Would you like to nominate someone for the Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award?

In recognition of the valuable role that Teaching Assistants play in our programs, UBC annually awards nineteen Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards. Each Killam GTA Award includes a Certificate and $1,000.00. These awards seek to recognize teaching excellence within our institution and to underscore the importance and value that UBC places on teaching and learning. Read more about the award here.

Eligibility:

The award is open to all Graduate Teaching Assistants at UBC Vancouver who have been acting in the position during the current academic year (2025-26) and/or the preceding academic year (2024-25). The instructions and submission forms below are only for TAs in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems.

Deadline for Nominations:

(Tentative) Thursday, February 19th, 2026 at 3pm.

Nomination Process:

Review the criteria and click the button below to access the nomination form. You will be asked to include a 150-word rationale for your nomination.

LFS NOMINATION FORM

Have you been nominated for the Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award?

Review the criteria and see general guidelines for submitting your nomination package.

Deadline for Nomination Package (including all support letters):

(Tentative) Thursday, March 12th, 2026 at 3pm.

Faculty of Land and Food Systems Guidelines for Nomination Package:

The person nominating the GTA, or the self-nominee, must compile a dossier of information about the nominee’s work as a TA, comprising the items listed below, and addressing the award criteria. These materials are collected from the nominee or other sources as appropriate.

At LFS, there are two components in the nomination package.

Teaching Philosophy statement: A statement of the candidate’s values and assumptions about teaching and learning in higher education and of their experiences with putting these values and ideas into practice (maximum 2 pages)
As part of the above statement, the candidate might consider including some of the following:
- a description of a recent instructional opportunity or problem faced by the Teaching Assistant, outlining steps taken toward resolution of the issue.
- an example of written or oral feedback given by the Teaching Assistant to students in a laboratory, tutorial, fieldwork or clinical situation, or course. This could take the form of comments on lab reports or tutorial assignments, essays, or other submissions which the Teaching Assistant has directly overseen.
- further relevant examples of interest and involvement in teaching and student learning; for example, participation in teaching enhancement seminars and workshops, independent reading in the field of teaching in higher education, or involvement on Departmental or other University committees which examine teaching and learning issues.
A summary of your teaching responsibilities: a summary of recent teaching responsibilities as well as contributions to teaching in the past: include number of students, type of teaching undertaken, hours per week in the classroom, and average time spent constructively in consultation with students and supervisors in carrying out Teaching Assistantship duties. (maximum 2 pages)

Package Submission Process:

Please save your nomination package as a PDF file and click the button below to submit. This form can also be used to submit support letters.

NOMINATION PACKAGE SUBMISSION FORM

Are you submitting a support letter for a nominated LFS TA?

Nominees may collect formal feedback from former students (not current students), colleagues and/or supervisors which addresses the stated criteria for this award in the form of a support letter.

Current students may want to show their support to their TAs. To avoid potential conflict of interest, identity of current students of nominees will only be made available to the adjudication committee, and not shared with the nominees.

Deadline for Support Letters: