Faculty Affairs Update – 3.25

Dear faculty colleagues,

Welcome back from spring break. I hope you had an opportunity to rest and recharge in preparation for the remainder of this spring semester.

Below are a series of updates and reminders for faculty. Please share the relevant opportunities with your students and highlight the faculty-focused information with your colleagues.

Nomination Deadline Approachingā€“ Sidney E. Mezes Awards

Each year, the Sidney E. Mezes Faculty Donation Committee recommends awards from the trust fund created by former UT Austin President Sidney E. Mezes and his wife. This award is given to faculty who have experienced hardship in circumstances such as illness, accident, or other calamity. Faculty experiencing a hardship may self-nominate, and/or their colleagues are encouraged to submit nominations. Please include in the nomination information how their absence has created a significant loss to the department or unit. Please submit recommendations no later than Friday, April 16, 2021, to facultyawards@utexas.edu.

Accepting Applicationsā€“ George H. Mitchell Student Awards for Academic Excellence

Applications are now open for the 2021 George H. Mitchell Student Awards for Academic Excellence. Each spring, the university recognizes undergraduate studentsā€Æfor superior scholarly or creative achievement. New this year, four students will receive awards of $3,000 in each of the four categories. In addition to the student award, the Provost Office provides a concurrent award of half the value of each studentā€™s award to the academic department in which the scholarly work was supervised. The application and all supporting materials must be received by Wednesday, March 31.

2021 UTell Us Survey

The 2021 theā€ÆStudent Experience in the Research University (SERU) survey, branded UTell Us for UT Austin, is now open to both undergraduate and graduate students and will be administered until May 31. The 2021 survey will follow up on the continued impact of COVID-19, as well as ask questions aimed at understanding the broader scope of student experience and engagement. Survey responses are used to develop and improve programs, policies, and services to address studentsā€™ needs now and in the future. For more information, visit ā€Æenrollmentmanagement.utexas.edu/resources/utell-us-survey. Please share the UTell Us link with your students.

Virtual ā€œRechargeā€ Eventā€“ April 13-15

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Wellness Program are hosting a Virtual Recharge Event, Tuesday, April 13-15, with webinars about gratitude, parenting, healthy eating, physical activity, sleep and more to help you ā€œrechargeā€. You can learn more about the event here and register on UTLEARN.

Domestic and International Travel Updates

In response to the pandemic, the university has modified travel guidelines for employees around domestic and international travel. As of March 12, guidance that all employees are required to follow is below:

  • Domestic Travel – The prohibition on university-sanctioned domestic travel for business or study is extended through August 31, 2021. Decisions about the policy after August 31, 2021 will be announced on or before July 30, 2021.
  • International Travel For international travel, the prohibition on university-sanctioned travel for business or study has been extended through August 31, 2021. Decisions about the policy after August 31, 2021 will be announced on or before July 30, 2021.

Domestic travel exceptions will be processed by deans or vice presidents with international travel exceptions processed by Texas Global. Updates to these policies will be reflected on Texas Globalā€™s website: https://global.utexas.edu/coronavirus. If you do plan to travel, please visit the CDC’s Travel During COVID-19 guidance for additional travel requirements and recommendations.

Note about Summer Classes

The decision was made to treat summer classes in the same way as we treated the two long semesters of this academic year. The majority of classes will be taught online, with some classes being offered in hybrid format and a limited number of classes being held in person (primarily those for which the content or facilities for the class require that it be taught in-person). The decision about teaching modality for the summer had to be made far in advance so that courses could be scheduled and made available for registration, and so the best available data informed that decision. As always, the COVID investigation committee will continue to monitor data about health on campus, testing, contact tracing, and vaccination to make recommendations about any changes in policy and procedures that might be required to address changes in the status of the pandemic.

If you have any faculty-related questions, concerns, and solutions please feel free to contact the Faculty Affairs team. Weā€™re here to support you in any way we can.

Stay well,

Tasha Beretvas

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