Message from the Vice Provost for Faculty Success

Greetings Mean Green Colleagues,



The clock is ticking down on another exciting semester! I know you are busy grading final projects, wrapping up committee meetings, and progressing on your scholarship and creative work. My Mean Green Talons are clicking at all that you’ve accomplished.

Your Faculty Success team has also accomplished a lot this term! We welcomed 135 new Mean Green faculty, hosted or collaborated on 11 workshops and engagements, funded several mentoring grants, oversaw multiple academic policy reviews and revisions, scheduled over 40 Faculty Lounge interactions, selected our 2023 Salute to Faculty Excellence award recipients (award letters coming soon!), updated our Faculty Search Committee Guide, and confirmed our newest slate of Emeritus faculty. Speaking of accolades, be sure to give a shout out to the faculty in our Faculty Spotlight who are sharing their creative, scholarly, teaching, leadership, and community engagement gifts with the world!

Our team monitors data on faculty satisfaction and climate to inform how to best serve you. In addition to program assessments and special projects, we are also using the 2021-22 COACHE and Faculty Exit Report results to identify ways to better support you. Our COACHE results are presented in a web version rather than a traditional report for ease of review. I urge faculty and administrative leaders to review the overall data and request customized department and college-level COACHE data from our DAIR partners (dair@unt.edu). Speaking of DAIR, their team offers a robust Faculty Dashboard that helps track faculty demographics, retention, tenure progress, and more.

One of the developmental areas that we are focused on this year is reimagining our Faculty Mentoring Program. Please complete the survey to share your insights and experience.

Finally, please join us for our Faculty Holiday Social on Dec. 14 in the Faculty Lounge to celebrate the semester end. We will have great treats and UNT’s fabulous cranberry punch. Our team would enjoy spending time with you.

From our nest to yours, we wish you a happy, relaxing, and safe winter holiday.

Talons up!

Holly M. Hutchins, Ph.D. (she/her)

Vice Provost, Faculty Success

New Position: Faculty Development Director

We're adding a full-time faculty development director to our team to support and advance the teaching and curriculum needs of our faculty and students. This position will collaborate with faculty, academic leaders, and other divisions to assess faculty teaching needs, design, and develop inclusive events and initiatives, and assess outcomes for continual improvement. Learn more and apply today! If you have any questions, email us at Faculty.Success@unt.edu.

What Inclusive Instructors Do:

Creating Welcoming, Equitable Learning Environments

Feb. 1 | 10-11:30 a.m. | Union 382

Register here

How do inclusive instructors facilitate equitable learning experiences that promote students’ sense of belonging? In this workshop, Dr. Tracie M. Addy, author of highly acclaimed What InclusiveInstructors Do, will discuss how to create transformative learning environments and help participants apply the principles and practices to relevant case studies.

The unequal distribution of teaching and service work is one of the most important inequities in academia. In particular, faculty from historically minoritized identities and women faculty face unusually high service, teaching, and mentoring workloads.

Dr. O’Meara will share what she learned as P.I. of the NSF ADVANCE-funded Faculty Workload and Rewards Project, including how workload inequities emerge and the evidence-based policies and practices departments have used to identify inequalities, assess faculty and university needs, and re-design workload with equity in mind.

Faculty Book Group

Feb-April 2023 | Third Tuesdays

2-3 p.m. | Register here

Join DSI CLEAR and faculty colleagues to discuss Creating Inclusive Learning Opportunities in Higher Education: A Universal Design Toolkit by Sheryl Burgstahler.

The book applies the Universal Design in Higher Education framework to physical spaces, technology, teaching and learning activities, and teaching and learning services. Faculty may earn ABCA credit for participating in two or more book club meetings. Seats are limited.

Dr. Megan Morrissey, associate professor of communication studies, named UNT's 2023 Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award nominee

The Faculty Senate's Faculty Awards Committee nominated Dr. Morrissey for this prestigious award in recognition of her dedication and exceptional teaching.

