Weekly Newsletter: Tuesday Is News Day

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

This week marks the CCC's! We are thrilled and excited and many other superlatives to see you all on Friday for this amazing conference! Huzzahs all the way around to Rob Crowl and the PDRS magical team of wonderment for bringing it all together.

Meanwhile, please think about attending the virtual CLS Town Hall to discuss bylaws (March 25, 6:30pm-7:30pm). Adjuncts and full-timers are encouraged to come so we can talk about some of the big ideas mentioned in the notes y'all sent. I think it's going to be a great conversation!

🌸🐝And Spring Break is so close we can almost touch it--you can smell the mountain laurels are starting to bloom. So much to look forward to--so much hope. 🐝🌸

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Important Dates! 

Link to CLS Faculty Calendar (Zoom links available for virtual events)

March 6 

CCCs (HLC and virtual), 12pm-4pm

March 16 - March 22 

Spring Break, ACC Closed 

March 25

CLS Bylaws Town Hall Meeting (virtual), 6:30pm-7:30pm

March 27 

CLS meets with Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart and VC Gaye Lynn Scott (virtual), 9am-10am

April 25 

Undergraduate Research Symposium, 11am-2pm

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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; Jan 30, 2026 for 16 week)

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

Submit self-reported Mandatory training (Due Feb 28)

Supplemental Materials for the CLS Annual Evaluation

Use this form to submit your Supplemental Materials for Annual Faculty Evaluation.  Need to know what to submit?  First, find your cycle year on the CLS Due List.  Then, use the What do I submit? chart. Submit AY26 Supplemental Materials by May 29, 2026. 

Faculty Responsibilities for Annual Evaluation

The above video explains the ACC and CLS Faculty Evaluation Process in a Q&A format.  You can also find the transcript and resources here. 

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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Support in Confusing and Uncertain Times

Over the weekend, global and local events unfolded that make teaching and learning more difficult. In the same time frame as the horrific West 6th Street shooting, we also have acts of war overseas. Please be on the lookout to support your colleagues and students who might be struggling with overwhelm and fear. And take care of yourself.

If you or your students need to talk to someone, remember that ACC has resources. 

Resources from Chancellor Russell's March 2 email, 

Students — ACC’s mental health counselors are here to provide confidential support and guidance. In addition to our on-campus counseling services, ACC is expanding access to free, 24/7 virtual mental health support through TimelyCare. You can find more information and support at austincc.edu/counseling.

Employees — Our Employee Assistance Program offers free and confidential counseling support for employees and their family members. If you need time or flexibility, please talk with your supervisor.

Your safety matters deeply to us. Our ACC Police officers will continue to maintain a visible presence at every campus. If you ever need help, there is always a campus police station, or you can call our police directly at 512-223-1231.

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The CCC's are HERE!!!

On Friday, May 6, the third annual CCC's will be underway at HLC from 11am-4pm. Check out all the details, on the conference website, including our featured speaker, panelists, and swag-appeal. There'll be places to get your photo taken and look over the latest and greatest textbooks. And SNACKS!

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Update on Summer Staffing 

Those of you who staff in estaffing should have accepted your assignments last week.  As a heads-up, we have no asynchronous sections left unstaffed in the summer session.  If that's what you were looking for, we've marked down your preferences and will contact you if we open up or need to restaff an asynch section.  

Those of you that were hired as Dual Credit hires staff by email (but we use the estaffing draw order, which you can find in estaffing Reports --> Summer 2026 --> English).  We are working our way down the draw order, sending an email with the available classes to the next person in the draw.  Thanks to those of you who are responding quickly, we are already at number 22 (wahoo!).  

Unfortunately, we don't have enough summer sections for everyone to pick one up.  We will send out notice when we are all staffed for summer to keep everyone informed. And we will continue to use the draw order to staff classes that are added or returned. 

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Summer Textbooks 📚

As a reminder, the CLS Admin Team submits textbook information to the ACC Bookstore.  Please ignore the (many) reminders from the bookstore and make sure that we have your textbook info. 

• Full-time English faculty added their textbooks to the sign-off sheet in December.  No further action is needed. 

• Adjunct English faculty will complete this ENGL Textbook form once they accept their Summer 26 classes. 

• Full-time and Adjunct INRW faculty will complete this INRW Textbook form once they accept their Summer 26 classes. 

