L&S Teaching Mentors Program

General Information

Restrictions

• Awardees must be available for:
• Three trainings over the course of the Summer
• Full-day L&S TA Training in the Fall
• Three drop-in office hours during the Fall semester
• **Note that this work must fall within the student's allowable employment maximums. We will coordinate with L&S Human Resources to confirm that the student is eligible to work these hours. If you have questions about employment and eligibility, please reach out before submitting your nomination.
• Departments may only nominate two candidates for the L&S Teaching Mentor program each year. 
• Winners of departmental awards that recognize teaching and those previously nominated or awarded a Campus-wide TA Award are eligible. 

Nomination Process

• Nominations must be based on TA and/or L(SA) work within the College of Letters & Science.
• TAs are nominated by the department through the submission of the nomination packet, which is comprised of (1) a completed Nomination Form with a (2) PDF of supplemental materials (see below).
• **New this year: We are asking nominators to anonymize the nomination packets.
• Anonymization is an important best practice for maintaining equity.
• To anonymize, replace the TA’s name with either their initials or simply “TA.” Also replace he/him or she/her with they/them. We know this may create grammatical issues on occasion - we understand and will overlook these.
• Please note: anonymization does NOT imply that nominations must avoid all mention of a candidate's personal identities. A person's race, gender, sexuality, and other identities can affect their teaching in myriad ways. We are happy to accept, anywhere in the nomination materials, any relevant discussion of a nominee's identities as they relate to teaching success.
• If anonymization is a barrier to submitting your nomination - please reach out. We can help if necessary. 

PDF of Supplemental Materials - These materials must be submitted as one PDF compiled in the following order: 

1. Letter of Recommendation from faculty/staff member(s) (3pg. max) 
• Only one letter is allowed but it may be co-written or signed by multiple writers. 
• The Letter of Recommendation should speak to the nominee’s excellence in the classroom, experience training or helping other teachers, commitment to improving their own and other’s teaching, and their passion, dedication, or unique approach to teaching. Letters of Recommendation that include specific examples of these qualities will be looked on more favorably.
2. Nominee guided reflection (2pg. max) 
   1. Describe a time you failed in the classroom and what actions you took to improve your teaching afterwards. How did those actions impact your students’ learning experience? OR
   2. Describe a time you helped someone else (or a group of others) improve their teaching. 
• Please respond to one of the following prompts in your reflection. Make sure to provide evidence (e.g. specific examples, student reports, anecdotal evidence, improved performance on assignments, etc.) of how your changes benefited student learning. Honest reflections that directly address the chosen prompt will be looked on favorably.
3. Additional evidence of mentorship potential. This can take many forms; below are several examples of excellent submission ideas. Specific examples will be looked on favorably. (2pg. max) 
• Descriptions of experience(s) you’ve had that are crucial to the way you think about and engage in your teaching.
• Descriptions or examples of pedagogical activities, such as creation of novel course materials or engagement in communities focused on pedagogy, inclusive teaching, or teacher training. 
• Descriptions or accounts of the nominee’s contributions to the departmental teaching mission, such as leadership, support, awareness, or attitude as related to teaching.

Questions

• Please contact Lynne Prost at lprost@wisc.edu with any further questions about the nomination process. 

See Also:

• L&S Teaching Mentors List