During the disruption of regular services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Communications is maintaining a collection of information and resources for staff, faculty and students. Visit the COVID-19 website, which will be updated frequently with the latest information.

Operations and Applications for Research (OAR) at UT Dallas announces a new internal funding opportunity that offers mentoring support activities for women, women of color and underrepresented minority (URM) women STEM faculty at all career stages. 

Through the ASPIRE² mentoring grant program, each faculty member is eligible to receive up to $1,500 to implement a project of their own design that engages at least one mentor, external to UT Dallas, and represents a career development opportunity not otherwise possible without this funding. 

Principal full-time, tenure-track/tenured women, women of color and URM women faculty members from a STEM field are eligible to apply by Friday, April 15.

The Office of Human Resources will host its next HR Forum from 10-11:30 a.m., Wednesday, April 6, as a Microsoft Teams live event. Please install Microsoft Teams prior to joining. If you need assistance, contact the Help Desk. Unlike a traditional Teams meeting, you are not able to “dial in” to a live event. Audio will stream from your computer. Please ensure your speakers are on or use a headset connected to your device. Closed captioning is available, and there will be a moderated Q&A forum. If you have questions for the HR Forum, send them to [email protected].

Please refer to the agenda: 

• Welcome
  • One UTD
• Campus COVID-19 management
• Guest presenters
  • Office of Research and Innovation Staff Ideas Competition
• HR updates
  • Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Notice
  • Extended notification for accommodation request at campus events
  • Wellness
  • Campus Climate Survey
  • Bright Leaders Program
  • Q&A
• Closing comments

Human Resources has posted the 2022 notice for a drug-free workplace in accordance with the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act. The notice is an annual reminder to all employees that the unauthorized purchase, manufacture, distribution, possession, sale, storage or use of an illegal drug or controlled substance while on duty, while in or on premises or property owned or controlled by the University, or while in vehicles used for University business, is prohibited.

EAP Newsletter, Online Seminar Deer Oaks EAP provides information on a variety of topics such as stress management, health and wellness, financial issues and work/life balance. Employees and their family members have access to confidential counseling, newsletters and trainings. These services can be easily accessed 24/7, offering you around-the-clock assistance for all of life's challenges.

Find the following topics in April’s EAP Newsletter:

• Online seminar: Finding a Hobby How It Impacts Your Life, available beginning Sunday, April 17. Enter utdallas for the username and password to access the online seminar.
• How To Be More Engaged at Work
• National Alcohol Screening Day, Thursday, April 7 Deciding To Quit Drinking
• Learn To Manage Stress

Omada Webinar: Manage Stress to Reach Your Health Goals, 11 a.m., Tuesday, April 19 – Learn how you can access Omada tools to manage your stress and stay on track with your health goals.

VOYA Financial Webinar: Improve Your Income & Tax Strategy Now and Later, 1 p.m., Wednesday, April 27 – Learn the benefits and features of pre-tax and Roth plans. For more information, see the 2022 VOYA-UT Financial Webinars flyer (pdf).

Staff members are invited to sign up as Commencement Ambassadors for the Spring 2022 Commencement Ceremonies. Commencement Ambassadors are volunteers who will assist with guest management and customer service during the ceremonies. The shifts are:

Sunday, May 15
All-University Commencement at the University Roundabout

• 6-8:15 p.m.
• 8-10 p.m.

Monday, May 16
Activity Center (AB)

• 8 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
• noon-4 p.m.
• 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

ATEC Lecture Hall (ATC 1.102)

• 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

Tuesday, May 17
Activity Center (AB)

• 8 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
• noon-4 p.m.
• 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

ATEC Lecture Hall (ATC 1.102)

• 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

Wednesday, May 18
Activity Center (AB)

• 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Serving as a Commencement Ambassador is not the same as assisting your school with the execution of its ceremony. If your school has requested staff to help with commencement and you have signed up, please do not sign up for that shift using the Commencement Ambassador form.

The Center for Children and Families welcomes parents and professionals for its 14th annual series of lectures titled “Fostering Resilience in the Face of Adversity.” Talks will be held from 9:30-10:30 a.m. The following virtual lectures are free and open to the public.

Understanding Families’ Sleep Health Using a Social-Ecological Approach, Friday, April 8 – Dr. Heidi Kane, assistant professor of psychology at UT Dallas, and Dr. Danica Slavish, assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Texas, will use the social-ecological model of sleep health as a framework for understanding how community and neighborhood factors, family dynamics, and individual factors affect parents‘ and children‘s sleep during the early childrearing years. Register to attend the April 8 lecture.

Bolstering the Superblock: How One Organization Is Working To Build Community and End Oppression in South Dallas, Friday, April 15 – Taylor Toynes, For Oak Cliff executive director, will discuss how the nonprofit is uplifting South Oak Cliff with dual-generation, trauma-informed work for children and parents. Attendees will learn about LENA Start program, a 10‑week dual generation program for children ages 0-3 and their caregivers, working to improve children’s language and communication skills. Register to attend the April 15 lecture.

