Teaching Assistant Consultant (TAC) Program
Pictured left to right: Ana Ruiz Alonso Bartol, Ben Eustis-Guthrie, Mariana Da Silva Gabriel, Andrea Hernandez, Emma Zumbro. Front row: Sam Nelson, Nicole Keough, Patrick Wade, Bella Cantu.
The Teaching Assistant Consultant (TAC) Program promotes and facilitates professional development programming for graduate student instructors and postdoctoral scholars.
Goals
- Improving undergraduate education at UC Davis by working closely with graduate student instructors to strengthen teaching practices and enhance learning for all students.
- Supporting the professional growth of UC Davis Teaching Assistants (TAs), Associate Instructors (AIs) and postdoctoral scholars.
- Engaging TACs in a community of practice that provides meaningful growth experiences that, in turn, increase capacity and support for the broader campus teaching and learning community at UC Davis.
- Encouraging dialogue and collaboration among the TACs to broaden perspectives about the purposes and practices of higher education beyond individual disciplines and approaches.
- Promoting the development of TACs as instructors, consultants, and leaders in their teaching and learning communities.
Events and Services
TACs provide the following services to graduate student instructors and postdoctoral scholars:
- Workshops to enhance teaching effectiveness and improve student learning;
- One-on-one consultations, ranging from general consultations to discuss teaching and learning to Mid-Quarter Inquiries (MQIs). Regardless of the consultation type, one-on-one consultations provide a space for discussing teaching and learning with an experienced peer instructor in a confidential setting.
Contact
Program Director: Amy Forester
2025-2026 Teaching Assistant Consultants (TACs)
- Nicole Keough, Animal Behavior, Professional Development Lead
- Sam Nelson, Musicology, Professional Development Lead
- Ana Ruiz Alonso Bartol, Spanish Linguistics
- Ben Eustis-Guthrie, Physics
- Isabella Cantu, Sociology
- Emma Zumbro, English