Graduate Associate Teaching Award GATA

The recipients of the GATA are awarded a one-time $2,000 award for their accomplishments and are honored at the annual Graduate School Awards Ceremony.

Any Ohio State student (undergraduate, graduate, or professional), faculty, or staff member may nominate a Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA) for the GATA. The nomination process is anonymous unless the nominator self identifies themselves as part of the nomination submission. A GTA may self-nominate during the nomination period.

Eligible nominees are notified by the Graduate School. Those who wish to compete must prepare a GATA application packet for review by the GATA selection committee.

Faculty representing a range of graduate programs review submitted applications. After reviewing GATA applications, the committee makes award recommendations to Graduate School leadership for final decisions.

Eligible Nominees

Eligible nominees must meet the following criteria:

• Have been appointed as a Graduate Teaching Associate and must have taught at least one full semester as a GTA
• Have met the requirements for holding a Graduate Associate appointment during the semester they taught as a GTA as outlined in Section 9.1 of the Graduate School Handbook
• Must be a current, enrolled student during the term(s) of application and awarding 
• Have at least a cGPA of 3.0

Previous GATA recipients are not eligible for nomination in a future GATA competition.

Information for GATA Nominees

Informational Session and Drake Institute Consultations

If you do not already have a teaching portfolio or would like to learn more about how to make your portfolio effective as a GATA application packet, the Graduate School will host a workshop for eligible GATA nominees during the latter half of the Autumn semester in collaboration with the Michael V. Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning.  Nominees will be contacted with more information regarding the workshop once nominations have closed. Nominations open early in the Autumn semester. Please direct all questions to grad-schoolfellowships@osu.edu.

The Drake Institute also offers more in-depth one-on-one consultations and would be happy to work with you on your nomination packet. Find more information about how the Drake Institute can help and how to register for consulting sessions at their website.

Award Process

Nominations for the GATA are solicited from students, peers, faculty, and staff. Graduate students can also nominate themselves for this award. Nominations are reviewed by the Graduate School for eligibility. Eligible GTAs are then notified and invited to submit an application. Eligible nominees who wish to compete must prepare a GATA application packet. 

Award Eligibility

• Must have been appointed as a Graduate Teaching Associate
• Must have taught at least one full semester as a GTA
• Must have met the requirements for holding a Graduate Associate appointment during the semester they taught as a GTA.
• Can be from any graduate program or department
• Must be a current, enrolled student and must have a GPA of 3.0 or better at the time of nomination and awarding
• Previous GATA award winners are not eligible.

Selection Criteria

Each nominee’s application packet is reviewed holistically by the GATA selection committee to evaluate the nominee’s ability to facilitate student learning and to reflect, evaluate, and improve their own teaching. The GATA awards committee recognizes that the range of responsibilities and activities undertaken by GTAs are dependent upon the context in which they teach. The committee looks for evidence of the following:

• Evidence that the nominee excels in carrying out the responsibilities associated with their GTA appointment
• Ability to stimulate thinking and develop understanding among students
• Use of varied teaching techniques appropriate to course content and students
• Superior organizational skills in relation to course development and management
• Excellent knowledge of and enthusiasm for course subject matter
• Resourcefulness in presenting course material
• Willingness and ability to solicit and reflect on feedback about teaching and to implement changes for improvement
• Ability to demonstrate that their courses resulted in significant student learning

Application Materials

The components of the GATA application packet are similar to those that are typically included in an academic teaching portfolio. Applicants who have already prepared teaching portfolios are encouraged to revise those materials for the purposes of the GATA competition. All files should be combined and uploaded as a single, combined PDF* in the order below.

• Teaching Statement (1-3 pages)
• Ohio State Teaching Responsibilities (1-2 pages)
• Instructional Artifact
• Evaluative Feedback and Summary
• Overall, SEI Scores
• One Course SEI or Personal or Department Evaluation
• Letters of Recommendation

Format Specifications

The teaching statement, teaching responsibilities, and evaluative feedback and summary must conform to the following guidelines:

• 8.5″ × 11″
• 1″ margins (all sides)
• Single- or double-spaced (body)
• 10-12 point Arial, Times New Roman, or suitable text font (for body)
• Right-justified header with your last name (all pages)
• Do not include title pages, tables of contents, section inserts, cover letters, or other extra pages.
• The teaching statement, teaching responsibilities, and evaluative feedback and summary should be submitted as a single pdf file.
• Examples of instructional materials can be submitted as separate files if they do not conform to the above guidelines. If they conform to the above guidelines, instructional materials should be submitted as part of the above single pdf file.

