TA Training, and Psychology TA Orientation  & TA Peer Mentoring

The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC)- "Teaching as an Ethical Practice" 

The Division of Graduate Studies, The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC), and Online Education have created a resource for new Teaching Assistants at UC Santa Cruz. The online course, Teaching as an Ethical Practice: A Guide for Teaching Assistants, covers professional ethics for the Teaching Assistant role with special attention to educational equity and accessibility. This course is *required* for graduate students who are new to the Teaching Assistant role on our campus, and will be available to you as a continuing resource during the remainder of your graduate career at UCSC.

Course Overview

The course offers an invaluable introduction to campus resources that TAs commonly interface with, such as the Disability Resource Center (DRC), Counseling and  Psychological Services (CAPS), the Title IX Office, Campus Advocacy Resources and Education (CARE), the teaching assistants union UAW 2865, and the Women’s, Lionel Cantú Queer, and Ethnic Resource Centers. More broadly, the course aims to support you to understand the distinct TA role, how to set up more accessible and equitable learning environments, how to communicate effectively in a teaching team, how to respond to students in distress, how to promote academic integrity, and more.

Accessing the TLC TA Training

Graduate Students will access the course on Canvas and will take about 8 hours to complete. You will receive an automatic email invitation from Canvas at the start of your first quarter TA appointment. Use your CruzID and Gold password to access Canvas, and find the “Teaching as an Ethical Practice” course on your Dashboard. The Graduate Division and TLC requires that you complete the course during your first quarter of TAing at UCSC. Completing the course is part of required training and, as such, part of your TA duties. The generous estimate of eight hours to complete the course is part of your overall 220 hours of work.

*Graduate Students are required to complete the online TLC training, Teaching as an Ethical Practice, during your first quarter as a TA.* 

Psychology Department TA Orientation

Each year one psychology professor and one advanced graduate student will serve as TA Co-coordinators of the Psychology Department’s TA Orientation and Mentoring Program for the academic year. The TA Co-coordinators will facilitate one four-hour workshop typically held during the first week of instruction or within the first two weeks of Fall quarter which will consist of:

• Hands-on practice in how to meet with the instructor, warm up the classroom, engage class discussion and collaborative learning, deal with conflicts with students and instructors, grade essays, nurture students’ writing and important support and resources for psychology-specific pedagogical aspects.

• Learning the institutional rules (Policies on assigning TAs, how to handle sexual harassment, the TA union, student resources, etc.; may incorporate visits from the Title IX officers and a TA union rep)

*Graduate Students are required to attend the Psychology Department TA Orientation prior to the first TAship. 

The psychology faculty and graduate student TA Co-coordinators will supervise the TA mentor program and serve as the initial contact person for graduate students having problems or difficulties in handling their TA responsibilities. 

During a graduate student’s first two quarters as a new TA in the Psychology Department, the new TA will be paired with a peer mentor, an advanced graduate student with TA experience. The peer mentor’s responsibilities are as follows:

1. The mentor is required to meet with the new TA at the very beginning of the quarter to give a “heads up” orientation of what it is like to be a TA and checking in routinely throughout the quarter to provide consultation.

2. By the third week of the quarter, the new TA will observe the TA mentor’s section. No later than the sixth week of the quarter, the mentor will observe the new TA in one of their sessions and provide constructive feedback.

3. The mentor will be accessible throughout the quarter to answer the new TA’s questions and concerns.

Each year one psychology professor and one advanced graduate student will serve as Co-coordinators of the Psychology Department’s TA Training and Mentoring Program for the academic year. The coordinators will supervise the program and serve as the initial contact person for graduate students having problems or difficulties in handling their TA responsibilities. Students may reach out to the co-coordinators experiencing challenging TA-relevant situations about which you need advice or assistance. 

Graduate student Matt Evans (matt.evans@ucsc.edu) in the cognitive area and psychology faculty Nicolas Davidenko (ndaviden@ucsc.edu) will serve as the TA-Co-coordinators for 2023-24.