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The Graduate School congratulates Tasnima Supty, recipient of the 2024 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award. Nominees and recipients of this award strive to foster learning environments that not only achieve desired learning outcomes but also inspire undergraduate students to reach their fullest potential.

The Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award recognizes the best, brightest, and most industrious of our graduate teaching assistants for their work supporting faculty members in the classroom.

Biology M.S. candidate Tasnima Supty, recipient of The Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, has been a teaching assistant for the last three semesters. She has served as the GTA for BIOL 231 and BIOL 325. Most recently she took on the role of GTA Coordinator for BIOL 325 where she peer mentored other graduate teaching assistants for the course.

Nominated by Dr. Emily Kane, Assistant Professor of Biology, Tasnima has become invaluable to the department by providing peer mentorship, feedback, re-designed lab assignments, and reliable support. “Her additional duties,” Dr. Kane explains, “include conducting weekly prep meetings and managing GTAs, posting materials on Moodle, and organizing course inventory and supplies. She has fully embraced this role and has done a great job keeping the labs on track.” Undergraduate students speak highly of her and other Biology GTAs look up to her as a result.

Tasnima reflected on her journey as a GTA by sharing with us an experience that brought joy and a greater understanding of the importance of the learning environment. During a lab activity, she had a reserved student accidentally spill a solution of glucose from a beaker on a lab bench. This meant data collection was disrupted for several other students and not just her own. Tasnima responded quickly to put the student at ease. She shared her own experiences with lab accidents and embraced the teachable moment, proposing a hypothetical scenario to the class where she changed the lab bench to plant tissue and opened a discussion that displayed critical thinking about how glucose would be transported from cell to cell. The collaborative discussion that resulted eased the student's embarrassment. After the accident, the student gradually contributed more to class discussions and sought Tasnima’s help. She understands that the GTA role extends beyond imparting knowledge to students. Being an effective educator, she says, means “nurturing a supportive learning environment, recognizing the potential growth in each student, and guiding them towards the best version of themselves.”

Tasnima, thank you for your dedication to undergraduate student success. You are an exemplary example of the important ways that graduate students contribute to the University’s teaching mission. The Graduate School is proud of your work and we look forward to seeing you continue to educate and inspire undergraduate students at UL Lafayette and beyond.