Dear faculty colleagues,
I hope you were able to decompress a bit over the too-short Thanksgiving break. I know we all still have a lot remaining to accomplish this semester before a very well-deserved winter break. I have a few important updates to share with you below. And while I know how inundated your inboxes are, especially at this time of year, do please read carefully through these particular updates. Make sure that you bring some of these to the attention of your faculty mentees and peers in case they miss the ones that might be of particular help or relevance to them.
New Personal Circumstances Flag
The Faculty Affairs team has created a new Personal Circumstances flag that can be noted on a faculty memberās personnel record. This new option offers tenured and professional/non-tenure track faculty the opportunity to designate a year within the scope of a multi-year review as having been impacted by personal circumstances as is already available for tenure-track faculty. To request a flag or learn more, please visit the Personal Circumstances Flag website.
Zoom Q&A: Personal Circumstances Flag ā Thursday, December 10
For those who have questions or would like more information about this specific option, please join us for virtual discussion.
11:00am-12:00pm
Join Zoom Meeting
https://utexas.zoom.us/j/96748321268
Meeting ID: 967 4832 1268
Add to Calendar
UT System Curricular Innovation Grants
The UT System Office of Academic Affairs is offering funds to seed campus projects focused on āCurricular Innovation in the Post-Pandemic Digital Ageā to develop virtual and hybrid models for experiential and projectābased learning in the core curriculum and/or high enrollment gateway courses. A small committee of stellar faculty teachers will review applications to select the four proposals that UT Austin can forward for consideration by UT System. Applications are due at 5pm CST on Friday, December 11th. The portal for submission that also includes details about the applications can be found here.
Research Reboot ā Applications are Open
Earlier this week, the provost announced the Research Reboot program that is designed to help faculty members accelerate the resumption of their research trajectories after COVIDās negative impact. This competitive program offers tenured and tenure-track assistant and associate professors a semester of release from organized teaching to support the revitalization of their research, scholarship and creative endeavors. To apply or learn more, please visit the Research Reboot website.
Transformational Online Instruction Contribution Awards ā Coming Soon
In recognition of the impressive contributions of our professional / non-tenure-track faculty and our instructional staff in support of the campusā transition to online instruction, the Faculty Affairs team is crafting a call for nominees for Transformational Online Instruction Contribution awards. We will share final details about these awards in the spring semester but are unable to wait that long to share the good news. Stay tuned!Ā
If you have any faculty-related questions, concerns, and solutions please feel free to contact the Faculty Affairs team. Weāre here to support you in any way we can.
Stay well,
Tasha Beretvas