Dear colleagues,
Let me begin by thanking everyone for the work you’ve done to prepare your courses and work for the fall. Planning for the semester has been an evolving process, and you deserve enormous credit in responding and meeting the call as you prepare your courses.
Under normal circumstances, the beginning of the fall semester is a time of excitement and anticipation. Many students are moving back to campus and reconnecting with their friends and communities. New students are eager to begin their college careers, find their communities and build those relationships that will help them find their paths. Obviously, this fall semester will look different in many regards, but the foundation of their experience — and success — relies heavily upon the relationships and connections they establish.
I’ve heard so many stories from students and others about the incredible ways faculty have inspired them, challenged their thinking and really had a direct impact on their paths after UT to contribute to society in meaningful ways. This is the culture of teaching and learning, and UT faculty members do this very well. Better than their national peers, in fact.
A survey of UT alumni by Gallup found that our graduates felt the support they received from faculty and staff members was higher than that at peer institutions (i.e., my professor cared about me as a person, my professor made me excited about learning, I had a mentor who encouraged me to pursue my dreams and goals). This points to a strong culture of teaching and learning, and it reinforces my conviction that our faculty are committed to the success and well-being of our students.
And like everything else, how we accomplish this in the fall will look very different.
We all know this will be harder. With more than 60% of faculty teaching online, we won’t benefit from the accumulation of those small moments on campus where we build that trust and connection with our students. I know many of you have given considerable thought to how you build these connections with your students, especially the students who are at higher risk of struggling. First-generation students, first-year students, students from under-resourced schools and backgrounds — these groups in particular are going to face increased adversity. A growing body of scholarship in this area makes clear that faculty play an integral role. If you’d like to learn more about it, I’ve included references here and here.
So, how do we build these essential connections under these unprecedented circumstances? With most of our classes now happening in online and hybrid environments, the answer will rely on your creativity and what suits your class. Many faculty will not be running into students in the hallway after class, walking down Speedway, or holding in-person office hours. Speaking for myself, that’s how I got to really learn more about my students, their dreams, their frustrations and all the things that shape the ways we try to help.
You are the experts. You know your class and students better than we do. Building even small, deliberate moments of connection that show our students they are important to us can make the difference in a student’s ability to be successful. That might mean acknowledging your students as they enter your classroom (whether in person or online), holding office hours just for first-year students, or it could be meeting a small group of your first-generation students in an outdoor space when you can socially distance. Even if you’re able to arrive to your online class early and stay late, those can be the small things that will make a positive impact.
Research and scholarship are also uniquely challenging, but you may similarly consider creative opportunities for your students. For a variety of reasons, many students will not be able to engage in labs, performance spaces, studios, and other research spaces on campus. There are so many core skills that go into being a researcher, including having a command of the literature, critically evaluating core arguments, and being able to analyze data. Many of these skills can be learned without hands-on experience or specialized facilities. If you can find creative ways to help interested students to acquire some of those skills this year, you will have done a great service for them.
Whatever effort you are able to make to build those connections, thank you. The collective impact of more than 3,000 faculty members all doing the small things to help our students will have an outsized positive impact on their lives. And 20 years from now, they’ll be able to look back and talk about the professor who changed their lives during a very challenging and difficult period for us all.
My deepest thanks and appreciation to you all.
Dan Jaffe