Keynote: Socioeconomic Inequity and Child Brain Development, Friday, April 29 – Dr. Kimberly Noble, professor of neuroscience and education at Columbia University, will present a theoretical model whereby differences in experience impact particular brain systems, which in turn support distinct neurocognitive skills. Evidence for the model, as well as ongoing and future work testing aspects of the model, will be discussed. Finally, early findings from Baby’s First Years, the first clinical trial of poverty reduction in early childhood, will be presented. Register to attend the April 29 lecture.

Callier Center Event

Campbell Callier Prize Conference, 8:15 a.m.- 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 12, Callier Center Dallas (CD) Staff, faculty and students are invited to join community health practitioners and researchers at the conference, which will feature Dr. Karl White, 2022 Campbell Callier Prize recipient, director and founder of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management, and professor of psychology at Utah State University. The presentation will summarize the history of newborn hearing screening, describe the status, and discuss some of the important challenges and emerging issues that could be addressed to further improve early identification of childhood hearing loss. The conference is free, although registration is required.

Center for BrainHealth Events

Scientific Python: Past, Future and Present, noon-1 p.m., Friday, April 15 – The Scientific Python ecosystem is a loose federation of libraries written by volunteers for use by themselves and the community. It is now the de facto platform for scientific research and data science. In this talk, Jarrod Millman, a PhD candidate in biostatistics at University of California, Berkeley, will discuss how a small and unfunded community effort managed to succeed against the odds; the challenges it faces; what can be done to make it better; and its future.

Navigating the Digital Brain Health Market, 7-8 p.m., Thursday, April 21 – Alvaro Fernandez, is CEO of SharpBrains, an independent market research firm tracking applied neuroscience. He will present the latest trends in digital brain health and society's march toward pervasive neurotechnology.

Inside The BrainHealth Project, noon, Thursday, May 26 – Learn more about the BrainHealth Project and ask questions at this 30-minute virtual information session. This approach to brain training teaches you to focus on your strengths and performance, empowering you to become the best version of yourself.

Teams Tips: Utilizing Power BI, 2 p.m., Tuesday, April 12 – Power BI is a cloud-based business analytics service that connects users to a range of live data through easy-to-use dashboards, provides interactive reports and delivers compelling visualizations that bring data to life. This session will provide tips and tricks to enhance your experience. Register to attend Utilizing Power BI.

Office of Research and Innovation Events

Responsible Conduct of Research Development Series, Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon-1p.m., April 5-28 – Do you work on federally funded research? Join the Office of Research and Innovation for its RCR Development Series. For certification, you must attend all required classes in the series and complete the online training modules and assessments. For more information, contact Tiffany Willoughby.

NSF Career Spotlight Series, noon-1 p.m., Wednesday, April 13 Dr. Hejun Zhu, associate professor in geosciences, will present the research taking place in the UTD seismic imaging laboratory and share his experience and timeline for developing the NSF CAREER proposal. For more information, contact Tiffany Willoughby.

Comet Corner Series: Holocaust Remembrance, Wednesday, April 13, noon-1 p.m. Dr. Scott Swartsfager PhD’18, professor of history at Collin College, will share his research about the infection of antisemitism and the violence from Dutch citizens that ensued during World War II. Dr. Nils Roemer, director for the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies, will moderate. Dr. Pedro Gonzalez Corona, assistant professor of instruction in the School of Arts and Humanities, will join as discussant. For more information, contact Dani Lamb.

Golf Tournament Benefits Student Scholarships

Faculty and staff are invited to participate in the 28th Annual UT Dallas Scholarship Golf Tournament, which takes place on Friday, April 29, at Firewheel Golf Park.

The tournament has raised money for University scholarships over the years, including: the Betty and Gifford Johnson Graduate Endowment, which helps graduate students attend and make presentations at national conferences; the Patti Henry Pinch Undergraduate Endowment, which assists undergraduates with research and travel expenses; and the Academic Bridge Scholarship Endowment, which provides advising, mentoring and tutoring to first-generation college students.

Ready to play? Register your team by Friday, April 15. Want to help? Volunteer for a committee by Friday, April 8.

For more information, please contact Dee Lambert or 972-883-2205.

Register for Green Zone Training for Faculty, Staff

The Green Zone program, presented by the Military and Veteran Center, is designed to establish a network of University staff and faculty who shape a military-friendly campus culture.

The next class is a two-part series offered in-person from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., Wednesday, April 13 and Friday, April 15. Both sessions are required to earn the Green Zone designation. Training topics include military terminology and culture, transition challenges for student veterans, classroom considerations, and campus and community resources.

For more information, email [email protected] or call ext. 4913.