Teaching, service, and research--making the most of graduate positions

Budgets are tightening but the department needs are greater than ever, meeting students where they are is critical to any first-year engineering program. Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) are a natural part of any first-year program and typically provide a variety of teaching services including instruction, labs, grading, and tutoring. Other graduate students who may engage with students and faculty within an active first-year program include Graduate Service Assistants (GSAs) and Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs). Graduate students contribute significantly to an active first-year engineering program at a large, R1 institution in the mid-Atlantic region. All graduate students regardless of the specific role, engage in professional development and facilitate many programmatic activities, promote students' engagement and support engineering education. In addition to GTAs, GSAs and GRAs are actively engaged and helping this unit to stretch limited resources... This poster will describe the roles and contributions of GTAs, GRAs, and GSAs in an active and engaging First-Year Engineering Program. A specific focus is on the contributions of GSAs within the overall program context of program goals and activities. Additional information will be provided about the various professional development of all graduate students the unit and how these roles work together to facilitate good stewardship of limited resources.