Weekly Newsletter: Tuesday Is News Day

CLS Quick Links

Collection Form for Evaluation Materials

Academic Year 2024-25 Collection

This form is created and maintained by the assistant chair of the CLS Evaluation Committee (Beth Frye).  Use this form to submit syllabi, Faculty Reflection Forms, and self-reported mandatory training for Fall 2024, Spring 2025, and Summer 2025. 

Submit Syllabi by the second week of classes (varies by session)

Submit Faculty Reflection Forms (Jan 31, Jun 21)

Submit self-reported Mandatory training (May 30)

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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Congratulations Excellence Award Winners! 🎉

Michelle Iskra, Dr. Ursula Parker, and Laura Trellue will be recognized at ACC's 2025 Teaching and Leadership Excellence Awards on April 3rd.  (See link for details about the livestream.)

Michelle Iskra - NISOD Teaching Excellence Awards

Dr. Ursula Parker - Chancellor’s Leadership Excellence Awards & League Excellence Awards 

Laura Trellue - eFaculty of the Year and NISOD Excellence Award

Congratulations on your well-deserved honors! We are so proud to celebrate your excellence and all that you do for our students and department! 

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Opportunity to Amend Eligibility (Adjunct Faculty)

If you are interested in amending your eligibility to teach certain courses, please complete the Amend Your Eligibility Google Form by Wednesday March 26.  You will need to upload your transcripts on the final section of the form.  

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Congratulations to Amy Ashton Cunningham

Amy was awarded a Spring 2025 Eco Conference Grant to attend the Texas Regional Alliance for Campus Sustainability (TRACS) Summit at Texas State University!  She says she'll share what she learns with after the conference--congrats, Amy!!

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Please Promote: Honors Program Info Session, April 4

Curious about the Honors Program? The Spring Honors Info Session will be held on Friday, April 4th, at the HLC Welcome Center from 11:30 am-1:00 pm. Lunch will be provided, and the plan is to cover courses, scholarships, internships, specialized advising, transfer opportunities, and some of the leadership and service initiatives we've developed for Honors students (UT YCS Fellows Program, INRW peer tutoring, etc.). Students who can't make it in person can join via Zoom; event information is here.  

For questions, contact athomas2@austincc.edu 

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Call for Proposals: Corequisite Summit, deadline May 5

The CLS Department-INRW program at ACC is hosting the second Coreq Summit on Friday, November 7, 2025. We are seeking proposals from professors that teach corequisite courses at ACC for 45 minute break out sessions related to the theme “Stay Strong in Literacy.” The deadline for proposals is May 5th. Please see the link for the proposal application.

Proposal Application for 2025 Corequisite Summit

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Please Promote: Student Response to Course Evaluations 

Remember that student responses are a portion of your Annual Faculty Evaluation, and you benefit from a variety of voices in your course evaluations.  Be on the lookout for an email notifying you when your Course Evals are available to students and then promote them in your class announcements.  

Also, check out the Office for Faculty Evaluation's promotional materials: 

You can request a 10-minute student presentation through this link. Or you can share this prerecorded video with your students. 

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Response to Federal Executive Orders Concerning Immigration 

We've gathered all of the resources and policies regarding ACC's response to federal executive orders in this document: Info on Federal Executive Orders about Immigration.  Below is a condensed version of ACC's official response.  If you work in high schools, be sure to check the document for the policies at your specific high school. 

Steps from ACC Chancellor:

1. If immigration officers come into your workspace (office or classroom), stay where you are and assure them you will comply.

2. Ask them to wait where they are while you connect them with the appropriate help. 

3. Then, immediately contact the Chancellor’s office at 512-223-7598. 

4. The district will be prepared to work with immigration officers directly. 

5. Please continue your work as usual while we deploy our protocols. Our ACC Police will join the immigration officers to notify you of the appropriate next steps.

The Chancellor's email also reminded the ACC community about support available through Employee Assistance Program or the Office of the Ombudsperson. 

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CLS Curriculum Conference - Materials and Recordings

On March 7th, CLS hosted the amazing CCCs.  If you weren't able to make it or you just want to revisit ideas you heard about, check out the links below. The Zoom recordings are unedited.  If you have issues accessing the materials or recordings, contact Kari Conness.

Presentation materials (slides, handouts, etc.) available in CCC 2025 Presentations

Unedited Recordings

Room A Zoom Passcode: &noU$j03

Room B Zoom Passcode: wYQ0@=Uz

Room C Zoom Passcode: c%9#5OW$

Added 3/25 - Trent Griggs shared the following materials related to the ADA Blackboard Compliance Training:

Here are some useful resources that can easily help anyone in your department get started in making their course accessible!

