Our graduate student staff

The Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) currently employs six TA Workshop Facilitators and four Graduate Educational Developers a term. Our collaborative and motivated team is the driving force behind our graduate programming. As of Winter 2023, a total of 125 graduate students have worked at CTE in our graduate programming.

What we do

  • Our TA Workshop Facilitators facilitate and help to develop workshops on university teaching for graduate students. They work 30 hours per term.
  • Our Graduate Educational Developers facilitate workshops on university teaching, microteaching sessions, and teaching observations for graduate students. Just like TA positions at Waterloo, these positions are 10 hours per week.

Who we are

Our graduate student staff members come from all faculties, have diverse backgrounds in teaching, and are passionate about teaching development for themselves and their peers. Many are award-winning TAs and sessional instructors whose teaching successes have been recognized through departmental and university-wide teaching awards.

Why work with CTE?

We use an apprenticeship model to provide support and mentorship to our graduate student staff. Through their work at CTE, graduate students:

  • enhance their teaching and communication skills
  • develop their educational leadership skills
  • cultivate their knowledge of instructional practices within and across disciplines
  • collaborate on new ideas and reflect on their teaching experiences with our interdisciplinary CTE graduate team
  • participate in professional development activities alongside CTE staff
  • develop their CVs and prepare for the job-search process in academic, alt-academic, and post-academic settings

Join our team!

Past graduate student staff members find that their experience with CTE positively impacts their professional and personal growth. Many past graduate student staff members now work in academic and educational development positions in Canada and internationally.

Working at the CTE exposed me to teaching practices across a diverse range of disciplines... inspired me to make changes to my teaching practice... and opened my eyes to new and exciting career pathways in higher education.

- Dr. Kyra Jones, Lab Designer and Facilitator, Deloitte