Dear Graduate Students, As the spring semester drew to a close, I enjoyed several opportunities to celebrate great teaching by graduate students. At the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award ceremony on the first of May at International House, we acknowledged the excellent work of 276 GSIs, out of the more than three thousand GSIs who were eligible. At a smaller ceremony of May 9, we congratulated, with our Teaching Effectiveness Awards, 12 GSIs for their often-ingenious ways of helping students grasp their subjects. Essays summarizing their effective techniques are posted on the GSI Center website. (Faculty as well as GSIs find these refreshing and useful; we are all constantly learning.) The luckiest GSIs learn the ropes of teaching from faculty experts who generously share what they know about ways to enhance learning. We single out a few of these special mentors each year and surprise them with individual awards, in their their classrooms if possible, and in the presence of their GSIs. Three of these GSI mentoring awards were presented to faculty members toward the end of April. The recipients are listed on the GSI Center website. Teaching is important not just as a means of financial support for our graduate students, but also because of the contributions the GSIs (and their mentors) make to the academic mission of this great university. Skill at teaching serves each instructor well later in life, as the ability to connect with people and to impart information effectively are important in so many walks of life. I wish you well as the semester winds down. Have a pleasant and productive summer! Andrew J. Szeri Dean of the Graduate Division
Dear Graduate Students, As the spring semester drew to a close, I enjoyed several opportunities to celebrate great teaching by graduate students. At the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award ceremony on the first of May at International House, we acknowledged the excellent work of 276 GSIs, out of the more than three thousand GSIs who were eligible. At a smaller ceremony of May 9, we congratulated, with our Teaching Effectiveness Awards, 12 GSIs for their often-ingenious ways of helping students grasp their subjects. Essays summarizing their effective techniques are posted on the GSI Center website. (Faculty as well as GSIs find these refreshing and useful; we are all constantly learning.) The luckiest GSIs learn the ropes of teaching from faculty experts who generously share what they know about ways to enhance learning. We single out a few of these special mentors each year and surprise them with individual awards, in their their classrooms if possible, and in the presence of their GSIs. Three of these GSI mentoring awards were presented to faculty members toward the end of April. The recipients are listed on the GSI Center website. Teaching is important not just as a means of financial support for our graduate students, but also because of the contributions the GSIs (and their mentors) make to the academic mission of this great university. Skill at teaching serves each instructor well later in life, as the ability to connect with people and to impart information effectively are important in so many walks of life. I wish you well as the semester winds down. Have a pleasant and productive summer! Andrew J. Szeri Dean of the Graduate Division