Weekly Newsletter: Tuesday Is News Day

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Wondering who to contact with a CLS question?  Please use the CLS email for sub requests, staffing questions, and general departmental inquiries. ✨ cls-office@austincc.edu ✨

Today's newsletter is full of more new items as we head into the second half of the semester. Look for headings highlighted in purple, including info about the new faculty eval process, a survey about faculty belonging at ACC, amazing promotional materials for Summer Study Abroad, a call for agenda items, a job opportunity with HS Programs (it closes tonight!), the faculty contributions form for the CLS Profile, a Shakespeare Mashup, and a link to ACC's new Helpdesk ticketing system.   

8B folks, don't forget to submit your syllabi to the AY25-26 Collection Form and update Lighthouse! 

And finally, it's the season for BB Accessibility reviews and reports! If you receive an email about the accessibility of your course, please respond and take the actions recommended in the email.  Check out the Accessibility Newsletter and the item below with resources for improving accessibility. You can provide feedback about the barriers to BB Accessibility in this perception survey.

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Important Dates! 

October 20

8B-week sessions began [upload syllabi to Lighthouse and Academic Year 2025-2026 Collection Form

October 29 

Mojo Ticketing system goes away; Switch to Team Dynamix

November 7 

2025 Corequisite Summit: Start Strong with Literacy! 

November 11

Veteran's Day - ACC campuses closed

November 14

CLS Curriculum Meeting [virtual; look for the Zoom link next week]

November 21 

Town Hall, 9:00am - 10:30am [submit questions and concerns here]

December 5 

CLS End-of-Semester Meeting, 11:00am - 12:30pm [virtual & in-person at RGC; links to come]

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CLS Announcements 

CLS Quick Links

CLS Evaluation Materials

2025-2026 Evaluation Deadlines Full Calendar

Academic Year 2025-2026 Collection Form

This form is created and maintained by the Assistant Department Chair for CLS's Evaluation Committee (Beth Frye).  Use this form to submit syllabi, Faculty Reflection Forms, and self-reported mandatory training for Fall 2025, Spring 2026, and Summer 2026. 

Submit Syllabi by the second week of classes (varies by session; Sept. 5, 2025 for 16 week)

Submit Faculty Reflection Forms (Jan 30, 2026; Jun 12, 2026; Sept 4, 2026)

Submit self-reported Mandatory training (May 29, 2026)

CLS K.I.S.S Spreadsheet

CLS K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Sweetheart) 

This spreadsheet allows CLS faculty to see and understand all required professional development tasks as well as several optional PD opportunities.  

CLS Faculty Handbook

CLS Faculty Handbook

The Faculty Handbook can answer many questions about CLS policy, staffing, evaluation, and more! Plus, you can find instructions for badge requests and grade changes.  The easiest way to navigate the CLS Faculty Handbook is the search field.  Look for the magnifying glass 🔍in the upper right corner of the homepage and type your keyword (badge request or change eligibility).

Conference Travel Request Form

LAHC Travel Expense Request 

File this Travel Expense Request with the LAHC Dean's office to request money for upcoming conference travel and attendance.  

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📣Shout Outs!📣

Congratulations Barbara Lewis on the upcoming publication of A Woman Wild! The book is out November 1st, and you can pre-order your copy through Alamo Bay Press (pam@alamobaypress.com). 

Praise for A Woman Wild: 

Barbara Williams Lewis in A Woman Wild writes life as she knows it.  Get ready for an amazing ride that gives you the straightforward scoop with a fearless honesty.  Nothing is held back, and she never turns to defensive as she spins tumultuous tales of struggles from slavery to poverty to success.  Here you can see what it was like being a Black woman in the South.  You will learn of the terror, the pain, the sweat, the pleasures, and the joys.  You will see strength, intelligence, and adaptability.  It's all here in this story of generations, a true American tale that carries up to the present.

---Chuck Taylor, Founder of Slough Press, author of Heterosexual, The One True Cat, and Saving Sebastian.

