Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards

Each year, UNC Charlotte’s top graduate teaching assistants are honored with the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award. The award recognizes master’s and doctoral students nominated by faculty supervisors for their outstanding and innovative teaching techniques.

We offer two Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards:

  • The TA Award recognizes Teaching Assistants who performed a range of TA responsibilities in support of a faculty member, including running lab sessions, but who have never served as stand-alone Instructors of Record.
  • The IOR Award recognizes Teaching Assistants who served as Instructors of Record for a minimum of one prior semester. This category honors graduate students who have had full responsibility for a course as a stand-alone instructor.

Both winners will receive a $1,000 financial award to their student account!

how it works (2026-2027)

  1. Nominees must be enrolled full-time and demonstrate superior teaching skills while serving as an instructor in the classroom or laboratory or assisting the professor with teaching in the classroom or laboratory. 
  2. The number of nominations must be limited within a program to those students who are exceptional.
  3. Nominees should have outstanding student evaluations. If the program does not collect student evaluations, the nominee can communicate directly with former or current students and request statements in support of their teaching.  The more concrete these testimonials, the more useful for the judges.  Formal evaluations measure whether the TA or IOR was organized, responsive, effective, approachable, etc; letters from students can address similar themes. Nominees without student evaluations are unlikely to succeed in the award process. 
  4. Nominees should have original teaching materials that support their nomination. 
  5. Nominees must have had significant teaching responsibilities for at least two semesters. The current semester may be counted.

Dates to Know:

  • February 2: Nomination window opens – email Laura Pagani (lpagani@charlotte.edu) to nominate someone!
  • February 13: Nomination window closes at 5pm EST
  • March 23: Finalists will be notified by email
  • April 17 1:00pm – 2:00pm in Cone Center Room 113: Awards Ceremony – all Finalists are invited to attend!

Need more info? Contact Laura Pagani

2025-2026 TA Award finalists:

Ahmed Abdelazeez – College of Science
Abdulmoneam Ali – College of Engineering
Isha Abdullah – College of Engineering
Shrabani Ghosh – College of Computing and Informatics
Melissa Harmon – College of Humanities and Earth & Social Sciences
Tamanna Huq – Klein College of Science
Mimosa Khatun – College of Humanities and Earth & Social Sciences
Kwesi Quansah – College of Humanities and Earth & Social Sciences
Madison Swails – College of Science
Haleigh West-Page – Klein College of Science

2024-2025 TA Award finalists:

Ahmed Abdelazeez – College of Science
Brynna Cochran – College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences
Samantha Cruz – College of Health and Human Services
Vishaal Devisetty – College of Computing and Informatics
Garrett Driscoll – College of Science
Sarah Edwards – College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences
Avery Grice – College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences
Katie Holly – College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences
Nita Khanal – The William States Lee College of Engineering
Libbie Shepherd – College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences
Lauren Stahl – College of Health and Human Services
Tuyen Truong – College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences

***TA AWARD WINNER: Lauren Stahl***