Do You Love Your Job? 

We are looking for "unforgettable" stories about faculty who are passionate about what they do. According to a 2013 Gallup Poll, those who love their jobs may represent the "Happy Minority." The survey reveals that only 30% of Americans feel engaged with their work. Of course, they didn't ask college professors. What other profession allows an individual to teach students, impact lives, immerse oneself in the subject of their passion and engage with scholars around the world?

"Being on a college campus and interacting with enthusiastic, smart students keeps me young at heart," says Cindy Mohr, Professor and Chair of Design.  Mohr echoes the sentiments of the hundreds of UNT faculty who are committed to and passionate about their work. Please share your story by sending a one liner, anecdote, and/or novel to christyc@unt.edu and tell us why you love your job. Your narratives will provide content for features on the Faculty Success website throughout the year. Just "tee up" your message as noted below:

To:              christyc@unt.edu
Subject:      Love My Job

Update from the Dean of Students Office

The Dean of Students (DOS) Office is an important resource for faculty when student's personal issues impact their academic performance. Often faculty are equipped to handle these situations (e.g., when a student misses several classes or disrupts a lecture). Sometimes, however, faculty are faced with student issues beyond their expertise (e.g., medical withdrawals, temporary disabilities, mental health conditions). UNT has a network of talented professionals who can help faculty respond to the increasingly complex obstacles that students encounter.  If you have an issue that you can't resolve, please contact the DOS Office for help. The table below provides an overview of 'who does what' in the DOS Office.

 

Contact	Responsibilities	Phone/Email
Maureen “Moe” McGuinness, Ed.D. Dean of Students	Death of a Student, Complaints/ Grievances, Missing Students, Sexual Assault (full description)	940-565-2648 moe@unt.edu
Mary Logan Senior Associate Dean of Students	Conduct Cases, Student Crisis, CARE Team Member & On Call, Academic Integrity Issues (full description)	940-565-2039  mary.logan@unt.edu
Rodney Mitchell Associate Dean of Students	Mandatory & Medical Withdrawals, Student Hospitalizations, Temporary Disabilities (full description)	940-565-2648  rodney.mitchell@unt.edu

 

US Professors of the Year Awards Program

The Office for Faculty Success is currently accepting nominations for the U.S. Professor of the Year Awards Program. This prestigious program, sponsored by CASE and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, salutes the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country. Please consider submitting your materials or encourage a colleague to do so. What better evidence of UNT's support of Bold Goal #1- Providing the Best Undergraduate Education in Texas than receiving this distinction. Interested candidates must submit a one-page curriculum vitae and a personal statement by February 24, 2014 to faculty.success@unt.edu. Up to three faculty members from UNT may be nominated. To learn more about eligibility requirements, the institutional evaluation process, and benefits to the recipient, click here.  

UNT Foundation Award Deadline Extended:  March 17

Recognizing the accomplishments of our fellow colleagues strengthens the UNT community and puts money in faculty pockets!   Please consider nominating your outstanding colleagues for one of the UNT Foundation Awards (Eminent Faculty, Community Engagement, Faculty Leadership).  We have extended the deadline for accepting nominations to March 17, 2014. We recognize that an early February deadline comes on the heels of starting a new semester, PAC evaluations, search committee work, not to mention the fall out from the Ice Apocalypse.  For specific eligibilty requirements, please refer to the revised call with the new March 17th deadline. If you have ANY questions, please email christyc@unt.edu.

Latina/o and Mexican American Studies (LMAS) Launches Lecture Series This Spring

Join colleagues and students for the first Latina/o and Mexican American Studies (LMAS) Outstanding Scholar/Artists Lecture.  Dr. Gary M. Sequra, Professor of American Politics and Chair of Chino/a Studies at Stanford University will present "The Future is Ours: How Latinos will Define the Next Era in American Politics," on February 17, 2014 (7:00 p.m., Business Leadership Building, Room 180).  The event is sponsored by the Office of the Provost,  Department of Political Science, and UNeTe (UNT's SIGN group sponsored by the Office of Equity and Diversity for Latino faculty and staff).

FREE Webinars -Tenure Pursuit, Academic Writing, and Project Management  

Is your tenure clock elevating your anxiety?  Do you want to start an academic blog? Are you resolved to become a more productive writer in 2014?  If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, consider participating in one of these FREE webinars.

Webinar	Date
Timing Your Tenure Clock – How do you create peace of mind when working against the tenure clock?	February 13, 2014
An Introduction to Academic Blogging	February 19, 2014
The Performance of Academia: Overcoming Self-Limiting Beliefs	March 13, 2014
Writing an Academic Book Proposal	March 20, 2014

Thinking About Retirement?  

Did you know that the 83rd legislative session brought about MANY changes to the benefits programs managed by the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS)?  Some of the changes include a tiered insurance contribution for new retirees based on years of service, a tobacco certification requirement for everyone enrolled in health insurance, and waiting periods for health coverage for new employees.  For more details about how these changes affect you, see ERS retirement insurance changes. Panel discussion with HR experts and recent retirees coming this spring!

 

Stay in the Policy Loop 

The Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) oversees and manages over 70 University policies that cover a wide range of topics and concerns of the faculty.  The Academic Affairs Policy Central website is your source of information concerning VPAA-owned policies, including links to draft policies and related documents, information about opportunities for comment and input, and links to authoritative UNT policy information. Review current policies under revision or development at VPAA Policy Central and let your voice be heard.  If you are interested in joining a policy working group, please contact the Faculty Senate at facultysenate@unt.edu.

Faculty Showcase

We are excited to introduce a new interactive feature on the Faculty Success website that allows faculty to submit information about honors, awards, and accomplishments they or fellow faculty have earned external to the university.  By recognizing our outstanding faculty we hope to build a strong university community and facilitate excellence by recognizing one of our most valuable resources on campus, you.  Click here to submit an honor or award.

Academic Leaders Corner 

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

• UNT Chair Academy, "Graduate Student Funding" with Mark Wardell,  February 27, Business Leadership Building, 065, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (chairs only)
• UNT Chair Academy, "SACS Reaccrediation" with Allen Clark,  March 20, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.  location TBD (chairs only)
• UNT Leadership Fellows, "Ask a Leader," March 20, UNT Alumni Center, 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. (invitation only)
• Texas Women's Higher Education Network, "Building Bonds, Blazing Trails," March 24 & 25, Fort Worth, TX, Texas Christian University (women faculty)
• Academic Leadership Workshop, March 26, Gateway Center 43/47, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (invitation only)
• UNT Leadership Texas Alumni Luncheon, "Nancy Shugart, The Prove Them Wrong Lady," March 28, Gateway Center 44, 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. (invitation only; women interested in Leadership Texas, please contact Christy Crutsinger at christyc@unt.edu)

Please send your good ideas, comments, and/or suggestions for the March Faculty Newsletter to faculty.success@unt.edu.