Undergraduates! Graduate Student Colleagues! Faculty Members! Administrators! Tell us about your best Graduate Teaching Assistants!

About the Award

Each spring GSO gives out an award that recognizes the best graduate teaching assistants throughout the University. The award, sponsored by Graduate Student Orientation (GSO) and the Graduate College, is designed to encourage and reward excellence in undergraduate instruction. Recognizing the role of graduate teaching assistants as valued teaching colleagues is an important part of building our university community. Winners receive a plaque commemorating their accomplishment and a cash award.

Eligibility

The Teaching Assistant must have taught a course for which he/she had major responsibility at any time in 2011. Exam proctors, graders, and past recipients of this award are not eligible. Self-nominations will not be considered for this award, but TAs may announce the award program to their students, faculty, and fellow graduate students. Eligible nominations will come from one or more of the following categories:

1) TA teaching own section(s)
2) TA leading study/recitation section(s)
3) TA teaching laboratory section(s).

Nomination Procedures

Please fill out this Nomination Form and submit a one-page letter that specifically describes the reasons (e.g., accomplishments, contributions, impact on students) why this person is deserving of this nomination. Return the nomination form and letter as an email attachment to:
GSO@bgsu.edu

Nomination deadline:  January 30, 2012 

What happens after GSO receives the nomination?

Upon receipt of a nomination, each TA is sent a letter indicating that he/she has been nominated for the award, application guidelines, and application submission details. To complete the application process the nominee is to submit one copy of the following items by 5 p.m., Monday, February 20, 2012. Materials should be no more than twenty pages, plus the length of your syllabus and must be submitted electronically to GSO@bgsu.edu .

1. A completed award application form
2. A current vita (LIMIT: 5 pages)
3. A letter of recommendation (LIMIT: 2 pages) from either the immediate assistantship supervisor or from someone else at BGSU familiar with the the student's work in the class for which they are nominated.  Letters should be submitted as a PDF attachment.
4. A statement of the nominee's teaching philosophy (LIMIT: 1 page) 
5. The syllabus used in the undergraduate course(s) for which they were nominated
6. Any additional materials to demonstrate their teaching effectiveness (LIMIT: 6 pages) (e.g., graduate-level course syllabi, assignments, activities, etc.) 
7. Peer evaluation/observation form
8. End-of-semester student evaluations from one section of the undergraduate course(s) for which they were nominated (LIMIT: 5 pages) (summary sheets are preferable, although  individual evaluations representative of the summary are also acceptable)

Materials must be submitted electronically to GSO@bgsu.edu by 5 p.m. on Monday, February 20, 2012. Students unable to produce electronic versions materials should contact Jen Moore at 419-372-2824 to discuss alternatives.

Selection Procedures

A selection committee comprised of the GSO staff and the GSO Advisory Council evaluates each completed application. The committee meets as a whole to select three award recipients. In those cases where a TA shares responsibility for teaching/leading a section, he/she will be considered on an individual basis.

Award Presentation and Ceremony

Since, in most instances, it is students of the TA who have nominated them for this honor, the winning TAs will be notified of the award during their classroom sessions whenever possible. The University President, Dean of the Graduate School, GSO Director, and the President of GSS are invited to serve as award presenters. The presenters will make an unscheduled, surprise visit to the class, make the award announcement, and present a certificate to the award recipient. Also invited to the in-class presentations are the TA's college Dean, department Chair, Graduate Coordinator, adviser, teaching supervisor, and award committee members, as well as representatives of appropriate media.

Award recipients are invited to attend the Shanklin Awards Banquet to be held on April 19, 2012 in 228 of the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. The Dean of the Graduate School will present each recipient with a formal plaque and a check for $500.00.  Award committee members are invited to attend.

Our Outstanding Teaching Assistant award recipients are invited to share their experiences with incoming graduate students as presenters of the "Survival Tips for the Teaching Assistant" sessions held during the August GSO week.

2010 Award Recipients:

Laura Cooley, Media and Communication
Rachel Dean-Ruzicka, ACS/Women's Studies
Kelsie Graham, Mathematics an Statistics
Chanelle Vigue, Theatre and Film

2009 Award Recipients:

David Kopp, Theatre & Film
Kurt Vandock, Biological Sciences
Laura Webb, Geology