Center for Advancing Student Learning (CASL)

Welcome to the Fall 2026 semester at UWM! We’re excited for this upcoming year of teaching, learning, and supporting our students together. TA+ is a newsletter to connect you with relevant resources, specifically curated for Teaching Assistants. We’re glad you’re part of this community and look forward to the semester ahead.

New TA Orientation and Training is composed of three mandatory parts for new TAs:

The in-person TA Orientation is the second part of mandatory TA orientation and training for new TAs. The orientation is designed to inform TAs of their duties and responsibilities, provide instruction on teaching and learning tools (i.e., Canvas), and share essential resources. If you have questions, please reach out to advancing-learning@uwm.edu.

The self-paced TA Orientation opens August 24th, and is designed to prepare you for your first week of classes. It serves as your first mandatory step in preparing for teaching success at UWM.

To continue scaffolding TA support and learning from the initial TA Orientation, CASL provides just-in-time training sessions on the first Friday of each month, in-person, from 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Each session is designed to give TAs timely, practical tools for the semester ahead. 

Interested in shaping a Teaching Assistant (TA) Community of Practice? We're seeking engaged TAs ready to take a leadership role in designing what this community looks like, offers, and accomplishes. Complete the interest form to get involved. This is a great opportunity for CV building, professional growth, networking, and ongoing peer support. 

Join Accessibility Resource Center (ARC) staff for an Open House for UWM Faculty and Instructional Staff, refreshments provided.

Active Teaching Lab provides instructors an opportunity to learn from other educators. Each month a UWM instructor shares how they utilized a cool tool or a teaching strategy in a course and the outcome: what worked, what was hard, what was learned through the process, and what they’d do differently.

Need help making your course materials digitally accessible? Join our open Digital Accessibility Support Hours, offered in partnership with the Accessibility Resource Center (ARC). These in-person or Zoom room drop-in sessions provide instructors with dedicated 1:1 support to review course content, documents, presentations, PDFs, multimedia, and other teaching materials for accessibility. Bring your laptop and any materials you would like to work on, and we will help you identify barriers, apply best practices, and improve access for learners. 

Join us for an interactive Lunch & Learn focused on fostering student engagement through active learning strategies. A representative from CASL will share insights into what works for our students and introduce Vevox, an educational technology tool that supports participation, feedback, and engagement. An instructor will then discuss how they engage students, highlighting practical examples and lessons learned. Bring your lunch and enjoy the first portion as a listening session, then stay for an informal discussion where attendees can share ideas, ask questions, and learn from one another’s experiences. Come ready to eat, listen, connect, and engage.

AI Club is a monthly, informal community of practice where colleagues bring real questions, experiments, and work in progress involving AI. A typical session includes one or two brief, informal shares followed by conversation, collaborative problem-solving, and an exchange of practical ideas and resources.

Whether you’re teaching your first online course, supporting instruction as a TA, or have years of experience designing and delivering online learning, the Online Teaching Community of Practice is a space to connect, collaborate, and grow. Open to all instructors and teaching assistants engaged in online teaching, this monthly community brings together colleagues to discuss real challenges, exchange ideas, and discover practical solutions that improve the online teaching learning experience.

Center for Advancing Student Learning (CASL)
414-229-4319
2033 E. Hartford Ave., B50
Milwaukee, WI 53211