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Graduate Academy for College Teaching

Graduate Academy

The Graduate Academy for College Teaching (Grad Academy) is a teaching orientation program for graduate teaching assistants (TAs) with classroom responsibilities. It occurs the week before Fall and Spring semesters begin, and it fulfills the pre-semester training requirement mandated by the TA labor contract. If a department or school does not run its own pre-semester training program in accordance with the labor contract, they must send their TAs to the Grad Academy.

General Information

The Grad Academy features a mix of in-person, face-to-face sessions onsite at the Urbana-Champaign campus, synchronous online sessions via Zoom, and asynchronous online material via an eText. TAs need to be in town to attend the Grad Academy.

  • The August Grad Academy begins the Monday before Fall classes begin, or August 16, whichever is later.
  • The January Grad Academy begins the Wednesday before Spring classes begin.
  • Departments are responsible for registering their TAs for the Grad Academy; TAs do not register themselves.
Info for Departments

It is important for you to register your TAs for the Grad Academy if you do not do your own training. CITL does not know who your new TAs are unless you tell us by registering them for the Grad Academy. CITL cannot send Grad Academy info to your TAs unless you register them.

  • CITL maintains a list of Grad Academy contacts from departments and schools, and communicates with departments and schools through that list. If you think you should be a Grad Academy contact for your department, contact CITL-GradAcademy@illinois.edu.
  • CITL announces registration and sends a registration link to Grad Academy contacts.
  • Please notify TAs and potential TAs as early as possible about the Grad Academy requirement and the dates of the Grad Academy. Many TAs make travel plans months in advance of the start of the semester, and will need to know when they need to be in town to begin work.
  • If you have questions, please contact us.
Info for TAs

Attending the Grad Academy is the training for your job as a TA, so it is important that you arrange to be available for the training. The “General Information” tab describes when the Grad Academy takes place each semester.

  • Your department or school must register you for the Grad Academy. You get detailed information about the Grad Academy upon being registered.
  • If you attended the Grad Academy in a previous semester, you do not need to attend again.
  • If you attended the Symposium on Grading and Office Hours in a previous semester, you would have to attend the Grad Academy if you get a TA assignment with classroom responsibilities. You would not need to repeat the portion of the Grad Academy that covers the same ground as the Symposium.
  • If you were a TA at another institution, you still need to attend the Grad Academy. In addition to being job training, the Grad Academy is a contractual obligation. If you have experience as a teacher, ask your department to exempt you from the Microteaching portion of the Grad Academy.
Programs

Symposium on Grading and Office Hours

The Symposium on Grading and Office Hours (Symposium) is an orientation program for graduate teaching assistants (TAs) without classroom responsibilities. It is a short program focused on the principles of good grading and how to help students in an office hours situation, and is the right training choice for TAs with a grading only assignment. It occurs the week before Fall and Spring semesters begin. If a TA has classroom responsibilities, they should be registered for the larger Grad Academy.

General Information

The Symposium features asynchronous online material via an eText, and a synchronous online session via Zoom. The Symposium may be attended remotely.

  • The live session of the Symposium takes place the Tuesday before classes begin each semester.
  • Departments are responsible for registering their TAs for the Symposium; TAs do not register themselves.
Info for Departments

It is important for you to register your TAs for the Symposium if you do not do your own training. CITL does not know who your new TAs are unless you tell us by registering them for the Symposium. CITL cannot send Symposium info to your TAs unless you register them.

  • CITL maintains a list of Symposium contacts from departments and schools, and communicates with departments and schools through that list. This is the same list of contacts as for the Grad Academy. If you think you should be a Symposium or Grad Academy contact for your department, contact CITL-GradAcademy@illinois.edu.
  • CITL announces registration and sends a registration link to Symposium contacts.
  • Please notify TAs and potential TAs as early as possible about the Symposium requirement and the date of the Symposium.
  • If you have questions, please contact us.
Info for TAs

Attending the Symposium is the training for your job as a TA, so it is important that you arrange to be available for the training. The “General Information” tab describes when the Symposium takes place each semester.

  • Your department or school must register you for the Symposium. You get detailed information about the Symposium upon being registered.
  • If you attended the Symposium in a previous semester, you do not need to attend again.
  • If you will have classroom responsibilities (discussion section, lab, studio, or lecture), you should attend the Grad Academy instead of the Symposium.