The Center for Teaching and Learning administers the Outstanding Teaching Assistant (OTA) award, sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Instruction. This award recognizes teaching assistants who demonstrate superior instructional skills while serving in the classroom or laboratory.
OTA Nominations
Attention Directors of Graduate Studies: The nomination period for the 2026 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards is now closed. Information about the 2027 Awards Cycle will be available in early September 2026.
Winners of this award are celebrated at our annual Spring GradTeach Celebration, where they are also invited to pick up their OTA certificate.
Eligibility Criteria
This award is intended to recognize graduate students who have demonstrated superior teaching skills while serving in an instructional role at UGA. Additional eligibility criteria for student nominees include the following:
- The nominee must not have previously won this award.
- The nominee myst be registered as a full-time student during the semester of nomination for the award.
- The nominee must have met all TA Policy requirements for training and demonstration of language proficiency.
- The nominee must have had significant teaching responsibilities at UGA for at least two semesters. One of these semesters must have occurred during the Fall semester of nomination, or in the academic year (including summer) preceding nomination. For example, 2026 award winners must have had significant teaching responsibilities at least once from August 2024 – December 2025.
Questions? Please contact us via [email protected].