Faculty Affairs Update – Sept. 21

• Reminder: Faculty Development Award and Faculty Development Leave Applications Open
• Reminder: Provost’s Office Faculty Travel Grants
• Call for Proposals – Map and Geospatial Collections Explorer Fellowship
• Center for Teaching and Learning Updates
• International Travel Process Reminders
• Texas Global Grant Opportunities
• Texas Around the World
• Upcoming Security Changes to Duo Multi-Factor Authentication Starting Sept. 26
• New Policy for Distribution of Revenue from Licensing of Intellectual Property

Reminder: Faculty Development Award and Faculty Development Leave Applications Open

Applications for the Faculty Development Leave (FDL) and Faculty Development Award for professional-track faculty (FDA) programs are open until Tuesday, October 3, 2023.

The Faculty Development Leave (FDL) program provides tenured faculty with paid leave from teaching and service responsibilities. Commonly referred to as a “sabbatical” at other universities, this program will allow faculty to dedicate their time to research, scholarship and creative endeavors.

Reminder: Provost’s Office Faculty Travel Grants

Eligible faculty may receive up to a total of $1,400 per academic year for travel expenses to present original papers at scholarly and professional meetings. This includes reimbursement for allowable travel-related expenses for the conference — lodging, meals, transportation, and registration, all of which are non-taxable reimbursements. Funds may be used for foreign or domestic travel. Faculty Travel Grant Applications are due no less than two weeks prior to the start of travel for processing and approval.

Call for Proposals – Map and Geospatial Collections Explorer Fellowship

The University of Texas Libraries announces its call for proposals for the Map and Geospatial Collections Explorer Fellowship, an annual research incentive initiative. The fellowship is designed to encourage University of Texas at Austin students and faculty to develop scholarly and creative projects that utilize or enhance map and geospatial assets from Libraries’ collections, such as those made available through the Texas GeoData portal, the Collections portal, and the UT Libraries’ Map Collections site.

Visit the MGCE Fellowship LibGuide for information about the Fellowship, including a link to the proposal form. The Fellowship offers two $1500 awards – one for a student project and the other for a post-doc or faculty member project. Deadline for submissions is October 2, 2023, and winners will be announced on GIS Day (November 15).

Center for Teaching and Learning Updates

The CTL September newsletter includes updates for the first full month of the semester. Highlights include the following:

PTF Think Tank Focusing on AI: Sept 28
Join the Provost’s Teaching Fellows for “Generative AI in the Classroom.”  This Think Tank is open to all instructors and provides space to discuss problems and tackle tough topics in a safe environment among a diverse group. This CTL webpage is being updated as an ongoing reference.

Came to Listen: Sept 29
“Genuine Intelligence: Demystifying Technology as a Teaching Tool.” Come and listen to stories about how we love, hate and berate technology, all while we simultaneously embark on genuine journeys to discover ways to improve our teaching and learning through the use of learning management systems, hybrid teaching tools, web-based team management systems, AI and more! Stay for conversation about what you hear and meet new colleagues in the teaching and learning community.

Experiential Learning Awards Brunch: Oct. 5
Celebrate this year’s Experiential Learning Award recipients and hear about next steps for experiential learning at UT.  Learn about how faculty grantees have incorporated experiential learning into their courses during the past four years of the ELI. Students may nominate instructors using this survey.

International Travel Process Reminders

UT Austin employees are required to follow the international travel process for all university-related travel (e.g., research, teaching, conferences, meetings, lectures), regardless of destination. Registration with the UT Austin International Travel Registry (ITR) is a requirement of UT System’s International Travel Policy (UTS 190) and enrolls travelers with On Call International.

If you are traveling to an area designated as a Restricted Region (High Risk), you must request approval from the International Oversight Committee at least five weeks prior to departure.

Visit the Texas Global Risk and Safety webpage or attend a drop-in Q&A session on Zoom for additional support concerning international travel.

Texas Global Grant Opportunities

Texas Global supports faculty pursuing global research, teaching, publishing and event collaborations. Since 2020, more than $770,000 has been awarded for activities across 15 colleges. Texas Global invites you to apply for the following funding opportunities by Thursday, Nov. 2:

• Faculty Research Seed Grants
• Global Virtual Exchange 
• Faculty Travel Planning Grants 
• Texas Global Publication Fund 
• Global Career Launch

Applications for the Internationalization Event Fund are accepted on a rolling basis.  Please contact txglobal-grants@austin.utexas.edu with any questions.

Texas Around the World 

Texas Global displays data reflecting the university’s international activities and connections on the Global Explorer Map. This map showcases UT Austin’s global engagement, including student mobility, alumni networks, partnerships, and the research and creative efforts of more than 1,000 faculty members across country-specific webpages.

To contribute or update your information, please complete this survey by Monday, October 2. For further details, contact our Global Strategies Officers at txglobalgso@austin.utexas.edu.

Upcoming Security Changes to Duo Multi-Factor Authentication Starting Sept. 26

Starting Sept. 26, Duo Mobile push approval and SMS passcodes will no longer be available when signing into official University accounts, such as Outlook and Workday. This is due to an increase in Duo “fatigue attacks,” including payroll theft, which have led to compromised University accounts. Therefore, Duo Mobile push approvals will automatically be replaced by Verified Duo Push. Verified Duo Push will require you to enter a three-digit verification code when approving a Duo request.

For a step-by-step walkthrough with screen shots of this process, visit the “How Do I Use Duo Verified Push?” section of this IT@UT webpage.

New Policy for Distribution of Revenue from Licensing of Intellectual Property

The University, in collaboration with Discovery to Impact, has established a new policy for distributing net income resulting from licensing of Intellectual Property (IP). This new policy will advance commercialization of existing research, support reinvestment in the Colleges and Schools where the innovation originates, and provide additional resources for new commercialization opportunities. Visit the Discovery to Impact website for more information and a list of Frequently Asked Questions.

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