Department Recommendations

Department Reviews

"Let me start by saying that the TA positions available are limited and therefore very competitive; only the best graduate students are given TA positions. This includes students who not only perform their TA duties as expected but students who normally go beyond these expectations, have achieved excellent results academically, prepare themselves to improve their teaching skills, and collaborate with the professors and the department in other activities, including research with their advisors. Every semester, we carefully review the feedback from the student evaluations and the feedback from the professors and advisors through an internally run survey.

Zach has proven to be a very valuable asset to the department over the last three years. He has shown leadership and excellence in his work as a TA exceeding all our expectations. He was very diligent and professional and had shown enough maturity and responsibility that we entrusted him with a summer instructor position to teach “Data Structures” one of our undergraduate core courses. He obtained an Overall Rating of the Instructor of 4.46, which is way higher than the overall rating of all the instructors in the department who taught during that summer (3.66).

I truly believe Zach will be an excellent choice for the Provost’s TA Award. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need further information."

-- Dr. Miguel Labrador, Professor and Associate Chair of Graduate Affairs, USF --

"This semester I teach the undergraduate version of the class that Zach took a year ago [2016]. Given the increased enrollment in our department and the very challenging nature of the course, I knew I needed excellent teaching assistants. I specifically asked for Zach to join my teaching team, knowing that I can rely on his knowledge of the material, great communication skills, and friendly demeanor to provide needed support and encouragement to our undergraduate students. Our interactions during this semester have been, as expected, of the highest quality."

-- Dr. Anda Iamnitchi, Associate Professor of Computer Science, USF --

"Zach was of enormous help to me by being present at the lecture sessions and answering questions for students so that I didn’t have to interrupt the lecture ... [He] had to read and understand the student’s solution and verify that it did not get a correct answer by accident. Zach consistently did this well, saving me a great deal of time and trouble. Zach was well liked by the students, and had good rapport with them. I am sure he can be an outstanding computer science instructor."

-- Dr. Rollins Turner, Instructor (Retired), USF --

"Without Zach's help I would not have been able to challenge the students as much as we did. [...] The students were very fortunate that Zach was able focus one on one with them answering questions and overcoming the specific challenges each faced. I would often get feedback from students about how helpful Zach was. When many students struggled with a particular topic, Zach was able to provide feedback as to where I could focus on for the next lecture. This feedback loop allowed the students to set the pace of the class.

I could not have asked for a better TA. His compassion for each student and ability to convey the material to students was invaluable. I would be honored to work with him the future."

-- Joshua Winfrey, Instructor, USF --