Barbara Williams Lewis gives voice to a rich rendering of her Southern roots, exploring mercilessly pieces of her ancestral history.  She crafts stories in imagined scenes that capture the heart-songs of her people.  Harsh at times, she captures generational conflicts and economic changes in the rural south.  Gritty and passionate, these are memories of strength and survival in a deeply rooted and segregated community.  The author gives the strong , wild women of her family real voices as she finds her voice in their stories and finds the reason for her own wildness.

---Dorothy Barnett, author of Road Songs.

A Woman Wild traces the author's roots back to slavery through the intimate, compelling stories of generations of fierce, resilient women.  The prose is cinematic with fresh characters who demand to be savored and remembered.  A Woman Wild is a radiant celebration of survival, defiance and freedom.

---Joe O'Connell, novelist and filmmaker, author of Evacuation Plan.

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Faculty Evaluation Summaries: Be on the lookout!

Our CLS Faculty Evaluation Committee and Department Chair, Dr. Wendy Elle, have been working their way through faculty evaluations. Individual faculty will receive an email notification when it's time to review and sign their Evaluation Summaries. 

When your evaluation summary is ready to review,  you will receive an email from Faculty Evaluation Summary directing you to sign into the My ACC app and find the link for Faculty Development and Evaluation.  After you review, be sure to follow the directions to sign and submit. If you want to have a conference with Wendy Elle to discuss your evaluation, you can make that request, and she will reach out to you with a few dates to confer via Zoom. Some of you have already received and signed your evaluations; thank you for your prompt attention! 

All faculty should receive their Evaluation Summary by November 7, and they need to be signed and returned by November 21.  Please be on the lookout for the email!

And a note from Wendy here: Beth Frye and Anja Ketcham and the whole Fac Eval Committee have been working so hard on getting these out. I cannot tell you how much smoother and more efficient the process has been because of them. Please send virtual huzzah's to our fearless Fac Eval Committee!!

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Action Item: Complete Faculty Survey

ToC design team for Belonging in the Classroom needs all faculty to complete this anonymous survey, sharing your input about accountability, support, and belonging at ACC. Please take the 10-15 minutes to complete the survey by November 7. 

From Wendy--PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE--OMG--PLEASE FILL THIS OUT. It matters. It really matters. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

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Call for Agenda Items: November 14 CLS Curriculum Meeting

The annual Fall Curriculum Meeting will be held via Zoom on Friday, November 14, 2025, 11:00am-12:30pm. Please send agenda items related to Curriculum to Susan Meigs (smeigs@austincc.edu) by Wednesday, November 12.

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Please Promote: Summer '26 Study Abroad in England

British Literature I & II, Study Abroad, England, Summer 2026

Walk the London city streets where Charles Dickens’ set Oliver Twist, witness a Shakespearean drama from the eyes of a 17th-century commoner at the reconstructed Globe Theatre, hike the wild moors outside Haworth where Charlotte and Emily Brontë played as young girls, stroll through Lexington Gardens where JM Barrie first entertained the family of young boys who inspired his Peter Pan, and even visit Canterbury Cathedral, the destination of Chaucer’s famous storytelling pilgrims! I’m excited to offer this up-close-and-personal experience of the cultural/historical context for so many powerful and influential staples of British literature. 

After laying the groundwork during in-person classes here in Austin, we will spend the second half of the 5-week summer session in London and several surrounding cities, touring cathedrals, museums, stately homes, and libraries, watching live performances, and visiting historically significant sites. During these two plus weeks in England, we will see literature in a new light through a deepened understanding of the life and times of great authors, including their original audiences, purposes, and cultural, religious, and political influences. Moreover, we will explore how these authors influenced and engaged with each other across centuries and how their lasting legacies continue to shape our stories and media today. Combining the theoretical and the practical, we will finish the course with collaborative on-the-ground projects that draw from our reading, research, and travel experiences, taking personal inspiration from literature, architecture, fashion, landscape, and more.   

-Ryan Lopez, CLS, ryan.lopez@austincc.edu

If you're interested, see details in this brochure and on the Study Abroad Programs webpage. Accepting applications now!