Professional Effectiveness and Teaching
Campus Services
Career Development
UBC Okanagan is a small campus with big opportunities to get involved with the university, the community, your professional interests, or wherever your interests lie. We’ve got plenty of resources to connect you with a variety of opportunities that speak to your personal interests, inspire your creativity, spark your ingenuity, build your professional network, expand your leadership skills and further your career goals.
Career Services offers a number of career development services and resources for both students and alumni. Career planning workshops, career fairs, and employer information sessions are offered throughout the year. Students can also make an individual appointment to discuss career planning or employment search options.
Graduate Teaching, Research, or Academic Assistantships
Teaching, research or academic assistantships are intended to assist full-time graduate students in meeting the cost of their studies. These appointments may involve part-time duties in teaching, research or other academic activities. Graduate students are prioritized for these positions- Masters students have two years of priority for placement; Doctoral students have four years of priority placement. The number of available positions is contingent on Faculty budget and overall student numbers.
Most faculties have a limited number of Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) positions available for registered full-time graduate students. Full GTA positions entail 12 hours of work per week in preparation, lecturing, or laboratory instruction. Many graduate programs offer partial GTA appointments with fewer than 12 hours of work per week.
Graduate Research Assistantships are employment opportunities for qualified students offered by faculty members with research grants and contracts. As a paid research assistant, graduate students assist their supervisor or other researchers in conducting high-level research, which often contributes to the student’s thesis or dissertation. GRA’s are not guaranteed because they follow the financial cycles of the supervisor’s external grants and contracts.
Teaching and research assistantships are assigned by the course home departments.
All questions should be directed to your supervisor or program coordinator.
To learn more about Teaching, Research or Academic Assistantships, read the CoGS Policy Manual.
Resources
| Leaders Dialogue Series: On Making a Difference for Good | The Leaders’ Dialogue series is an opportunity to get to know individuals who have made a difference for good in the world, and hear their thoughts on questions such as ‘What motivates you?’, ‘What does ‘success’ mean to you?’, ‘What have you learned about leadership?’, and ‘What’s wrong/right with the world?’ | Graduate Pathways to Success |
| Managing Project Timelines (online course) | This online, on-demand course will help you to reach project deadlines with less stress. Gain techniques and tools to help you create realistic project timelines and manage your time and energy. At the end of the course, you will:-Understand how to define tasks, task duration, milestones, and deadlines-Know how to use planning techniques to implement and adapt project timelines-Learn processes and techniques to communicate your project status to your research team | Mitacs Training |
| Practical Tips for Growing Your Network (online course) | This short online, on-demand course will help you get the knowledge you need to build your network! Your time at graduate school will be filled with opportunities to make connections in and outside of your field. This course will give you the information you’ll need to make the most of each opportunity. Building a strong personal and professional network may be one of the single most important things you can do for your career. Learn how to plan, prepare, build and foster your network and watch opportunities unfold in front of you. | Mitacs Training |
| Time Management (online course) | If you find yourself frequently running out of time on a project or impending deadlines are making you anxious, this course is here to help. You’ll learn how to make the most of every minute, avoid procrastination and other “time thieves,” and create achievable plans and schedules, based on project management best practices. | Mitacs Training |
| Writing Effective Emails (online course) | In this online, on-demand course, you will gain the confidence to communicate effectively and learn valuable ways to finesse your email etiquette. Learn how to: -Draft concise emails with clear information and direction -Use email appropriately within the work environment |
Mitacs Training |
| Writing Strategic Business Reports (online course) | In this online, on-demand course you will learn how to write clear and strategic business reports that achieve their intended purpose. Learn to: -Tailor a report for its intended function and audience -How to make a positive impression with the readers |
Mitacs Training |
| Business Concepts for Life Scientists (Online, Self-paced) | The purpose of this online, on-demand course is to enhance PhD scientists’ understanding of foundational business concepts. This business coursework is unique because it is designed to prepare scientists for career transitions into both academic and non-academic settings. The course comprises a series of three modules – Business Strategy, Finance and Business Development. | iBiology
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| Cross-Cultural Team Communications (online course) | This online course is available on-demand. Navigating, contributing and building effective teams may be the single most important skill that spans disciplines and industries in our current and diverse workplaces. Learn tools and techniques to build your awareness of multicultural team performance, navigate workplace cultural communication, and use effective conversations to deal with conflict in international and multicultural team settings. | Mitacs Training |
| Effective Teaching Online, Workshop Recordings | Going online all of a sudden? Check out CIRTL’s Effective Teaching Online playlist on YouTube, where you can find pre-recorded versions of two recent workshops: one designed to give instructors a brief introduction to online, evidence-based, inclusive teaching strategies; the other designed to share top-level recommendations on how to effectively support online instructors during temporary distance learning. Related workshop materials are provided in video descriptions. | Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning |
| Pivoting to Online Teaching, Webinar Recording and Resources | In this webinar Sara Schley, PhD, walks you through a practical framework for moving your course online quickly. | National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity |
Workshops & Events
The College of Graduate Studies offers a variety of professional development workshops throughout the year.
UBC Vancouver hosts many webinars for all UBC students, that can help you take steps towards your goals, make connections and learn directly from alumni and employers.