Dear faculty colleagues,
Happy first week of classes! Holiday break came and went in a flash and I hope that you were able to take time to unwind and refresh. I wanted to share a few faculty development opportunities as well as resources and important information to help support faculty and students as we all embark on the start of the new term.
- Coming Soon: Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey in February 2023
- Accepting Nominations: UT Austin Sidney E. Mezes Award
- Accepting Nominations: 2023 Awards for Excellence in Graduate Education
- Texas Teach-Up 2023: Registration opens Tuesday, Jan. 17
- Texas Global Grant Opportunities
- Resource for Faculty Search Committees
- Ally Accessibility Platform Launching Spring 2023
- Upcoming Faculty Workshops on Jan. 25 & Jan. 26
Coming Soon: Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey in February 2023
For the third time, UT Austin will participate in the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey. Participation is anonymous and your input will help us better identify faculty needs and inform ongoing opportunities and initiatives to improve faculty recruitment, development and retention. Details will be provided in subsequent communications and posted at provost.utexas.edu/initiatives/coache. Every voice matters, and we need your feedback to ensure that every voice is heard.
Accepting Nominations: UT Austin Sidney E. Mezes Award
Each year, the Sidney E. Mezes Faculty Donation Committee recommends monetary awards to provide financial support for faculty members who may be in need of assistance due to unexpected circumstances, such as an illness, accident or other calamity. Faculty experiencing hardship may self-nominate. To find out more about the award, apply, or nominate a colleague, please visit the faculty awards website or email facultyawards@utexas.edu. Nominations are due on Mar. 23, 2023 and can be submitted here.
Accepting Nominations: 2023 Awards for Excellence in Graduate Education
The Graduate School is accepting nominations for the 2023 Awards for Excellence in Graduate Education which recognize graduate and professional student work as well as rewarding faculty and staff excellence in supporting our graduate and professional students. The deadline for submission of all nomination materials is Feb. 10, 2023. Visit the awards website for more information and to nominate a colleague or student.
Texas Teach-Up 2023: Registration opens Tuesday, Jan. 17
Texas Teach-Up (TxTU), hosted by the Provost’s Teaching Fellows, brings instructors from all colleges and schools together to celebrate and reflect upon their teaching practices. This year’s event takes place over two days, Feb. 7 & 8, 2023, and will include a mix of both in-person and online courses. During the event, instructors are invited into the classrooms of their peers for a non-evaluative class observation, followed by a reflective conversation with the instructor over coffee and refreshments. Sign-ups for all Texas Teach-Up courses will open on Tuesday, Jan. 17, and will remain open until Thursday, Feb. 2. Register for a course and take a peek inside your colleagues’ classrooms!
Texas Global Grant Opportunities
Texas Global supports faculty in pursuing global research, teaching, publishing, and event collaborations, with close to $700,000 in awards granted to date across 15 colleges and schools. Texas Global is pleased to announce that applications are open for the following funding opportunities, with a deadline of Monday, Feb. 27.
- Faculty Research Seed Grants
- Global Career Launch
- Global Virtual Exchange
- Faculty Travel Planning Grants
- Texas Global Publication Fund
Applications for the Internationalization Event Fund continue to be accepted on a rolling basis. For any questions, contact txglobal-grants@austin.utexas.edu.
Resource for Faculty Search Committees
Many faculty search committees are now conducting or about to conduct on-campus interviews. All faculty should be prepared to interact with candidates in ways that are professional, collegial, and non-discriminatory. To support this crucial stage in the recruitment process, the Faculty Diversity team created a guide with best practices for interviews. Faculty are invited to familiarize themselves with the best practices guide, which includes university policy, questions to avoid as well as alternative suggestions.
Ally Accessibility Platform Launching Spring 2023
The university will launch the Ally accessibility platform during the spring 2023 semester. Used by several of our peer universities, the platform helps to improve your digital course content and make it more accessible and user-friendly for all students. The Ally platform integrates directly with Canvas and provides simple, step-by-step guidance on how to present course materials in a way that best supports student success. Improving accessibility, which is a core feature of the platform, helps improve the learning experience for all students and ensures students with disabilities have better access to course materials. Learn more about Ally and how to access the software before the full rollout in this message.
Upcoming Faculty Workshops on Jan. 25 & Jan. 26
The AAU PhD Education Initiative team is hosting two faculty workshops on Jan. 25 or 26. Both talks are focused on offering Best Practices for Faculty Mentors: Career & Professional Development Mentorship. Event details and links to RSVP are listed below.
- A Crucial STEM Conversation: Talking with your mentees about their future
Facilitated by Bill Lindstaedt, Associate Vice Chancellor for Career Advancement at UCSF
Wednesday, Jan. 25, 12 – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch will be served - Agency, Identity, Context: Career Conversations in the Humanities Mentoring Relationship
Facilitated by Derek Attig, Assistant Dean for Career & Professional Development at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Thursday, Jan. 26, 12 – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch will be served
Learn More and RSVP for a Workshop
Please reach out with any faculty-related questions to the Faculty Affairs team. We’re here to support you in any way we can.
Stay well,
Tasha Beretvas