Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant

Each year, UNC Charlotte’s top graduate teaching assistants are honored with the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant (TA) Award. The award recognizes master’s and doctoral students nominated by faculty supervisors for their outstanding and innovative teaching techniques. Dr. Judith Krauss coordinates efforts to support graduate teaching assistants through the Center for Graduate Life and Learning, including Graduate Teaching Assistant training offered at the start of the Fall and Spring semesters.

The 2023-2024 OGTA Awards Winners are:

Erica Neal (Curriculum & Instruction – PHD) at a TA level and Brent Reed (Orhanizational Schience – PHD) at the IOR level.

Congratulations to the Teaching Assistant finalists:

Lee-Anne Andre (Sociology – MA)
Zane Clark (Mathematics – PHD)
Kayla Lenz (Mechanical Engineering – PHD)
Olivia Dobbs (History – MA
Catherine Sawyers (English – MA)
Nita Khanal (Infrastructure & Environmental Systems – PHD)
Allena Opoku (Chemistry – MA)
Lucas Debenedetti (History – MA)
Jayla Worsley (Anthropology – MA)

Congratulations to the Instructor of Record finalists:

Robert Bland (Applied Mathematics – PHD)
Carlos Serrano (English – MA)
Melissa Hatley (Biology – PHD)
Chelse Spinner (Public Health Sciences – PHD)

Thank you to this year’s judges:
Harini Ramaprasad
Lisa M. Rasmussen
Tonya C. Bates
Drew Polly

2023-2024 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards

We will offer two awards:

  • One award recognizes Teaching Assistants who have served as Instructors of Record for a minimum of one prior semester. This award category recognizes graduate students performing all the responsibilities of a stand-alone Instructor fully in charge of the course.
  • One award recognizes Teaching Assistants who have performed the range of TA responsibilities in assistance to a faculty member, including running lab sessions, but who have never served as stand-alone Instructors of Record.

Each winner will receive a $1000 award!

Criteria for nomination:

  1. Nominees must be enrolled full-time and demonstrate superior teaching skills while serving as an instructor in the classroom or laboratory or assisting the professor with teaching in the classroom or laboratory.
  2. Nominees should have outstanding student evaluations. If the program in which the nominee teaches does not collect student evaluations, the nominee must offer equivalent substitutions. Nominees without student evaluations are unlikely to succeed in the award process.
  3. Nominees should have original teaching materials that support their nomination.
  4. Nominees must have had significant teaching responsibilities for at least two semesters. The current semester may be counted.
  5. Nominees must be able to request a letter of recommendation from a faculty member who has worked closely with them in their teaching role. This letter can be from the faculty member who nominated them.