Faculty Success Newsletter
March 2023
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Message from the Vice Provost for Faculty Success
Greetings Mean Green Colleagues,
Happy Women’s History Month and UNT Staff Appreciation Month! I am excited that UNT offers several opportunities to celebrate the important contributions of women in our lives and globally.
I also want to recognize the important contributions of our staff members this month. Staff from numerous colleges and departments were recognized at the 2023 Staff Appreciation Awards luncheon this week, including CLASS, CMHT, COI, COS, HPS, Toulouse, RCOB, UNT at Frisco, TAMS, Physics, Political Science, and more. Take a moment to review the list of 2023 award winners and congratulate an outstanding colleague!
Speaking of acknowledgement, please join me in giving your faculty colleagues a shout out on the Faculty Kudoboard (noted in this issue) as a way to show gratitude and acknowledge their gifts to our UNT community. Sharing a compliment, recognizing an important act of serving, and other ways our faculty show up is a great way to show how we care. I just posted a few acknowledgements, so I hope you join me in sharing the love!
Finally, our newsletter is full of faculty recognitions, Faculty Success programs and workshops (including promotion/tenure, student engagement, and faculty development leave), IDEA’s annual Equity and Diversity Conference (ABCA-eligible!) on March 23, and other events that will help fill your mind and spirit.
As we inch closer to Spring Break, I hope you each find some time to calm your wings and kick up your talons to have some fun.
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Holly M. Hutchins, Ph.D. (she/her)
Vice Provost, Faculty Success
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UNT Together: Turning Towards Inclusive Excellence
2023 UNT Equity and Diversity Conference
Presented by Goldman Sachs
March 23
Register by March 17!
The 2023 Equity and Diversity Conference is getting closer! A hybrid event, the annual conference brings together hundreds of students, educators and community members committed to equity, access and inclusion. Registration is free for faculty, staff and students from all UNT System institutions.
This year’s speakers are BD Wong, who will give the keynote address, and Hina Wong-Kalu, the social justice speaker. Wong's experiences as an openly gay Asian-American actor have shaped his long career and continue to inform his advocacy work. Hina is a transgender native Hawaiian teacher and cultural icon.
Faculty will earn ABCA credit by attending two or more sessions of the conference.
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Share your gratitude on the Faculty Kudoboard | Spring break is here, and it's time for some well-earned rest and relaxation. It's also the perfect time to let a colleague, mentor or friend know how much you appreciate them, and that the hard work they do each and every day matters. It only takes a minute, but it could make their day. | |
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Perks for faculty in March and April
Free 5-day trial at the Pohl Rec Center
Try out the Rec Center for five days during the month of March! Just log in to the UNT Rec Sports Member Portal, select FACULTY STAFF FREE WEEK, choose the date you would like your free trial to begin and enter the promo code NEW2023 at checkout.
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Campus dining discounts
Enjoy all-you-care-to-eat meals all month long for for $7 plus tax. The offer is valid for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Bruceteria, Champs, Mean Greens Café, and Eagle Landing. For an extra special deal, visit Kitchen West for $6.20 plus tax. Just present your valid UNT ID card and pay with credit/debit or contactless payment at the door. You also can snag a dessert from Avesta for only $1.50 by presenting your UNT ID card at the register.
Free yoga classes for faculty and staff
April 5, 12 and 19 | 5:30 to to 6:30 p.m.
SSB 102 | Register now — Space is limited!
Join retired UNT faculty member Sue Collins for free yoga classes sponsored by UNT Wellbeing @ Work. All levels are welcome, including beginners! Collins' classes are based in the Hatha Yoga practice, blending gentle Kripalu with Power Yoga. Once you've registered, you will receive a confirmation email within 1-3 days with additional information. If you have questions, please contact Mary.Atkins@unt.edu.
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Nominate a Great Grad
Do you know a student with a compelling story who's graduating this spring? Nominate them for the Spring 2023 Great Grads series and let UBSC share their remarkable story with the world.
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Great Grads are students with standout stories, whether they've overcome major challenges or achieved out-of-this-world academic or creative success. UBSC strives to represent every college and a good cross-section of UNT students, but they can't do that without your help.
Nominate your Great Grad by April 1.
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Something exciting is coming to the ESSC!
Construction on the first and second floors of the Eagle Student Services Center started Monday, March 6. Classroom 255 will still be in use during construction, but the only door available for access is facing the long fountain on the Library Mall. Interior doors to ESSC will be unavailable for use.
Please advise students to pay close attention to the directional signs and to visit the new webpage for more information. The project, which is part of President Smatresk’s affordability initiative, is expected to continue through the end of the year.
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Workplace Safety Workshop for UNT faculty and staff | |
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March 24 | 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
BLB 080 | Register now
Facilitated by Cpl. David Causey of the UNT Police Department, this workshop will provide guidance on how to safely address disruptive behavior in the classroom and/or workplace. Open to all UNT faculty and staff.
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Clearing Copyright Confusion
Virtual Workshop
April 14 | 12-12:45 p.m.
