (like Graduate Health and Wellness) related to teaching and learning here at MSU. In addition to learning about the policies and what they entail, Teaching Assistants attending the orientation will also engage with strategies meant to highlight ways in which they can integrate and contextualize these policies into their own teaching and learning contexts. Finally, the New TA Institute seeks to provide Teaching Assistants an essential foundation for the educational design process, while discussing the ways in which this process dynamically changes across teaching roles and environments.
If you are not an international TA but are new to teaching at MSU, we highly encourage you to register for just the New TA Institute.
2018 New Teaching Assistant Institute Schedule
7:30am - 8:00am - Registration and Breakfast
8:00am - 8:15am - Welcome & Overview of the Day
8:15am - 8:45am - GTA Role in Undergraduate Student Success
8:45am - 9:00am - TRANSITION
9:00am - 10:00am - Making it Real: Student Success Strategies, Resources, & Practice
10:00am - 10:10am - TRANSITION
10:10am - 10:55am - Components of the Educational Design Process
10:55am - 11:05am - TRANSITION
11:05am - 11:55am - Design Breakouts
-
- Recitation
- Lab
- Section Head
- Grader + Help Room Tutor
11:55am - 12:40pm - LUNCH
12:40pm - 1:25pm - Policy Overview
-
- Academic Honesty/FERPA
- Accessibility/Accommodation
- Negotiating Disclosure/Reporting (Title IX, RVSM)
1:25pm - 1:35pm - TRANSITION
1:35pm - 2:20pm - Putting Policy Into Practice - Session One
-
- Academic Honesty/FERPA
- Accessibility/Accommodation
- Negotiating Disclosure/Reporting (Title IX, RVSM)
2:20pm - 2:30pm - TRANSITION
2:30pm - 3:15pm - Putting Policy Into Practice - Session Two
-
- Academic Honesty/FERPA
- Accessibility/Accommodation
- Negotiating Disclosure/Reporting (Title IX, RVSM)
3:15pm - 3:25pm - TRANSITION
3:25pm - 3:45pm - What the Graduate Employees Union Can Do For You
3:50pm - 4:35pm - Understanding College Student Mental Health
4:35pm - 4:50pm - CLOSING – Next Steps – Resources & Community
4:50pm - 5:00pm - Evaluations
5:00pm - T-shirt pick-up – Evaluation Return
Below are links to content shared and covered during the orientation. Please note, we have only provided links to materials we were given permission to share. By clicking on the links below, you can choose to download the content.
New Teaching Assistant Institute Workbook
New Teaching Assistant Institute Plenary Session
New Teaching Assistant Institute Policy Tip Sheets
New Teaching Assistant Institute Breakout Session - RVSM Definitions
New Teaching Assistant Institute Breakout Session - RVSM First Responder Information
Link to the MSU Prevention, Outreach, and Education Office
New Teaching Assistant Institute Student Success Plenary
New Teaching Assistant Institute Breakout Session - Accommodations and Digital Accessibility
