Sutter, Li honored with 2024 Gillings teaching assistant awards

April 29, 2024

Every year, the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health presents the Graduate Teaching Assistant (TA) Awards to recognize teaching assistants who inspire students; enhance student learning through creative, engaging and/or innovative teaching methods; support student success in the classroom; and facilitate student development as public health professionals.

Teaching assistants nominated for this award are students who are pursuing a graduate degree at the Gillings School and have served in a TA role during the current academic year. This year, the award comes with a $1,000 prize, intended to help advance their educational development in teaching.

The 2024 award winners are Sarah Sutter, graduate teaching assistant and Master of Public Health student in health behavior, and Haolin “Leo” Li, graduate teaching assistant and doctoral student in biostatistics.

Sarah Sutter

Sarah Sutter

One nominator wrote of Sutter:

“People in my cohort cannot say enough good things about having Sarah as a TA. She was immediately warm and welcoming and made those of us who were new to the program/UNC feel right at home. She was excited whenever we showed up for office hours, gave us practical advice, and made herself available when we needed to reach her. Sarah was also a huge advocate and support for the students during stressful times, including when the school went on lockdown. We looked forward to every class with her; she always made us laugh and feel heard. She is so deserving of this award.”

Another wrote:

“Sarah quite literally got me through my first semester as a graduate student, and that is not an exaggeration. Every meeting with her was valuable, and she provided a lot of guidance when I felt I was struggling to understand content or simply just stay afloat. She always made herself approachable and responded quickly. She recognized that we’re all human and deserve to be treated as such. Her support made me want to try harder. Sarah deserves this award, and I want her to know how much I appreciated her support that first semester. She embodies what Gillings is all about.”

Haolin “Leo” Li

Haolin “Leo” Li

One nominator wrote of Li:

“Haolin was the teaching assistant of my BIOS 660 course. He held an office hour every Monday to answer questions about course materials and homework. Every week, his office hour would be so crowded that we needed to bring chairs from other rooms to sit in. He is patient, intelligent and encouraging as a teaching assistant. Aware of the huge variance of our backgrounds in the course material, he would always cover the most basic ideas of the problem and make sure everyone follows what’s happening. He would often stay after we reached time for the schedule office hour to finish up all the questions and never complaint. It’s apparent that he really enjoyed working with students and helping them.”

Another wrote:

“Leo Li goes above and beyond to support student success, offering personalized feedback and additional resources to ensure students excel. His dedication to mentoring students in their growth as public health professionals is evident in guiding students in their research and spending a lot of time with students.”

Contact the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@unc.edu.