Graduate Student Orientation and Teaching Assistantship Training 2019

Welcome to Orientation and TA Training 2019! The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (FGPS) and the Graduate Student Association (GSA) are very excited to offer our newest grad students an afternoon of relevant and interesting breakout sessions, the opportunity to meet faculty and staff, and a chance to socialize with other students in their program.

And, if you have received a teaching assistantship, the following day is dedicated to you.

Orientation

Orientation will be held in the Bricker Academic Building on the Laurier Waterloo campus on Tuesday, Sept. 3. Registration begins at 12:30 p.m. Review the Orientation schedule below for detailed information on the time and location of sessions. In addition to our scheduled sessions, your home department or program may have their own events planned. Contact your graduate program coordinator for details.

Refer to the Campuses and Locations section for parking information and to review campus-specific interactive maps.

Teaching Assistantship Training

For new students who will be working as teaching assistants this academic year, training will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 4 in the Bricker Academic Building. All incoming students who will be TAs are expected to attend this training. Refer to the Teaching Assistantship Training schedule below for more details.

In addition to the training activities on Sept. 4, you will need to complete the Young Worker Health and Safety Orientation online training portal on MyLearningSpace, before September 4, as well as AODA and Integrated Accessibility Training. To complete these online training sessions, log into MyLearningSpace with your Laurier network username and password. Select “Self Registration” at the top of the page and scroll to find the modules.

If you experience difficulties logging into MyLearningSpace, please contact the ICT Service Desk at 519.884.1970 x4357 or support@mylaurier.ca.

Note: Orientation and TA Training activities will be held in the Bricker Academic Building (BAB) and in the Science Building (N). These schedules subject to change. Please check in closer to the date for a complete and up-to-date schedule.

Orientation Schedule – Tuesday, Sept. 3

8:30 a.m. – Departmental Orientation Activities

11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Student Services Fair

• Location: Peter's Building Atrium

12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. – Registration

• Location: BAB Lobby
• Pick up a Field Guide and a name tag.

1:30 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. – Welcome to Laurier!

• Location: BAB 201
• You will be welcomed by Associate Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Douglas Deutschman, by senior administration, and by the president of the Graduate Student Association, Kathy Bazinet.

1:50 p.m. to 2 p.m. – Introduction to ASPIRE

• Location: BAB 201
• Presenter: Brent Wolfe, associate dean, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
• Laurier’s professional skills development training program for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.

2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. – Navigating the Graduate Student Experience: A Road Map for Success

• Location: BAB 201
• Achieving academic and personal success as a graduate student isn't simply an extension of undergraduate success, but requires adaptation, awareness and commitment to a successful experience. This session includes advice and insight on how to navigate a successful graduate student experience using current student data, themes and trends, along with stories, anecdotes and personal experience.

2:30 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. – Break, sponsored by Veritas (GSA).

2:50 p.m. to 3:40 p.m. – Breakout Sessions (attend one of two)

Keeping Relationships on the Rails: Expectations between Supervisors and Graduate Students

• Location: BAB 102
• Presenters: Nadine Le Gros, Teaching and Learning; and Brent Wolfe, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
• The supervisor/ graduate student relationship is key to success in graduate school -- and sometimes well into your career. Differing expectations between supervisors and students can derail this relationship, but proactive discussions about expectations can help prevent misunderstandings. By attending this workshop, you will be able to: articulate how setting expectations can help reduce/prevent conflict; develop strategies for initiating conversations surrounding expectations; and engage in conversations to clarify expectations.

• Location: N 1001
• Presenters: Frances Humphreys and Courtney Arseneau, Career Development Centre.
• Successfully transitioning from graduate school into academic or post-academic professions requires a combination of self-reflection and job market awareness, as well as the proactive development of career planning and employment preparation skills. This session will introduce practical strategies and resources to assist you in conducting the necessary self-reflection and research to identify ideal work environments, optimal job satisfiers and realistic goals for pursuing an academic or non-academic career. In completing this workshop, students will be able to: recognize the value of understanding yourself as a key step in the career planning process; describe the need to articulate your skills, strengths and preferences as they apply to careers; discover how to gather relevant career information to assist in career decision making; explain how to begin generating a list of possible careers to research; and be aware of the career planning resources available through the Career Centre.

3:40 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. – Closing Panel Discussion

The Student/Supervisor Relationship: How to Make it a Positive Experience

• Location: BAB 201
• Moderator: Douglas Deutschman, associate vice-president and dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
• Graduate students will often find themselves working closely with a supervisor, whether someone who guides their research, employs them as a Research Assistant, who supervises their TA work, or who serves as a field-placement coordinator, for example. An effective student-supervisor relationship is frequently a contributing factor to a positive graduate student experience.
• Three student/supervisor pairs will each have 10 minutes to address the following topics:
  • How would you characterize your student/supervisor relationship?
  • What makes your working relationship successful?
  • What was one challenge you did not anticipate and how did you overcome the challenge?
• Q and A to follow.

Graduate Teaching Assistant (TA) Training Schedule – Wednesday, Sept. 4

8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. – Registration and Coffee

• Location BAB Lobby

8:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. – Welcome and Explanation of Sessions

• Location: BAB 201

9 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. – Session One

• Red Group: Young Worker Training (Safety, Health, Environment and Risk Management) – BAB 208
• Green Group: TAs as Employees (Human Resources) – BAB 210
• Blue Group: Best Practices in Teaching (Teaching and Learning) – BAB 209

9:50 a.m. to 10:10 a.m. – Break, light snacks

10:10 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Session Two

• Blue Group: Young Worker Training (Safety, Health, Environment and Risk Management) – BAB 209
• Red Group: TAs as Employees (Human Resources) – BAB 208
• Green Group: Best Practices in Teaching (Teaching and Learning) – BAB 210

11:10 a.m. to 12 p.m. – Session Three

• Green Group: Young Worker Training (Safety, Health, Environment and Risk Management) – BAB 210
• Blue Group: TAs as Employees (Human Resources) – BAB 209
• Red Group: Best Practices in Teaching (Teaching and Learning) – BAB 208

12 p.m. to 1 p.m. – Lunch

• Location: Science Building Atrium

1 p.m. to 1:40 p.m. – Mental Health, Wellness and a Caring Community

• Location: N 1001
• Presenters: Office of Student Affairs
• Whether in your role as a teaching assistant, instructional assistant, friend or colleague, students often reach out to other students as the first point of contact for support and help - both academically and personally. This session helps teaching assistants prepare to play a critical role in recognizing individuals in distress, facilitating effective and appropriate referrals, and assisting students to navigate and connect with supports.

1:50 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. – Q and A, Closing Remarks

• Location: N 1001
• Moderator: Douglas Deutschman, associate vice-president and dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. – Departmental TA Training