Designing TA Training Programs for Broadening Participation

Teaching Assistants (TAs) at universities are often an integral part of a department, heavily influencing the department culture. Our experience at James Madison University indicates the help provided by TAs on both course content and as a support network can have a significant positive impact on underrepresented students. In our efforts under the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) Extension Services project, we expanded our teaching assistant program to include not only training as is considered best practice in the literature, but prioritization of diversity and inclusion concerns. In addition to sharing specific examples and resources from our current implementation, presenters will share experiences from their backgrounds at both small private liberal arts colleges to large research focused institutions. We will have focused small-group discussions about opportunities and challenges in implementing TA programs. Participants will be provided with a "Literature Practices Worksheet" based on a taxonomy of practices outlining decisions to be made while creating or modifying a program. They can then tailor their decisions to their institution. We will also provide resources from the community we use in our training along with examples of how we conduct these sessions. Participants will share their plans in fostering diversity and inclusion and have an opportunity to build a support network in making positive change in their institutions' TA programs.