Important: Even if you do not assign a textbook, we need you to respond so that we can label your class for the Zero Textbook Costs sort. 

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Clarity on Accessibility Requirements

On February 27, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, Gaye Lynn Scott, sent an email clarifying ACC's accessibility expectations and the use of the BB Ally tool. Here's an excerpt: 

This message is intended to provide clear, consistent, and college-wide clarification.

The law requires equitable and timely access to course content for students with disabilities, not perfect automated scores. Tools such as Blackboard Ally do not define legal compliance; rather, they help us identify potential barriers and support continuous improvement.

At ACC, we use a 100% Ally score as a quality benchmark, not as a legal threshold. This benchmark establishes a shared aspirational target, helps prioritize high-impact accessibility improvements, and supports designing accessibility into courses from the outset.

To provide clarity and consistency, the Office of Distance & Alternative Education under Dr. Addae has published guidance on the Distance Education website outlining known scenarios in which Ally may continue to display flags despite reasonable remediation efforts.  When remaining flags fall within these documented scenarios, and instructional impact has been reviewed, courses are considered aligned with college accessibility expectations. We will continue to update the website as we become aware of additional scenarios.

You may access this guidance here:

Blackboard Ally: Known Flag Scenarios That May Prevent a 100% Score

This guidance does not lower accessibility expectations. Rather, it clarifies how automated indicators should be interpreted within the broader context of equitable access and professional judgment.

[see Blackboard Accessibility and Resources item below for resources that will help improve the accessibility of your BB course]

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Please Promote: Writing Workshop at RVS (and Zoom), March 5

Encourage your students to attend Writing Workshop 2: All About MLA

When: March 5th at 3pm

Where: RVSG 9103 and a newly added virtual option!

Zoom Meeting ID: 253 903 2844  and Passcode: 999294

RSVP: matthew.smith@austincc.edu

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Survey: CLS Diversity, Censorship, and Academic Freedom, Deadline Mar. 31

The Professional Development and Research Committee would appreciate your taking the time to fill out the CLS Diversity, Censorship, and Academic Freedom survey by Tuesday, March 31st. 

You can find more details about the survey's purpose and method by following the link above.  If you have questions about the survey, please contact Rob Crowl at robert.crowl@austincc.edu or Dylan Walsh at dylan.walsh@austincc.edu.

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Please Promote: 2026 Central Texas Learning Festival

The ACC Honors Program is excited to be a proud partner in the 2026 Central Texas (CTX) Learning Festival!

Where: Highland Campus Welcome Center, Building 1000 (HLC1 2350) 

Wednesday, March 11, 9:00-10:50 am - La diversidad y la influencia del estilo y la moda Hispana/ The diversity and influence of Hispanic style and fashion

Honors Spanish I & II professors Ramiro Juarez and Marcel Pons Ventura will explore personal style and fashion influences across the Spanish-speaking world in this insightful cultural workshop.

Wednesday, March 11, 11:00-11:50 am - Pop Culture Pop-Up - Decoding Movies, Memes, and More

Dr. Brinda Roy’s Honors Composition I students will teach a lively, hands-on class, during which participants will decode familiar cultural artifacts - from music to memes - to discover how pop culture shapes our lives and communities.

The Festival is free and open for learners of all ages and interests. Learn more at ctxlearningfestival.com

Facebook @ctxlearningfestival

Instagram @ctx.learningfestival

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Blackboard Accessibility Resources and Sessions

ACC's Office of Distance Education (DE) is working hard to make sure faculty have the tools and know-how to make all BB courses accessible by April 24, 2026. 

Resources for working on BB Accessibility

• Instructional design support offers DE Accessibility Training

• DE's Accessibility Resource page

• TLED's Accessibility information page. 

• Materials from Trent Griggs' ADA Blackboard Compliance Training at the 2025 CCCs:

Accessibility Quick Guide

Blackboard Accessibility Orientation

Common Errors

Examples of Reasonable Accommodations

How to use Blackboard Ally

Drop-in: Accessibility Sessions in March

March 4 9 a.m. –12 p.m.

• Cypress Creek Campus (Learning Lab, CYP2109) Zoom link Cypress Creek Campus 

• Highland Campus (ACCelerator) Zoom link Highland Campus 

• Northridge Campus (Learning Lab, NRG4119) Zoom link Northridge Campus 

March 11 1 p.m. –4 p.m.

