2026–27 Academic Calendar 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Recent Fall faculty messages. 

Information Session: Personal and Professional Circumstances, Faculty Leaves, and Related Policies at UT Austin
Friday, Oct. 16 | 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. | GSB 3.138 
The Provost’s Faculty Affairs team will host an information session focused on Personal and Professional Circumstances, Faculty Leaves, and Related Policies at UT Austin for current faculty and administrators. The session will share information about probationary period (tenure clock) extensions for tenure-track faculty, personal circumstances flags for tenured and professional-track faculty, modified instructional duties, personal and professional leaves, and external appointments for tenured faculty. Join us to learn more about the options and policies supporting faculty navigating personal and professional circumstances.   

Funding Available For UT Austin Innovators
Applications are open for the Discovery to Impact Proof of Concept (POC) Awards, which provide up to $25,000 to help UT Austin innovators advance promising discoveries toward real-world application and impact. Apply by Monday, Oct. 12. Employees with PI status are encouraged to learn more about eligibility and the application process at the website. 

Call for Proposals: Teaching with AI in the Disciplines 
UT Libraries invites faculty to join a working group on teaching with AI in the disciplines. Participants will each receive a $500 stipend and structured support to design, test, and refine a discipline-specific instructional project, then publish it as an open educational resource. The working group runs from Nov. 2026 through Apr. 2027. Applications are due by Friday, Oct, 9. 

Open Education Fellowships: Apply through Oct. 31
UT Libraries invites applicants for its Open Education Fellows Program,which supports faculty members seeking to (1) replace commercial course materials with existing open educational resources or (2) author and openly license their own course materials. Adoption/adaptation fellow(s) will each receive a stipend of $5,000, and author fellow(s) will receive a stipend of $10,000. A total of five fellows will be named and will receive support from UT Libraries throughout their fellowship. Questions? Contact Open Education Librarian Heather Walter.

Skills, Projects, and Augmentation for Instructional Tasks 
Monday, Oct. 5 | 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Register
Building on last month's foundation, we turn to applying generative AI safely to instructional tasks. This session explores how to decide what can and should be delegated to AI while preserving the uniquely human work of teaching, and shares practices for using skills and projects to streamline repetitive tasks and partner with AI on polished materials. If you cannot attend live, you will receive the recording.

AI & Assessment  
Thursday, Nov. 5 | 1 – 2:30 p.m. | Register
In this session, we will explore how generative AI is disrupting academic assessment and renewing focus on assessment design. We will discuss the crucial step of defining learning outcomes to guide decisions about how AI should or shouldn't be used by students, and examine generative AI as an evaluation tool, with a lens on UT Austin's acceptable use policies materials.

More information at the AI for Teaching and Learning Toolkit. 

National Science Foundation Program: America’s Seed Fund 
Tuesday, Oct. 6 | 1 – 2 p.m. | Register
NSF's America's Seed Fund provides up to $2 million in R&D funding to startups built on discoveries in fundamental science and engineering, without taking equity or intellectual property. Join NSF program director Alastair Monk, PhD. in a virtual session covering how the program works, what makes a Project Pitch competitive and live Q&A.  

UT REAL Health AI Symposium
Wednesday, Oct. 7 & Thursday, Oct. 8 | AT&T Conference Center | Register
Join leaders from health care, academia, industry and government at the 2026 UT REAL Health AI Symposium in Austin. Speakers include Michael Dell, Robert Wachter, M.D., Shiv Rao, M.D., Daniel Nadler, Jim Breyer, and Eric Larsen. UT faculty can register at no cost using the promo code LONGHORNPASS.

UT System Webinar Series 2026-2027 
Knowing My Values: Reflexive Practice on AI in Teaching and Assessment
Thursday, Oct. 8 | 1–2 p.m. | Zoom | Register
This session invites faculty participants to examine their own thinking about AI-infused teaching practices and assessments. Using Carter Moulton’s Analog Inspiration card deck where each card names a human value, concern or skill, small groups will reflect on AI tools and reflexively examine their own assumptions. Presenter: Alyssa Cavazos, Director, Center for Teaching Excellence, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley . 

Claude Cowork with AI Studio and Anthropic Training  
Wednesday, Oct. 21 | 10 – 11:30 a.m. | Register
The Education Team from Anthropic joins the AI Studio to introduce Claude Cowork to UT faculty and staff, covering what it does, how to prompt it for quality output, a live walkthrough of the product and real-world case studies from UT Austin. Cowork is Claude that can work alongside you. Instead of only answering questions, it can help complete multi-step tasks by working across your files, tools, and workflows. 

Agatha and Anthony Precourt Family Lecture Series 
Bringing Out Our Best: A Forum on Excellence 
Monday, Oct. 26 | 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. | Etter-Harbin Alumni Center, Connally Ballroom | RSVP
Join psychologist Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author of Grit and the newly released Situated; renowned motivation researcher Professor David Yeager; and legendary UT Austin swimming coach Bob Bowman for a candid conversation on grit, growth, and the pursuit of greatness. 

ChatGPT Work with AI Studio and OpenAI Training 
Wednesday, Oct. 28 | 10 – 11:30 a.m. | Register
The Education Team from OpenAI joins the AI Studio to introduce ChatGPT Work to UT faculty, covering what it does, how to prompt it for quality output, a live walkthrough of the product, and real-world case studies from UT Austin ChatGPT Work can create and edit documents, slide decks, spreadsheets, charts, PDFs, images, and other deliverables using the tools, context, and apps you’re already using. 

Writing, Procrastination and Resistance: How to Identify Your Writing Blocks and Move Through Them
Save the Date: Dec. 8 |  9 a.m. - 4 p.m. | Facilitated by Dr. Joy Gayles
The Provost's Faculty Affairs team is offering an interactive full day writing workshop that will help you uncover root causes of writing blocks and equip you with tools to develop a consistent, sustainable, and productive writing routine. Please save the date and we will share the RSVP and further information in the next Faculty Update. 

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The Faculty Update is a bi-weekly newsletter. Please contact provost.office@utexas.edu for more information.