Teaching Assistant Consultant Program

Overview

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. 

I benefited greatly from working with TACs to prepare for leading a faculty retreat / professional development workshop. This was the first time I led this kind of session, and the TACs gave me the resources, support, and feedback I needed to complete it successfully. I appreciate how TACs respond promptly to our requests, give us copious feedback after our sessions, and build our confidence as novice teacher-scholars. Many thanks to CEE for offering such a wonderful resource!

Contact

Program Director: Amy Forester