Required Training

At FSU, TAs are required to participate in an online training about important policies and practices as part of their preparation and certification to teach. CAT will also offer opportunities for additional professional development in a variety of formats that TAs can explore after they’ve completed the required portion on Canvas.

For more information about TA job codes, responsibilities/training requirements associated with each TA category, and other important TA policies, please download the University-Wide TA Standards Document: University Wide TA Standards

Instructions for the Essential Policies & Practices Training for TAs, Fall  2024 – Training Now Closed

Welcome to teaching at FSU! We hope you’ll have a wonderful experience growing as an instructor and professional during your time here. On this page, we’re providing instructions for the fully online required training for teaching assistants across departments and programs. The amount of online training you’ll need to complete depends on your TA role, so be sure to ask your supervisor in your department or program about that.

For your convenience and flexibility, this mandatory training will be offered in a 100% asynchronous online format.

So that all TAs are prepared to teach and working in compliance with FSU policies before the fall semester begins, all modules and assignments required for your TA role must be completed by August 21, 2024.

Note: This training satisfies the required graduate student TA policy training, as determined by University-wide TA Standards.

Note: The training to prepare TAs for Fall 2024 is now closed.

Who should I contact if I have questions?

Please contact Caity Bente at our email address teaching-assistants@fsu.edu with any questions about the TA Training. Caity serves as the Program Manager for TA Training & Professional Development and can work with other CAT staff to address any inquiries or concerns.

Training Requirement Overview for TA Categories

Please review the offer letter you signed when you got the job as a TA and/or check with your department to determine which modules you are required to complete for your TA role. If you are in doubt, it’s okay to complete all modules because the training can prepare you to take on TA roles with greater responsibility/certification levels.

Category 1 & Category 2 TAs

  • Required to complete Module 1, which includes:
    • Learning-Centered Teaching
    • Providing Effective Feedback
    • Basics of Teaching with Technology at FSU
    • FERPA
    • Academic Honor Policy
    • Non-Discrimination/Anti-Sexual Misconduct
  • TAs must receive 100% on all quizzes by the training deadline. Quizzes are not timed and can be taken as many times as needed to achieve 100%.

Category 3 & Category 4 TAs

  • Required to complete Module 1 and Module 2, which include:
    • Learning-Centered Teaching
    • Providing Effective Feedback
    • Basics of Teaching with Technology at FSU
    • FERPA
    • Academic Honor Policy
    • Non-Discrimination/Anti-Sexual Misconduct
    • Designing for Learning
    • Facilitating Discussions
    • Creating a Welcoming Classroom Climate
    • Instructors of Record Policies for Class Facilitation
    • Americans with Disabilities Act
  • TAs must receive 100% on all quizzes by the training deadline. Quizzes are not timed and can be taken as many times as needed to achieve 100%.
  • If you completed all requirements for Module 1 (previously called the Biannual PIE Teaching Conference Day 1) in a previous semester, you are not required to recomplete Module 1. However, please verify with your department that you have received credit for the Biannual PIE Teaching Conference Day 1 in previous semesters before disregarding these modules.

Category 5 TAs

  • Required to complete Module 1, Module 2, and Module 3 which include:
      • Learning-Centered Teaching
    • Providing Effective Feedback
    • Basics of Teaching with Technology at FSU
    • FERPA
    • Academic Honor Policy
    • Non-Discrimination/Anti-Sexual Misconduct
    • Designing for Learning
    • Facilitating Discussions
    • Creating a Welcoming Classroom Climate
    • Instructors of Record Policies for Class Facilitation
    • Americans with Disabilities Act
    • Communication & Professionalism
    • Conflicts of Interest Policy
  • TAs must receive 100% on all quizzes by the training deadline. Quizzes are not timed and can be taken as many times as needed to achieve 100%.
  • Please note – if you completed all requirements for Module 1 and Module 2 (previously called the Biannual PIE Teaching Conference Day 1 and Day 2) in a previous semester, you are not required to recomplete Module 1 and Module 2. However, please verify with your department that you have received credit for the Biannual PIE Teaching Conference Day 1 in previous semesters before disregarding these modules.

FAQS

How has the training changed in 2024?

The Program for Instructional Excellence (PIE) has merged with the Center for the Advancement of Teaching (CAT) at FSU. As we continue to refine our training procedures, you may notice some changes within the instructions and overall process. Currently, we have removed the “Day 1” and “Day 2” labels for training content to increase clarity. They are now called “Module 1” and “Module 2” because they are fully online and don’t take a full day to complete. The “Category 5 TA Training,” which used to be a separate Canvas course, is now included with the others and called “Module 3.”

TAs can determine which training modules they need to complete by matching the category of their TA role (categories 1 through 5) with the correct module. Modules are labeled to define which ones are needed for each TA category (see screenshots below). Furthermore, the overall training name has been changed from the Biannual PIE Teaching Conference to Essential Policies & Practices for TAs.

training module 1 screenshot
training module 2 screenshot
training module 3

Who should complete the Essential Policies & Practices Training for TAs?

  • New graduate student TAs: Graduate students cannot hold a TA position unless they satisfy the University-wide TA Standards, and the online training is a required element of that.
  • New graduate students who do not yet hold a TA assignment, but will likely do so in the future. Graduate students can take the training, even if they do not have a position offer in order to be prepared for a potential future offer.
  • Returning graduate students who have never attended PIE or a departmental equivalent, but who may teach in the future are also encouraged to attend.
  • Postdocs who will hold a teaching appointment.
  • Interested faculty and staff are also welcome!

Which modules should I complete?

If you are unsure of your TA role/which modules you need to complete, please contact your academic department. That said, graduate students are welcome to complete all of the modules. This can help you to prepare for future TA role offers with increased responsibilities. It is each trainee’s responsibility to verify their training requirements for their specific position within their department, register for the training, regularly monitor their email for important training announcements, and enroll themselves into the Canvas site via the self-enrollment link once it has become available.
If you have questions or do not fully understand what training you are required to complete, please contact your academic department. Academic departments may contact Caity Bente at teaching-assistants@fsu.edu with any additional questions.

Where/how is the Essential Policies & Practices Training for TAs offered?

Online – For the Summer 2024, all mandatory training content/assignments are hosted asynchronously through the Canvas learning management system. See details above for the due dates of all training assignments and instructions for how to register and self-enroll into the Canvas site. You must have FSU credentials (i.e., an FSU ID and password) to access the Canvas site. If you do not have these items, you will need to talk to your department and coordinate with ITS ASAP. CAT does not manage any aspect of the FSU ID or other login credentials.

How do I receive credit for the Essential Policies & Practices Training for TAs?

TAs do not receive a certificate or confirmation email for training completion. Credit is tracked in the Graduate Student Tracking (GST) system. Department staff who work with the TA coordination process should be able to access this system. They will need to check the “Notes” tab within each student’s profile to determine if they have received credit. Please note, it can take several days after the training deadline for credit to appear in GST as the data must be manually uploaded for 500 to 1000 TAs each semester.

How do I know if I have completed all assignments?

Click on the “Grades” tab in the menu on the left side of the Canvas site. In the “Scores” section for each assignment, you should see notations such as 100/100, 70/70, etc.. For each assignment you are required to do for your TA role (Module 1, 2, or 3 assignments), you will need to ensure you have achieved 100% completion – there should be no blank spaces or missing points out of the total score listed.

How/why is the training updated?

Based on post-training feedback from trainees, we will make data-driven decisions on formatting for future iterations of the training. Policy updates come from the relevant offices on campus, and the modules on teaching practices are updated by CAT. Each semester, we create a new Canvas course to provide the trainings.