Distance and Alternative Learning Website 

Accessibility Quick Guide

Blackboard Accessibility Orientation

Common Errors

Examples of Reasonable Accommodations

How to use Blackboard Ally

Each resource is mostly self explanatory except for our website, which has multiple accessibility pages with links, videos, and guides on making course content accessible.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Lastly, I will also include a link to our Accessibility Training sign up form

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CLS Creative Writing Group, March 28, 12 PM

From Rob Crowl

Join us on Friday, March 28, at noon for this month's virtual meet-up, where we’ll dive into the art of scene setting and description! We’ll experiment with crafting vivid, immersive settings using interactive activities and challenges. Jordan Easley will focus on how the setting impacts the mood of the piece (and vice versa) as well as the power of sensory details. Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just looking to spark creativity, this is a low-pressure space to connect, write, and share.

Here's the Zoom link: https://austincc.zoom.us/meeting/register/L1V6JqL9S323hEYotf48vA

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Mentoring: As Rewarding as Teaching, but without the Grading

We know your time is valuable, and mentoring doesn’t have to be time-consuming. We’re making mentoring easier than ever with prefab QM shells and Blackboard support from Instructional Designers, plus a new welcome packet that includes essential resources for new hires. What’s more, mentoring is Peer Dialogue. So, you’re not only helping a colleague succeed but also checking off a key requirement of Faculty Evaluation. And as a thank you, mentors receive a stipend for their service. Share what you’re great at! Sign up today.

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CLS Faculty Well-Being Survey, Please complete!

As part of our department’s ongoing efforts to support faculty well-being, the CLS Professional Development, Research, and Service Committee is conducting the CLS Faculty Well-Being Survey to better understand how workload, institutional support, and overall work-life balance impact your mental health. Your responses will help us identify key areas for improvement and advocate for meaningful changes.

This survey is anonymous, and your honest feedback is greatly appreciated. Most questions are multiple-choice, with optional space to expand on your experiences. It should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.

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Call for Industry Professionals & Past English Majors to Attend Graduation Celebration

For our annual celebration of graduating English majors, we are inviting special guests to the party to meet, mingle, and network with our departments’ soon-to-be graduates at Highland on April 30th from 2 to 4 PM!

We’re looking to invite professionals with careers that their English degrees helped prepare them for. Maybe that’s someone you know–maybe that’s you! Recent English major graduates are also more than welcome, so please feel free to reach out to your past students and see if they’d like to join our soiree. 

If you or someone you know would like to be one of the special guests at the English Major Graduation Celebration, please contact Theo Yurevitch. You can also fill out this form indicating your plans to attend April 30th’s Cookie Party/Graduation Celebration. There will be cookies and goodies for everyone who comes!

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Faculty Evaluation, Spring 2025 To-do List 

These five tasks are required components for the Faculty Evaluation process. 

• Submit your Faculty Reflection Form for Spring 2025 classes to the Academic Year 2024-25 Collection form BY June 13, 2025

• Submit your Syllabi for Spring 2025 to the Academic Year 2024-25 Collection by two weeks after the beginning of your courses.   

• Check the CLS Due List to see if you need to complete supplemental evaluation materials for Spring 25.  Remember those materials are now due May 30 2025.  

• Finish your ACC Mandatory Training and self-report on the Academic Year 2024-25 Collection by FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2025

• Complete your Administrative Duties (Syllabi and Office hours on Lighthouse!) no later than two weeks after the beginning of your courses. 

If you have questions or want amazingly detailed guidance for each of the required tasks, check out or print Faculty Evaluation Guidelines, Spring 2025, created by Beth Frye, our (AMAZING!!!) CLS Evaluation Committee Chair.

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Annual Evaluation Materials for the Faculty Evaluation Cycle

Watch video here: Annual Evaluation Materials for the Faculty Evaluation Cycle

From Beth Frye, 

In this video, I walk you through the Faculty Evaluation Cycle, which spans three years, and highlight the specific materials required for both adjunct and full-time faculty. I emphasize the importance of the peer dialogue and values framework for full-time faculty, and I encourage you to review the Faculty Evaluation Manual for detailed guidance. Additionally, I discuss the purposeful change document for year two and the requirements for submitting assignments and assessments in year three. Please make sure to familiarize yourself with these materials and prepare for your evaluations accordingly.

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Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities

AI Showcase and Open Forum (Hybrid) - RSVP Here

Events date: Thursday, March 27 from 12:00 - 2:00 p.m.

More Details: Hybrid– Join us in person (Highland Campus, Room 2.1550 - Presentation Hall) or online!

Teaching with AI Book Club 

Event dates: March 27, April 17, May 8, 2-4 PM at HLC

More details: FCLI Book Club, see Meeting Times/Days in the upper right. 

2025 Artificial Intelligence and Teaching Technical Communication 2.0 (virtual conference, no registration required)

Event date: March 27 (see link for individual presentation times)

More details: 2025 AI and Teaching Technical Communication 2.0 schedule (note: times are in Mountain Daylight Time) 

AI Meets Academia Learning Summit (Virtual) - RSVP Coming Soon

Event date: Wednesday, April 9 and Thursday, April 10

More details: coming soon from TLED

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Accessibility in Blackboard Courses

Moving forward, ACC and CLS want faculty to aim for a BB Accessibility score of 80% or higher. 