Register now
| Join DSI CLEAR for a review of some of the trickier copyright concerns and how to handle them while preserving the rich content in your courses. Discussion points will include tips on the best use of videos, electronic documents, charts, graphs and images, as well as nuances that can cause confusion. Presenters also will review legal exceptions that may help when accessibility and copyright concerns collide and briefly touch on contractual and privacy issues. This event will be recorded. | |
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Inclusive Feedback to Guide Student Learning in Online Courses
Virtual Lunch & Learn
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April 21 | 12-1 p.m.
Register now
Inclusive feedback in online courses can help instructors build rapport and guide student learning. In this virtual luncheon workshop, faculty will craft feedback that employs growth mindset language, draws connections to career goals and invites dialogue through student feedback. Does not count toward ABCA credit.
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2023 Open Access Symposium
Registration is open for the 2023 Open Access Symposium scheduled for April 14 on Zoom. This year's symposium will focus on recent federal initiatives supporting Open Science, public access to federally funded research and Texas legislation promoting Open Educational Resources at public universities.
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Increase Your Visibility
UNT Scholarly Works is a repository collection in the UNT Digital Library that provides long-term preservation and public access to all forms of scholarship created by faculty, staff and students here at UNT. There are currently more than 7,000 items in the repository with an average of over 30,000 visits each month. To add your publications, reach out via the UNT Scholarly Works email, untrepository@unt.edu, and Repository Librarian Whitney Johnson-Freeman will talk you through the services and submission process.
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Andrew Torget
Associate Professor of History
Dr. Torget received the inaugural Provost’s OLLI at UNT Faculty Award during. the OLLI at UNT Faculty Appreciation Dinner Feb. 22. Created by Provost Michael McPherson, the $500 award and commemorative gift recognizes an instructor who has displayed exceptional commitment to teaching and service to OLLI at UNT in the past year. Congratulations, Dr. Torget!
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Assistant Professor of Viola
During the Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention Feb. 8-11, Gerling was honored with the Fredell Lack Outstanding Young Studio Teacher Award from the Texas String Teachers Association. We are #UNTproud!
Thanks to the UNT College of Music for sharing this wonderful news.
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Corey Marks
Distinguished Teaching Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing
A new collection of poems by Dr. Marks has been accepted by the prestigious Pitt Poetry Series (University of Pittsburgh Press). Titled The Rock That Is Not a Rabbit, the collection is slated for publication in the fall. "The Press receives more than 1,500 manuscripts during each open period, so this is a stunning achievement," said department chair Jacqueline Vanhoutte. "It will position him — and UNT's creative writing department — for major national recognition."
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Steven Cobb
Associate Dean of Administrative Affairs in CLASS and Associate Professor of Economics
Dr. Cobb received the Patricia Elder International Award this week at the meeting of the National Association of Economic Educators Conference. The award recognizes individuals whose outstanding and dedicated service and leadership have had a significant impact on the delivery or enhancement of economic education throughout the world. Way to go, Dr. Cobb!
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Spring elections
The annual spring elections process commenced Feb. 27 with calls for nominations to fill voting group vacancies on the Senate and elected standing committees (Faculty Development Leave committee, Graduate Council and University Faculty Grievance committee). The calls were sent from Qualtrics to all eligible full-time faculty in each voting group. Elections will continue through March and April. Email FacultySenateElections@unt.edu with any questions.
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Teaching Effectiveness standing committee
Faculty Senate recently created a Teaching Effectiveness standing committee. The Teaching Effectiveness committee will provide guidance to administrators, department PACs and RTPCs, and help with faculty development and teaching evaluation across the university. If you would like to be nominated for membership on this committee, email FacultySenate@unt.edu or contact a Faculty Senator.
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Get involved in Faculty Senate! | |
Service on a standing committee is a great way to learn more about topics important to faculty, make your voice heard and contribute to shared governance at UNT. There are current vacancies and positions opening up for the fall term. To learn more about Senate standing committees, visit the Faculty Senate website or contact a Faculty Senator. | |
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Wellbeing and growth mindset
Fostering wellbeing is key to maintaining supportive learning and work environments. Caring people, processes and spaces across our campus contribute to the many dimensions of stakeholder wellness.
Explore the wellness resources available to our Mean Green community to find tools designed to support student and faculty success.
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Resources for emerging challenges | |
Academic integrity is at the forefront of higher education conversations, especially with the emergence of new artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT. As we see an increase in academic misconduct cases, UNT's Academic Integrity office wants to ensure faculty have all the necessary information to address academic misconduct when it arises. Check out their faculty FAQs, initial contact template and TurnItIn resources, or reach out to your college liaison for more information. | |
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We want to hear from you!
Faculty Success oversees numerous programs designed to support faculty in their teaching, scholarly and leadership endeavors.
If you have questions for our team or suggestions for the newsletter, email us at Faculty.Success@unt.edu. You also can follow @UNTFacSuccess on Twitter!
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