Survey Says... UNT is a Great Place to Work

Thanks to the 760 faculty members who completed the 2012-13 Faculty Climate Survey.  With a 70% response rate, we feel confident that the data provides a representative baseline for gauging the efficacy of institutional policies, programs, and initiatives.  Findings from each of the key areas can be found in the Executive Summary.  Not surprisingly, the data reveals both areas of excellence and opportunity for improvement.

In the coming months, the Provost Office will develop a comprehensive plan to address immediate areas of concern and long term initiatives.  Our goal is to provide ‘real-time’ tracking  of our progress  toward achieving our short-term and long-term goals.  If you have an idea or suggestion to include in this plan, please send your comments to facultysuccess@unt.edu.

Congratulations to our Newly Promoted and Tenured Faculty 

UNT's success and progress depends on the exceptional work of our faculty members who set high academic standards and who perform at the ‘top of their game’ in their teaching, research, and service endeavors.  The culmination of their hard work is the receipt of tenure and/or promotion. We wish to congratulate 66 UNT faculty members who will begin the 2013 academic year with a promotion in rank, newly granted tenure, or both.

Like many of her colleagues, Claudia Queen, Associate Professor of Dance and Theatre, feels fortunate to be rewarded for doing something she loves.  “My creative research as a composer, musician and educator is in the field of music for dance. Nationally, there are only a handful of educators who have had the opportunity to attain tenure and promotion to associate professor in my field," says Queen. “I am so grateful to UNT and to the Department of Dance & Theatre for their continuing support of this important field and the arts in general,” she adds. UNT's newly promoted faculty will be formally recognized at the Salute to Faculty Excellence Awards Dinner and Ceremony on September 27, 2013.  Read more...

2013 Toulouse Scholars Award Deadline

The Toulouse Graduate School is pleased to announce the call for the 2013-2014 Toulouse Scholars Award.  This award recognizes outstanding teaching and scholarly or creative achievements of members of the UNT faculty; recipients will receive $2,000.00 to further enhance their research activities. All full-time, tenured faculty members who are full members of the Graduate Faculty and who are not previous recipients of a Toulouse Scholars Award are eligible to be nominated. Nomination letters and nominee’s current vita must be submitted to Rochelle Sykes (rochelle.sykes@unt.edu), Toulouse Graduate School, by August 1, 2013 for consideration by the selection committee.  For specific award information, please visit the Faculty Success website.

 
What are your summer plans? 

For most faculty members, summer is far from those described in the popular song, “Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer.”  Rather summer is the time of year that faculty can focus on their research - whether that is writing manuscripts from their home office, presenting scholarly works at national conferences, directing undergraduate research projects on campus, or collaborating with colleagues around the world. Such is the case for Dr. Marcus L. Young, assistant professor in Materials Science and Engineering, who joins a research team this summer at Ruhr University in Germany to work on shape memory alloys and Ni-based superalloys.  At UNT, we are appreciative of faculty, like assistant professor Marcus Young, who devote their ‘vacation’ to their ‘avocation.’  Read more...

What are your summer plans for research? teaching? service?  Please send your interesting stories to facultysuccess@unt.edu.
  
Academic Leader’s Corner

Building, strengthening, and sustaining UNT's administrative leadership is an important part of the work that we do in the Provost Office.  A few of our summer events are listed below:

·         Webinar: “Speak the Truth Without Making People Angry,” June 20, 12:00 p.m. -1:00 p.m., BLB 140 (open to all faculty; rsvp to joanna.hussey@unt.edu)
 

·         Chair Academy Retreat:  August 8, 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Gateway 43/47 (chairs only)

Please send your good ideas, comments, and/or suggestions for the Back-to-School Edition of the Faculty Newsletter to faculty.success@unt.edu.