Teaching Statement

As you are thinking about your statement, keep the following questions in mind, as these can help you to structure what you are writing about:

• Who/what influenced your teaching style and philosophy?
• What specific things do you do to implement your beliefs about teaching?
• How do your teaching techniques or approaches help your students learn?
• How have you improved your teaching over time?
• How have you incorporated new approaches to your teaching?
• How have you learned from teaching approaches that did not work?
• Describe any steps you have taken to further your development as a teacher.
• How has your thinking about equity and inclusion actively influenced your teaching, research, and/or scholarship?
• How does your teaching engagement help your students prepare for livelihoods in a global society?

Your teaching statement should be one incorporated statement, not two separate statements. The teaching statement should be at least one page, but not exceed three pages.

Ohio State Teaching Responsibilities

A list and description of the courses you have taught at Ohio State. Include your specific duties (grading, lesson planning, test design, etc.)

Instructional Materials

An example of the materials you prepare and use in your teaching to assist with student learning. Provide only one example, with a two-page explanation.

Possibilities include, but are not limited to, a syllabus, lab assignment or pre-lab notes, lesson plan, homework assignment, classroom activity, quiz, or test.

The explanation should address why you designed the example as you did. Your explanation might describe what you hoped to accomplish in developing this material for your students.

Instructional materials do not need to conform to the paper, margin, and font specifications for the GATA packet, but examples of excessive length or awkward size can be difficult for the committee to evaluate. When choosing an example, consider providing a representative excerpt rather than the entire document.

Evaluative Feedback and Summary

Summarize and discuss the qualitative and quantitative feedback on your teaching from students, colleagues, and supervisors. Such feedback may include student evaluations (SEIs) and/or department qualitative forms, feedback surveys, or other data that you use to evaluate your teaching effectiveness.

Describe any adjustments or improvements that you have made in your teaching in response to this feedback. (1-2 pages).

Overall SEI Scores

A summary of your overall SEI scores, if available. 

For additional information about SEI reporting, see the Registrar’s website. For questions about accessing your SEI scores, contact SEI Administration.

One Course SEI or a Personal or Departmental Evaluation

A copy of your “SEI Class Detail Report” (Blue) for one course or a representative sample of student evaluations (three individual student evaluations from a single course, maximum) in response to a personal or departmental evaluation instrument.

For additional information about SEI reporting, see the Registrar’s website. For questions about accessing your SEI scores, contact SEI Administration.

Letters of Recommendation

Provide one letter of recommendation from a faculty member or full-time departmental staff member who is familiar with your teaching. This letter cannot be from a graduate student, even if that graduate student has a working title such as GTA coordinator.

Optional: One letter of recommendation from a student who has had a course with you as their GTA. Only letters will be accepted; no type of evaluative summary may be substituted for the student letter.

Letters of recommendation may be uploaded with the application or submitted separately via email to Fellowship Services - grad-schoolfellowships@osu.edu.

All letters must be received by the application deadline. If we receive more than one letter from a faculty member/ TA administrator or from a student, only the first letter received in each category will be included in the award committee’s packet.

Final Application Submission

Final application materials must be submitted as one single PDF*. The final packet may be uploaded by your Program Coordinator to the GradAwards Nomination System, or they may be emailed directly to grad-schoolfellowships@osu.edu by the deadline listed on the Fellowship Calendar at 5:00pm Eastern Time. Any submission received after the deadline or containing multiple files will not be considered.  By submitting your application packet for the GATA award to your program coordinator or grad-schoolfellowships@osu.edu, you are signifying that the packet is complete to the best of your knowledge and acknowledge that no changes can be made to the packet after the posted deadline.

* The GradAwards system is not able to load a PDF as a portfolio PDF. Combining files converts all files to a PDF format. Submissions must be in a combined PDF format.