• Elgin Campus (Learning Lab, EGN 1254) Zoom link Elgin Campus 

• Rio Grande Campus (ACCelerator) Zoom link Rio Grande Campus 

• Round Rock Campus (Learning Lab RRC2330.07) Zoom link Round Rock Campus 

March 26, 9 a.m. –12 p.m.

• Highland Campus (ACCelerator) Zoom link Highland Campus 

• Hays Campus (Learning Lab, HYS 1205.04) Zoom link Hays Campus 

• Riverside Campus (Learning Lab, RVS 9100)  Zoom link Riverside Campus 

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PD Opportunity: Adobe for Visualization in Argument, Mar. 19

In this session, leaders from Penn State’s Program in Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) showcase an innovative Infographics Unit designed for 5,000 First-Year Writing students.

Discover how they guide students to transform written arguments into compelling data visualizations using Adobe Express. You’ll explore how PWR faculty scaffold, support, and assess multimodal projects, with a strong focus on critical thinking and creativity in the age of Generative AI. These projects demonstrate how technology can be thoughtfully and strategically integrated into writing courses.

Leave with actionable approaches to help students become agile, effective visual communicators, skills essential for today’s digital world.

Register here

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Promote Student Work!

We all know our students are doing amazing things! As you review student work, keep in mind ways that you can encourage students to get their work to a larger audience by submitting the Spring Undergraduate Research Symposium, Cacciatore, or Innovate. 

Undergraduate Research Symposium, Deadline to apply Mar. 23, 2026

 📣CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! Apply by March 23, 2026! 

The Liberal Education Advancement and Development (LEAD) initiative is sponsoring an Undergraduate Research Symposium and we are calling it 🌸 ACC In Bloom !! 🌸

 🎓📚🔬 What: A Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Symposium that will showcase work from students and faculty across all disciplines and levels of research experience.

🗓️⏰When: Saturday April 25, 2026, 11:00am-2:00pm.

🏫Where: Highland Campus.

👉Check out the marvelous Symposium Website and flyer.

Apply:  2026 Undergraduate Research Symposium Submission Form 

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Please Promote: Submissions to The Windward Review

Students and faculty are invited to submit their works to the 24th volume of The Windward Review, exploring themes of power, presence, and perspective. The Windward Review is an annual print and creative digital journal showcasing diverse works of poetry, screenplays, fiction, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction unique to the South Texas Coastal Bend.  Our journal is looking for original pieces under 15 pages that investigate different perspectives and challenge our readers to reflect on the diverse lens your submissions have to offer. 

To submit your creative works, please visit the following site via our online portal: 

Windward Review Home | Windward Review | College of Liberal Arts | Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi 

Submissions will be open until March 18th, 2026 by 12:00 PM CDT. 

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Promote and Attend: Walking Shadow Shakespeare Project

Join Walking Shadow Shakespeare Project for a night of Short Plays inspired by Shakespeare and created by local Austin artists, including Amber Luttig-Buonodono (writing under a pen name). Shows run at Trinity Street Playhouse at 7:30 pm March 3-7, with a matinee at 2pm on Saturday March 7. Tickets and more details here.

We will also be hosting a special champagne closing event on Sunday March 8 at 4pm at Sekrit Theater with a talkback and party to follow. You can find tickets for that here.

Featured Plays:

I Loved You Ever, a new play by Pablo Muñoz-Evers

Macbeth, but he's just a sword

Puck, in Epilogue, a new play by Amber Elby

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Contribute: CLS Profile 

For the last two years, the CLS Profile has been a great success; check out volume 2 here.  In preparation for an even more amazing volume 3, we've opened the Faculty Contribution (2026) form.

Unlike voting, you can actually submit to this form early and often.  Add some love notes now, come back in a month with pictures, and submit again after winter break when you've caught up on some leisure reading! 

Here's what we're looking for: 

• 📸Pics of you, your colleagues, your students! (Don't forget to get the photo consent form signed!)

• 💜Love Notes (end-of-semester "thank yous" from students, snippets from evaluations that stick with you)

• 📖Recommended reads (articles and books) 

• 🙋🏽Successful classroom strategies and engaging texts

• 📑Course or assignment re-designs 

• ✍️Professional publications, presentations, or achievements

• 🏆 Student achievements