10 TA honored for outstanding work

Judith Rodin personally funded the $500 awards for each grad students. Two hundred and seventy undergraduate students cast their votes shortly after returning from spring break. Yesterday, in the cafe of Irvine Auditorium, the ballot results were presented and nine teaching assistants were each presented with a certificate and a $500 check as recognition for their outstanding teaching. One recognized TA could not attend the ceremony. Approximately 35 people -- including University President Judith Rodin, Deputy Provost Peter Conn, the committee members, faculty members and friends -- gathered to commend the graduate students. This year marks the first that TA recognition awards have been based upon nominations by undergraduates. "I really have to congratulate the undergraduates for the thoughtfulness of statements provided," said Walter Licht, the chairman of the selection committee and an associate dean in the School of Arts and Sciences. "It was a heartwarming experience," the History professor added, "for the committee to see the devotion of undergraduates to their TAs and the commitment of the TAs [to their teaching]." Licht cited the three criteria used to determine the final 10: the quality of the undergraduate nominations, the TAs' statements of their teaching philosophy and their faculty letters of support. The event was proposed to Rodin by Wharton doctoral candidate Eric Eisenstein, the president of the Graduate Student Associations Council. "The nice thing about the award is that it's a sort of reciprocation of the effort and care I put into my classes," said Eric Kondratieff, an Ancient History TA for four semesters. Yesterday's ceremony opened with a few words from Conn and Rodin, the patron of the award. Rodin had announced in November that she would personally be funding each of the 10 awards of $500 this year. "I do hope that Penn is a place that demonstrates an appreciation of our graduate students," the president said. "We are grateful for your teaching." Explaining the rationale in selecting 10 TAs, Rodin said, "We really felt that it was problematic to only single out one individual." Award recipient Edward Winston, a Biology TA for three semesters, explained that his job is one that many graduate students typically don't take for fear of being overly distracted from their labwork. "But for me," he said, "what good is working in a lab if you can't share your interest?" Awardee Stacey Philbrick, a Political Science TA, sees the commendation received from both sides of the process -- undergraduates and faculty -- as "really validating" of her ability as a TA. For Philbrick, the award is evidence "that [her] efforts haven't been wasted." College sophomore Meredith Chiaccio, who came to the event in support of Gordan Wong, her Chemical Engineering TA, said it was nice to see that undergraduates are being recognized as a valuable source for selecting the best TAs. "Students are the ones who see [the teaching assistants] the most," Chiaccio said. Chiaccio recalled how Wong once spent 90 minutes outside of scheduled office hours helping her the day before an exam. According to Chiaccio, Wong frequently provided extra review sessions for tests. Other TAs recognized yesterday evening were Aaron Bloomfield, Christopher Burrows, Jeffrey Casello, Gregory Flaxman, Tamar Kaplan and Jason Parsley.