Dr. Morrissey is an affiliated faculty member with the LGBTQ Studies Program, Women's and Gender Studies Program, and Latina/o Mexican American Studies Program, and also serves as graduate advisor for the communication studies department. She is an elected officer for the National Communication Association's Rhetorical and Communication Theory division.

Dr. Narendra Dahotre earns the 2023 Bruce Chalmers Award from the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

The award is presented to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the science and/or technology of materials processing. Dr. Dahotre, Regents Professor of materials science and engineering and associate vice president of UNT's Center for Agile and Adaptive Additive Manufacturing, will be formally recognized in March at the TMS-AIME Annual Awards Ceremony in San Diego, California. 

Dr. Priscilla Ybarra wins national award for co-edited anthology, Latinx Environmentalisms: Place, Justice, and the Decolonial

Dr. Ybarra, associate professor of English, and her co-editors from universities across the U.S. are the inaugural winners of the Modern Language Association Prize for an Edited Collection. Well done, Dr. Ybarra!

Drs. Jannon Fuchs and Bill Acree named finalists for CUR-Goldwater Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award

While the Council for Undergraduate Research typically limits universities to one candidate per year, the national selection committee was so impressed by our previous finalist, Dr. Fuchs (Biological Sciences), and our new nominee, Dr. Acree (Chemistry), they designated each as a 2023 national finalist. Congratulations!

UNT Fulbright Faculty Week

Jan. 30–Feb. 3

Fulbright Faculty Week celebrates UNT faculty who have received a Fulbright award and provides workshops and information sessions for UNT faculty to learn about Fulbright Programs and how to apply for a Fulbright award. Details will be available soon on the International Affairs website.

Spring Fulbright Faculty Workshops

Feb. 3, March 3, April 7 & May 5 | 12-1 p.m.

Register for a Fulbright Faculty Workshop to learn about teaching, research, consulting, and other opportunities available through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, Fulbright Specialist Program, and more! You'll also get valuable information about the application and resources to support your application. 

Spring 2023 Fulbright Deadlines

Fulbright Specialist Program

• Jan. 11
• March 8
• May 10

Explore UNT Insights for a wide range of data and self-service analytics

Trusted data resources are designed to meet your teaching, research, and service data needs. UNT Insights' top three faculty-focused dashboards will answer many of your key questions, including:

Faculty Dashboard

• Who is teaching in my college and department?
• What are the faculty demographics of my college and department?
• What are the faculty retention and tenure patterns at UNT?

Enrollment Comparison Dashboard

• How is enrollment for spring 2023 looking compared to last year in my department and college?
• Who is currently enrolled for spring 2023 in my department?
• Which departments and colleges are growing in headcount and semester credit hours?

Student Enrollment Patterns Dashboard

• What does the official enrollment trend in my department look like?
• What are the enrollment patterns of students taking courses at Frisco? What about online?
• How many majors do we have in each of our degree plans? Who are they?

Sign up for Insights access and training at data.unt.edu, or email insights@unt.edu if you have any questions!

Fall Commencement Update from UNT Police

As this semester comes to an end, I would like to thank you for all that you do for our students. Many of you will be getting ready for commencement, and for us it is no different. Our officers provide security and assist with traffic control during each ceremony.

We highly suggest you avoid the area around the Coliseum during UNT's commencement ceremonies Dec. 16-18 since we expect traffic congestion and intermittent lane closures. To avoid traffic headaches, faculty participating in commencement are being directed to park in Lot 4, behind Chilton Hall near Avenue C and Chestnut Street. (Extra tip: If you come in from the North, you will find arriving and exiting MUCH easier!) For faculty working across campus on Friday, please avoid parking in Lots 4, 19, 20, 26, 27, or along Highland St. Graduates and visitors are asked to park in Lot 20 near the highway. Those with ADA needs may park in Lot 27, in front of Rawlins Hall and the Coliseum ticket office.

Visit the commencement website for the full schedule, FAQs, and more.

Follow @UNTPolice on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for more updates. Thank you for another great academic year and remember you can always reach out to UNT’s Community Relations Officer, Cpl. David Causey, at David.Causey@unt.edu or 940-369-7691.