Wednesday, August 19, 2026
9:00 AM - 3:30 PM • Millennium Student Center
More information coming soon
Register for 2026 Summit
Note: This event was previously known as the Graduate Student Professional Development Summit and focused on different areas of professional development (schedules from previous years are available at the end of this page). This year (2026), the focus will be on teaching and learning in order to prioritize the goals of GTAs with active appointments.
The Graduate Teaching Assistant Summit is a mandatory day-long professional orientation for UMSL graduate students who are serving as Teaching Assistants in the Academic Year 2026--2027. The Summit provides resources and development opportunities for teaching assistants across all disciplines. Specialized sessions address the needs of GTAs for surviving and thriving in graduate school and for successful teaching and learning. These sessions will be organized into different tracks to meet all attendees’ needs and roles as GTAs whether they are new or returning students, and whether their role is grading, leading a recitation or lab, teaching their own course, etc.
The Summit is also a great venue to connect with other new and returning students interested in teaching. We will also hold an information session about our year-long program for graduate students, the Certificate in University Teaching (CUT) program.
2026 SUMMIT PROGRAM
8:30 – 9:00AM: Registration and Welcome
9:00 – 10:00AM: Collect & Connect
We'll kick off the day by getting to know one another and our relationships to teaching as a group.
10:00 – 10:50AM: Office Hours and Other Extreme Sports
Advanced GTAs share their hard-earned wisdom and answer questions about what they've learned along the way.
Discussants: Magda Martinez Mata (PhD Student: Neuroscience) • Tim Kauer (PhD Student: Criminology) • Paula Penagos-Rodriguez (PhD Student: Supply Chain) • Grace Desjardins (MA Student: Political Science) • Sriharsha Mamillapalli (PhD Student: Chemistry).
11:00AM – 12:00PM: Access Oriented, Learning Centered Teaching
In this interactive panel, experienced educators discuss the importance of access and provide concrete strategies that help us focus our teaching on the learning process and its outcomes.
Discussants: Jill Delston (Assistant Professor: Philosophy) • Katie Harster (Instructional Designer: Center for Teaching and Learning) • Lauren Obermark (Associate Professor: English) • Renata Sledge (Assistant Professor: Social Work).
12:00 – 1:00PM: Lunch
1:00 – 1:45PM (3 Concurrent Sessions)
Running a Lab
Experienced graduate teaching assistants discuss working in classrooms and research labs at UMSL.
Facilitators: Cynthia Dupureur (Professor: Chemistry) • Wendy Olivas (Professor: Biology).
Discussants: Raj Prasai • Soren Johnson (PhD Students: Biology) • Ryan Domalewski • Sai Anvesh Bezawada (PhD Students: Chemistry).
Facilitating Discussions
Professors and graduate students discuss how to navigate being in charge of a class discussion and how to engage students in conversation either in a typical class setting or when the topic is controversial.
Discussants: Grace Desjardins (MA Student: Political Science) • Emily Marler (Assistant Teaching Professor: Psychology) • Abigail Melchior (PhD Student: English) • Renata Sledge (Assistant Professor: Social Work).
Canvas for GTAs
This interactive session focuses on Canvas tools you can use as a Teaching Assistant to enhance both your and your students' experiences.
Lead: Katie Harster (Instructional Designer: Center for Teaching and Learning).
1:55 – 2:40PM (2 concurrent sessions)
Tutoring Best Practices
Our experts from the tutoring center discuss concrete strategies to guide student learning in one-on-one situations.
Leads: Bailey Farrar • Tyler Smith (Tutoring coordinators: University Tutoring Center)
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Writing
In this cross-disciplinary panel, writing experts discuss writing as a practice and an assessment tool and how to model it for our students.
Discussants: Jeanne Allison (Teaching Professor: English) • Lea-Rachel Kosnik (Professor: Economics) • Lynn Staley (Teaching Professor: English)
2:50 – 3:30PM (2 concurrent sessions)
Giving Effective Feedback
The majority of feedback we give to students does not support learning. Learn about effective feedback strategies that support student learning.
Presenter: Jamie Martin (Postdoctoral fellow: Education)
Canvas for GTAs
This interactive session focuses on Canvas tools you can use as a Teaching Assistant to enhance both your and your students' experiences.
Lead: Katie Harster (Instructional Designer: Center for Teaching and Learning).
Check out previous years' programs here!
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