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Professional development programming for Stanford graduate students, including STEM students, has existed on campus at least since 1975 when the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) was founded and began offering orientations and workshops to interested teaching assistants. The array of CTL services steadily expanded over the years, as did the number of STEM departments collaboratively or independently offering programs to their graduate students.

In 1991 a Faculty Senate report suggested an overall framework for these programs, with CTL providing training in general teaching skills in partnership with departments that would concentrate on the discipline-specific aspects of TA development. Shortly thereafter, annual Faculty/TA Conferences on TA training were launched -- one for STEM departments and one for humanities and social science departments -- that provided a forum for departments to share successes and discuss ongoing challenges. In 1997, the Faculty Senate intensified earlier efforts by creating a Teaching Assistant Oversight Committee (TAOC) to formally monitor departments' progress in preparing TAs to assume their teaching responsibilities. The TAOC's first achievement was the development of guidelines for TA training, including the mandate that departments appoint a faculty point person for such efforts. With the hiring of an Associate Director for Science and Engineering in 1999, CTL stepped up its focus on STEM departments. At the same time, the TAOC held direct discussions with the Deans of Engineering, Humanities and Sciences, and Earth Sciences, confirming their commitment to the professional development of their graduate students. The combination of a CTL associate director with a background in science, the appointment of faculty point persons for TA training in most STEM departments, and the support of the cognizant deans, propelled STEM graduate teaching development significantly forward.

While Stanford has no centralized professional development program for STEM graduate students, the TAOC and CTL have succeeded in forging strong links with and among STEM departments by providing pedagogical support, archiving program information, and disseminating best practices. STEM pedagogy courses, teaching workshops, and brown-bags are offered by both the departments and the CTL, often in close collaboration with one another.

Adding to the growing culture of teaching and professional development on campus are nationally visible programs such as the CTL-sponsored Tomorrow's Professor Listserve and the Stanford Research Communication/I-RITE program. In addition Stanford has hosted NSF-funded multi-day career preparation and mentoring workshops for STEM graduate students from around the country. The challenge now before us is to decide if we are doing enough, if it is appropriately "packaged," and if what we are doing best meets the needs of our STEM graduate students.