Angie Fazekas
Nominated by June Larkin for her work in WGS160Y: Introduction to Women and Gender Studies
Excerpt from Dr. Larkin’s nomination letter:
“Angie had an additional role as the WIT TA [Lead Writing Teaching Assistant] in the course. The duties of leading TA training sessions, running benchmark meetings, creating writing resources and developing tutorial activities were more demanding than ever this year with the need to adapt materials for an online environment and train mostly first-time TAs to teach on virtual platforms. […] Angie became a linchpin for all the TAs, providing constructive feedback on their marking, guiding them through difficult teaching moments, and encouraging their pedagogical ideas. (She was also the consummate troubleshooter on unforeseen issues!) The skills and confidence Angie instilled in the TAs has everything to do with the quality experience they provided for students. […] Angie was credited often in chat notes about WGS160Y being a special community space. While there was high praise from students in her own tutorial, comments such as ‘Angie UR not my TA but I luv you’ were common.”
Darlyne Bautista
Nominated by M. Murphy for her work in WGS260F: Texts, Theories, Histories
Excerpt from Dr. Murphy’s nomination letter:
“Darlyne was an outstanding TA under very trying circumstances. Darlyne did the technical aspects of the course, TAd, did two lectures, MC’d the discussions during lecture, and held a weekly co-working event on Friday that was a lifeline to students. Her lectures were incredible, woven in with interactions, drawing from her experience in grassroots teaching during community organizing. […] We had weekly TA meetings and Darlyne was an important person in keeping spirits up during the term among the TAs. The students at the end of the class organized a beautiful party and made a special mention to celebrate Darlyne as a crucial lifeline that kept them going. The course ended with Darlyne and I doing a lip sync competition to Whitney Houston, and of course Darlyne won. On a more serious note, Darlyne also taught the students how to craft their own relation to Land acknowledgements, particularly attending to the complications involved for students with diasporic lives and families. In sum, Darlyne was incredible. Smart, ethical, caring, and a real leader among the TAs and students. She was the heart of the course.”