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).

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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, 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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Dual Credit Annual Appointment (DCAA) Application, Submit by Mar 7

If you are interested in applying for a Dual Credit Annual Appointment (DCAA), for the 2025-26 school year, please complete this 2025-26 DCAA Interest Form. Please complete the interest form by March 7th. Should you have questions, contact one of your DC Liaisons - Kari Conness, Chris Gardner, or Sarah Stayton.

A quick explanation from the CLS Faculty Handbook: 

DCAA (Dual Credit Annual Appointment):  Adjunct faculty have the opportunity to apply for consecutive course assignment at a high school campus of their choosing over the Fall & Spring semesters. Applications for DCAA are available in the Spring for the following academic year and are submitted to the department chair. Full-Time faculty do not apply for DCAA.

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Addressing Student Behavior  

When students display concerning or disruptive behavior, faculty can reach out through the Maxient system to connect the student to resources or notify the college.  

• If the behavior has you concerned for the student's well-being, file a CARES report. 

• If the behavior breaks the Student Code of Conduct, file a Student Conduct Notification Report. 

• If the behavior has you concerned for the student AND breaks the Code of Conduct, file both a CARES report and a Student Conduct Notification Report.  

• As always, if there is an emergency, call 911.  If you need non-emergency police support, call 512-223-1231. 

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Heads Up for New Type of Financial Fraud

The Dean's office wants faculty to be aware of a new type of financial fraud. In the few cases that have occurred at ACC, faculty have noticed students in online classes submit AI-generated work that makes almost no sense--as if they are just submitting something to avoid being withdrawn.  Then the students become very evasive when asked to conference. This does not mean that all students who submit AI-generated assignments are committing financial fraud, but if something feels off as you try to address odd AI-generated work, contact Dean Toño Ramirez. 

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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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Save the Date: LAG Retreat, April 25, 12-4pm

For folks in the Liberal Arts Gateway program, please mark your calendars for the Spring 2025 LAG Retreat. 

When: April 25, 12-4pm 

Where: Highland Campus

Stay tuned for room details and event info! 

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Apply: Tutoring Positions at HLC and SGC, deadline March 16

The HLC Learning Lab is accepting applications for an English Tutoring Specialist.  Applications close at midnight on March 17, which means hit submit before 11:59pm on March 16!

Check out the job details and apply here: Tutoring Specialist - English Full Time 

The SGC Learning Lab is accepting applications for a Tutor - English/Writing/ESOL. Applications close at midnight on March 17, which means hit submit before 11:59pm on March 16!

Check out the job details and apply here: Tutor II: English/Writing/ESOL

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Employment Opportunity: Austin Academic Collaborative  

Amy Rostvold wants to share an opportunity to apply to Austin Academic Collaborative (soon-to-be Arts and Academic Collaborative), which offers a la carte education to homeschooled students.  They currently need instructors to teach academic writing to middle school students (age 11-13).  These classes focus on essay writing and research skills, and the ideal candidate would need to understand how to make learning fun and engage 11-13 year olds. The class meets twice per week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) for an hour and fifteen minutes.  If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, contact Amy Rostvold.  

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Heads up: SXSW is March 7 - March 15 

South by Southwest 2025 will be happening at venues around Austin during the week of March 7 - March 15.  In the past, this event has occurred during ACC's spring break and has had minimal effect on our students or classes.  Please consider flexibility with students who may have more rigid work schedules or traffic challenges during SXSW.  

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Integrating Civic Engagement Initiative Is In the Works

I am so excited to jump the gun on this one--just a bit. Keep an eye for a new, homegrown initiative that CLS will be piloting. A good part of the project involves these General Education Competencies:

Personal Responsibility: Identify and apply ethical principles and practices to decision-making by connecting choices, actions and consequences.

Social Responsibility (Civic and Cultural Awareness): Analyze differences and commonalities among peoples, ideas, aesthetic traditions, and cultural practices to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.

Alright--that's all I can say for now. But, in the spirit of preparation, I want to share one of my all time favorite RadioLab podcasts: Episode 1, Season 3, More Perfect, that speaks to "the poetic dream behind the First Amendment."

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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 Fall 2024 classes to the Academic Year 2024-25 Collection form BY JANUARY 31, 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 are in a Portfolio Year for Spring 25.  Remember Portfolios 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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Reminder: CLS Curriculum Conference, March 7 

CLS Curriculum Conference 2025 is happening this Friday!!  During the conference, you can meet with our textbook reps, get some assistance with accessibility and Blackboard Ultra, and eat snacks! If you registered for in-person attendance, we'll see you at HLC, Building 1000, Rooms 2201/2! If you're registerted and attending virtually, you can find Zoom links here.   

When: Friday, March 7, 2025, 12:00-4:00 PM 

Where: Highland Campus (HLC) in Austin, TX, Building 1000, Meet-and-Greet 2201/2

Panels and Workshops: 

Session 1A, Service-Learning Opportunities for Liberal Arts Courses

Session 1B, Ain't Afraid of No Ghost(writers): Can Professional Writing Inform How We Teach Student Writing? (Workshop)

Session 1C, Teaching Students How To Do Research

Session 2A, Cancelled

Session 2B, Trauma-Informed Pedagogy and the Power of Voice

Session 2C, Civic Engagement in a Divided Country

Session 3A, Back to Basics: Outwitting AI Shortcuts

Session 3B, Empowering Learners: Writing Adventures and Metacognition

Session 3C, A Beginner's Guide To Global Education and Multicultural Curriculum

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Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities

Teaching with AI Book Club 

Event dates: March 6, March 27, April 17, May 8, 2-4pm at HLC

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

Celebration of Great Teaching

Deadline to apply: March 7 

Event date: April 11 - April 13

More details: Celebration of Great Teaching website and application

Lilly Conference

Deadline for scholarship Application: March 24

Event date: May 19-21

More details: Lilly Conference Website and Scholarship Application

NISOD International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence

Deadline for Proposals: March 21

Event Date: May 25 - May 27 

More details: NISOD Call for Proposals!

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Conference Travel Request Form

Our division (Liberal Arts: Humanities and Communications) has a new, super-suave Travel Request Form. (Shout out to Toño Ramirez and Jean Lauer!) If you would like to request permission and $$$ for a conference, you start with the form. (This is AWESOME because it means it can't get lost temporarily delayed in my emails!)

• Faculty may begin process by submitting this form

• Upon completion, chair will automatically receive notification and be prompted to indicate approval with this form

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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 three options: March 12 (Zoom), or April 2 (HLC). You can learn more or register here: DE Accessibility Training.  

• TLED has great resources on their 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!.

• At the CLS Curriculum Conference (CCC), CLS will have three Instructional Designers on hand to help with ADA Compliance for PDFs. 

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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 demand for trouble-shooting 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 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 3pm-4pm 

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 3-4pm. 

• 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:

• CLS Curriculum Conference - March 7th from 12 PM to 4 PM at the Highland Campus

• 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 10:30am-12:30pm 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, photos with colleagues at conferences--especially CLS activities! (Don't forget to get photo permission forms from students signed.)  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'! (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!