Resources for checking and fixing BB Accessibility in your courses:

Please check your BB accessibility score at the beginning of the spring 2025 semester and as you add new items to your courses throughout the semester.  Dean Toño Ramirez made this brief, helpful video to demo Accessibility Reports. If you need help fixing the accessibility of your Blackboard courses, you have resources!   

• Instructional design support is currently offering Workshop Sessions on Enhancing Accessibility.  They have one more option: April 2 (HLC). You can learn more or register here: DE Accessibility Training.  

• TLED has great resources on its Accessibility information page. 

• Within CLS, we are fortunate to have Amber Clontz helping folks get their Bb documents ADA reader-friendly at her Blackboard Q & A Office Hour on Fridays--see the Information further down the newsletter for how those office hours work!

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A not-so-gentle nudge: Blackboard Ultra for Summer 25

If you are teaching summer, make a plan NOW for the Blackboard Ultra Conversion! Many of us wait until the last minute, but that is not the best option with this conversion.  There will be growing pains during the process, and ACC may not have the resources to meet all the last-minute demands for troubleshooting during the May intersession.  Your best bet is to schedule yourself for one of the many training opportunities happening now and through the end of the spring semester.  Your summer courses will be available on BB starting March 10.  

Here are four different ways to get prepared: 

(1) AVC Beth Knight sent an email to all faculty teaching summer courses.  It included the following training options (each session offers four PD hours):

• Using Blackboard Ultra (Face-to-Face): [Sign up here]

• Using Blackboard Ultra (Virtual): [Sign up here]

• Using Blackboard Ultra (Hyflex): [Sign up here]

(2) CCC's will have Instructional Designers on hand to help with Blackboard Ultra training on March 7th. Huge thank you to the Textbook and Technology Assistant Dept. Chair, Amber Clontz, who spearheaded that idea!

(3) Following our CLS Dos de Mayo Meeting (End of Spring Semester on May 2, 2025), we are planning a Bb Ultra Workshop in person at RGC. You'll need to sign up for it--more information to come!

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Blackboard Q & A, Fridays 3 PM-4 PM

Need help setting up your Blackboard page?  Have a quick question about a Blackboard function?

Email Amber Clontz for the Zoom invite; she's hosting regularly on Fridays 3-4 PM. 

• Can’t make the day/time? Send your availability to request an alternative :) 

Brought to you by the Textbooks & Technology Committee 📚🪱💻

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Call for Faculty! We Need English Ambassadors!

CLS’s footprint at ACC is big–and getting bigger–with increasingly more events where faculty can play a role and make a difference.

As an English Ambassador, you will have the opportunity to participate in and help run these events. This is a fantastic way to connect with students outside the classroom, share what you excel at, network with your colleagues, and serve our community! 

English Ambassadors will get Professional Development hours for all events they attend as well as every ounce of swag that CLS has to offer (fancy shirts, casual shirts, stickers, buttons, pens, and more). The events on the horizon for this semester are as follows:

• The Wonder of Literature Event - March 27th from 12 PM to 3 PM at the San Gabriel Campus

• English Major Cookie Party - April 30th from 2 PM on at the Highland Campus

• Vision+Voice - May 3rd, 10:30 AM- 12:30 PM at the Highland Campus

If you would like to serve as an English Ambassador at any of these events and/or participate in future events, please complete the following form.

If you have any questions, please contact Theo Yurevitch!

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Save the Date: Vision and Voice, May 3

Join us on Saturday, May 3rd, from 10:30 AM-12:30 PM for the 11th Annual Vision+Voice Literary Festival at the Highland Campus! Bring the family for a fun morning celebrating community, creativity, and self-expression, starting with literary carnival games and ending with an awards ceremony honoring the winners of the K-12 Vision+Voice Poetry Competition. You can find more info about Vision+Voice at https://k12.visionandvoice.org/ 

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Please Promote: Online Writing Tutor

From Becky Villarreal

Becky Villarreal, ACC English instructor and LELA tutor, assists students with papers via email. They can email her directly at bvillarr@austincc.edu (with their papers in a DOC file and their instructor's directions) or click here to fill out a form. Email Becky if you have questions, or check out her website.

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CLS Profile 2024-2025--Faculty Contributions

Please send us contributions for our next CLS Profile (2024-25).  We'd love to see a picture of you and/or your students, including selfies with students and photos with colleagues at conferences--especially CLS activities (Don't forget to get signed photo permission forms from students)! Aside from photos, we are looking for contributions in as many categories as apply to you; you can also nominate a colleague's reading(s) or assignment(s)!  Keep details concrete and short. The first CLS Profile was a BIG SUCCESS! And we'd love to hear from loads and loads of our faculty for next years' profile! (Also, we'll ask for contributions through the first part of the Spring Term. This form will stay open--and feel free to share things as they come up.

Share your AWESOMENESS Here: Faculty Contributions for 2025 CLS Profile

Holler at Wendy Elle, Luanne Preston, or Dania Dwyer if you have questions or thoughts!