We are delighted to have Anik Bay and Camille Mittermeier as our Graduate Teaching Associates at the CST for the 2000–2001 academic year. Anik and Camille have central responsibility for the University Teaching Practicum and related teaching development activities for graduate students. Together, they plan and organize all Practicum–related workshops, consult with TAs about their teaching, and play key roles in the development of special CST initiatives which they elaborate on below.

Anik Bay Graduate Programme in Environmental Studies

Before coming to the CST, I had been a TA in biology, the humanities, and environmental studies. Throughout my experience, what reveals itself as a connecting thread is the personal and emotional commitment TAs bring to teaching, and the (usually unrecognized) toll it can take in terms of time and energy. This experience and awareness in many ways guide my approach to developing teaching development programmes for TAs here at the Centre for the Support of Teaching. In particular, the GTA workshop series, the TA discussion groups, and the 2001 TA issue of Core are designed to explore TAs' commitment to teaching from a number of different perspectives.

The GTA workshop series explores the TA's personal commitment to teaching in various ways:
 

• The first GTA workshop dealt with the situations that present themselves during TA office hours
• The second GTA workshop focussed on the unique challenges posed by a first–year class
• The third GTA workshop will help TAs create and maintain balance among all the activities in their lives

Next term, we plan on looking at teaching upper–level classes, and on helping international graduate students adjust to being a TA in a North American classroom.

Having a support system always helps maintain balance. The TA discussion groups – the TA resource group (TARG) and the lunchtime video series – provide a supportive environment of peers where TAs can talk through problems, seek advice and find solutions. TARG discussions cover topics from establishing tutorial rules and responsibilities, to teaching and politics. The lunchtime group explores topics like the intermediate position of the TA as a link between students and the course director, and TAing for one's supervisor. The TARG listserv can also be used as a sounding board for TAs. We welcome new participants and new discussion topics, which can be posted by emailing me (the listerv moderator) at gta@yorku.ca.

The CST also provides the opportunity for TAs to communicate their experiences to a university–wide audience by writing an article for the TA issue of CORE: York's newsletter on university teaching. As the editor for the 2001 issue, I want to continue exploring the theme of personal commitment to teaching by asking you "What goes into developing a philosophy of teaching? What experiences helped you find your own approach to teaching? What successes and failures have you experienced trying to implement your approach?"

Without TAs, the university learning experience would be incredibly impoverished. TAs are central to undergraduate education. In my capacity as GTA, I am committed to recognizing and supporting TA effort at York.

Camille Mittermeier Graduate Programme in Mathematics

I have always enjoyed my positions at York – running the gamut from marker to course director – but my favorites have always been the ones where I can make a difference for other TAs. I was one of the original Teaching Development Graduate Assistant (TDGA) in the mathematics and statistics department and now I am one of the CST GTAs! I am incredibly grateful for the wealth of experiences from which I can draw upon in taking on this is a much bigger challenge of coordinating teaching development for the entire York TA community, than working with one department.

At the CST I began my work with the TDGA programme which currently involves 25 graduate students from thirteen departments across the campus responsible for supporting teaching development within their department and exploring teaching issues that are specific to their discipline. As this is now in its fifth year, I have focussed on creating opportunities for closer collaboration among TDGAs and the CST. Beginning with the welcome orientation in September, we – the TDGAs & I – have organized a series of workshops focussing on teaching critical skills, to be held between November 7 and 17, 2000. On November 7th, the CST will host a workshop to provide a general framework for teaching critical skills from which to explore what is meant by the all–encompassing title "Teaching Critical Skills." This workshop will lead into several workshops organized by teams of TDGAs to explore the topic within the context of their own disciplines. We are looking into other ways in which we might develop collaborative teaching development programmes in the winter term, and have ideas to help bring the TDGAs further in to the TA Day 2001 programme. It has been an exciting process bringing us closer.

Anik Bay and I have organized two series of workshops for this term: the University Teaching Practicum (UTP) series, and the Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA) series. The UTP series is specifically oriented to cover the UTP curriculum – this term we will be exploring lecturing and assessment, and next term we plan to cover philosophy and goals of higher learning, collaborative learning and other active learning strategies, and course design. As well, the collaborative series being developed by the TDGAs will explore in–depth issues relating to teaching critical thinking both generally and from a discipline–specific perspective. The GTA series (see Anik's brief) covers topics that are of particular interest to Anik or myself and counts as general credit towards the UTP.

I look forward to planning the winter term and TA Day 2001 with the gang here at the CST. I can't imagine having a better team to work with – the friendship and collaborative spirit I've found here has already made this job one of the best I've ever had.