Dear faculty colleagues,
Early next week, we will have a clearer vision of what campus will look like in the fall. We understand that the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases is worrisome. Please know we are keeping your safety a priority and are taking concrete steps to protect our community, like building testing capacity and planning how we would alter instructional delivery should the circumstances change. Our goal is to advance the university’s academic mission while prioritizing the health and well-being of our campus community. You can expect more detailed information and guidance to be shared next week.
Below are updates pertinent to this week as we move forward with fall planning.
Changes to UT Course Schedule
On Tuesday, the president announced that 3,500 classes will now be offered online in the fall. I want you to know that this process will continue to evolve over the next few weeks. The UT Course Schedule is being updated daily through the end of June and once that is finalized you can expect notification. These changes may affect the instructional mode (e.g., in-person or online), instructor, time, and/or location of some classes. Students will be notified in July to review their class schedules and make any changes, if needed. I realize not having firm expectations of how you will teach in the fall is frustrating, as it impacts other aspects of your work and lives. This is one of the most pressing issues we are working to address right now, and we will share more guidance next week.
Effective Online Teaching Practices Training
UT Austin is excited to offer our teaching faculty a professional development opportunity as part of our commitment to instructional excellence and student success. Through a partnership with the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE), Faculty Affairs and the Faculty Innovation Center, we are able to offer 30 faculty members the opportunity to enroll in ACUE’s program in Effective Online Teaching Practices. To learn more and apply to join this program, please use this link.
Fall Academic Planning: Online Education Task Force
As part of the fall planning initiative, a group of faculty members from across campus has been working since early May to create support tools for those who will be using online teaching for part or all of their fall classes. Next week, the task force will begin publishing a variety of aids for instructors to supplement those already introduced in the colleges and schools. These will include training modules, guidance on assessment methods and choice of tools, infographics for students aimed at creating a healthy and effective online environment, ideas for technology layouts, and templates that faculty can use to describe their expectations and online course cadence for students.
Resilience Workshops
To help with the overwhelming transitions of this year, Employee Assistance Program (EAP) created a virtual training that focuses on building resiliency skills to adapt well and recover from the challenges of this unprecedented time. There will be time for faculty members to share common struggles and strategies to navigate what they are experiencing, as well as information on specific strategies to use to build your own personal resilience. A zoom meeting link will be sent prior to the training to those who register.
There are three different workshop options available based on needs and challenges you might face during the current stage of your career.
- Increasing Your Personal Resilience: Strategies for Tenure-track Assistant Professors
Thursday, July 2 – 1:30-3:00 pm
Register here on UTLearn. - Increasing Your Personal Resilience: Strategies for Professional (non-tenure-track) Faculty
Monday, July 6 – 10:00-11:30 am
Register here on UTLearn. - Increasing Your Personal Resilience: Strategies for Tenured Faculty
Thursday, July 9 – 1:30-3:00 pm
Register here on UTLearn.
New Deadline! Texas Global Virtual Exchange Initiative – July 10, 2020
Global Virtual Exchange grants support faculty and their peers abroad to co-create courses or course modules delivered synchronously and asynchronously via online technology. Faculty teaching undergraduate/graduate courses in any academic discipline that lends itself to interactive global collaborative online learning and engaging students from one or more institutions abroad are eligible.
This grant opportunity is for course implementation in fall 2020 or spring/summer 2021. All faculty (both professional non-tenure track, tenured and tenure-track) with a minimum of a half-time appointment and at least two semesters of teaching experience at UT Austin at the time of application, are eligible to apply. Contact Dr. Lena Suk for a proposal questions or counsel at lena.suk@austin.utexas.edu.
Virtual Writing Community
We are offering one more invitation to join a faculty writing community that we are considering piloting this summer. If this is something you’d like to participate in, please let us know with an email to facultyaffairs@utexas.edu.
Please send the Faculty Affairs team an email with any questions, concerns or suggestions that you have. We’re here to support you in any way we can.
Stay well,
Tasha Beretvas