[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-598628-105":59,"doc-detail-598628-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","conversations-and-collaborations-cynthia-korpan","Conversations and Collaborations - Cynthia Korpan","","Conversations and collaborations contributed to the development of a newly formed academic support role at the University of Victoria: Teaching Assistant Consultants (TACs). The paper describes how interviews with chairs and graduate advisors across departments gathered needs about TA professional development, emphasizing discipline-specific workshops and improved confidence in TA duties. Findings highlight common priorities such as communication, teaching, grading, professional behavior, and time management, leading to restructuring of events, creation of TA Tip Sheets, and a pilot TAC program for research and evaluation.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/conversations-and-collaborations-cynthia-korpan/598628/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/conversations-and-collaborations-cynthia-korpan/598628.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"awa","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":14},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What problem the paper addresses regarding TA development at UVic?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It examines how a series of conversations shaped a newly formed role and supported structured, discipline-specific professional development for teaching assistants at UVic.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How were departmental needs for TA professional development collected?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The author arranged one-on-one meetings with chairs and/or graduate advisors in most departments, using a set of questions (Appendix A) to capture TA needs and expectations.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What changes were made to improve TA professional development offerings?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The paper reports restructuring workshops and conferences, increasing workshop frequency, converting the TA Manual into TA Tip Sheets, and revamping university teaching-related programming under a new certificate program.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},598628,1792918354,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":14,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":29,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},3985747858093,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","14  \nConversations and Collaborations  \nCynthia Korpan  \nUniversity of Victoria  \nThis paper looks at how a series of conversations contributed to the development of a newly formed role at the University of Victoria – Teaching Assistant Consultants (TACs). TACs act as departmental mentors for teaching assistants (TAs) in their respective departments, charged with providing support in the form of discipline-specific workshops aimed at improving performance of their duties and increased confidence in their roles, as well as fostering a TA community within departments.  \nIntroduction  \nP roasfseissionantsal(dTAevs)eloatpmCenandproianguramnivsersfiotiresteachirun tnhge  \ngamut from occasional workshops to complete certificate programs. Until recently, the Learning and Teaching Centre at the University of Victoria (UVic) typified this general format with a well-crafted TA program consisting of professional development workshops, annual conferences, and programs leading to certificates. When I was appointed to the newly formed role of TA Training Program Coordinator in the summer of 2008 (now a permanent role on campus), my immediate goal was to set up campus-wide programs to ensure that all TAs on campus had access to structured professional development programs that suited their needs and the needs of faculty and staff in a variety of disciplines, and took into consideration the changes occurring for TAs in today’s academic world.  \nTo grasp an understanding of UVic’s TA climate (I did have some understanding due to my pre-  \nvious work at the Learning and Teaching Centre for three years as a TA Associate, as well as being a TA myself during my graduate work in the Department of Anthropology), I arranged one-on-one meetings with chairs and/or graduate advisors from each department on campus to talk about TA needs and departmental expectations. These conversations generated the potential for several collaborative projects based on departments’ individual and collective needs. In this paper, I first discuss the process and outcomes from the conversations and conclude with preliminary discussion about one of the collaborative projects that developed alongside and grew from these conversations regarding TA professional development.  \nGetting to Know You…  \nThroughout the fall of 2008 I met with either the  \nchair or graduate advisor (or sometimes both) in 40 of the 42 departments on UVic’s campus. For each meeting I had a set of questions that were discussed (Appendix A) . The outcome from these conversations provided direction as to the needs of each department in order to facilitate the professional development of TAs at UVic. The TA population at UVic in any given semester is typically around 600 (except during the summer term) . Each department varies in the number of TAs employed but a typical sampling consists of only a few TAs in departments such as Greek and Roman Studies to as many as 50 in departments such as Chemistry and Computer Science. The majority of departments identified two important campuswide needs: a strong focus on TA professional development, and that this professional development is discipline-specific and targets issues identified as important to the department. At that time, less than half of the departments had some form of TA professional development (Appendix A, Question 5) in place, either in the form of a short orientation (9), guidance through the course instructor (7), or a specific graduate course about teaching in their discipline (3) .  \nDepartments identified that the duties (Appendix A, Question 15) TAs were mostly engaged with were grading (23), leading labs/tutorials (22), and administrative duties, which included holding office hours (22); administrative duties and office hours are grouped because the majority of departments acknowledged that TAs typically took care of some of their administrative duties during office hours. When specifically asked what training (Appendix A, Question 21) TAs n","cbCaidHpY06adFNn","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidHpY06adFNn","pdf",487996,"English","# Introduction\n# Getting to Know You…\n# Now That We Know You","[{\"question\":\"What problem the paper addresses regarding TA development at UVic?\",\"answer\":\"It examines how a series of conversations shaped a newly formed role and supported structured, discipline-specific professional development for teaching assistants at UVic.\"},{\"question\":\"How were departmental needs for TA professional development collected?\",\"answer\":\"The author arranged one-on-one meetings with chairs and/or graduate advisors in most departments, using a set of questions (Appendix A) to capture TA needs and expectations.\"},{\"question\":\"What changes were made to improve TA professional development offerings?\",\"answer\":\"The paper reports restructuring workshops and conferences, increasing workshop frequency, converting the TA Manual into TA Tip Sheets, and revamping university teaching-related programming under a new certificate program.\"}]","Conversations and Collaborations - Cynthia Korpan | PDF",1792087279,15]