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Teaching Assistant Orientations

At Caltech, all Teaching Assistants (TAs) must complete a TA Orientation program prior to or at the start of their first appointment.

Graduate TAs

First-year graduate students entering Caltech in the Fall fulfill their TA orientation by participating in the Annual Teaching Conference; this is a required part of graduate orientation week whether planning to serve as a TA at Caltech or not, and includes both specific TA-related sessions and choices relevant to professional development more broadly. All incoming graduate students must also complete an online module about teaching-related policies. For the most recent Teaching Conference materials, please visit: /teachingconference. The upcoming academic year's Teaching Conference information will be updated during the summer. If you are a graduate student with questions about TA training, please contact ctlo@caltech.edu.

Undergraduate TAs

As of December 2021, new undergraduate TAs complete a self-contained, asynchronous course in Canvas to fulfill their TA orientation requirement. To complete this training course, new undergraduate TAs should:

  1. Self-enroll at https://caltech.instructure.com/enroll/NLYMWW .
  2. Complete all required modules and submissions by the following due dates for Fall 2023:
    - Appointed before or during Week 1: end of the day on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.
    - Appointed after Week 1: within 7 days of being appointed as a new TA.
  3. Check "grades" in the Canvas course to ensure that you received 100% on the policies quiz (if not, please retake it), and, within a week, an acceptable score on your reflections and assignments (if not, you may be asked to resubmit).

The course is estimated to take 1.5-2 hours and does not have to be done all at once. Each week, the CTLO will inform the Registrar's Office, Undergraduate Dean's Office, and Option Admins about new undergraduate TAs who have completed their orientation course.

Please note: Some Caltech Options may require an additional workshop, training, or other programming for new TAs, separate from this institute-wide Canvas course. Please read messages from your Option carefully.

If you have any questions, please contact ctlo@caltech.edu and/or your Option Admin.