Grant Awards to Three Faculty for Open Education
Kenneth Kihm (Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering), Joanne Logan (Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science), and Barbara Murphy (Music Theory) received awards ranging from $750 to $1,750 for adopting open textbooks and creating OER. They received mini-grants from a partnership with the Division of Student Life, the University Libraries, and UT’s Open Textbook Working Group to help them make the transition to OER.
An increasing number of UT students can enroll in courses using open textbooks and OER. Last year, 18 courses had at least one section with an open textbook or OER adoption, saving students approximately $700,000 dollars. That savings is expected to continue each year. Logan’s ESS 462 and Murphy’s MUTH 310 have been added to the list this fall. In the spring, Kim’s AE 351 will be included.
Theriot Has New Title, New Responsibilities in Provost Office
Matthew Theriot, who had been serving as the interim vice provost for faculty affairs and the associate provost for teaching and learning innovation, is now the associate provost for faculty development and strategic initiatives.
He will oversee Teaching and Learning Innovation, online programs, and faculty diversity initiatives. He also will work on strategic initiatives assigned by the provost in consultation with the chancellor.
Sayegh Spends Summer Researching, Collaborating Abroad
Cullen Sayegh, a fifth-year Architecture student, spent his summer researching abroad in Europe and Asia as the 2018 Aydelott Travel Award recipient.
Sayegh was chosen for his proposal, “Architecture as Infrastructure: Investigating Spatial Networks.” Using his $20,000 award, Sayegh traveled to four historical architecture sites: The Trollstigen Visitor Center on the Geiranger-Trollstigen National Tourist Route in Norway; the Ouvrage Hackenberg in Veckring, France; the Humble Administrator’s Garden in the Classical Gardens of Suzhou, China; and the Angkor Wat Temple in Angkor, Cambodia.
Spending about a week at each location, Sayegh completed his research by exploring the larger infrastructural networks of each of these sites. At each site, he spent his first few days interviewing people with professional connections to the site, and after gathering background information, he used his remaining time to investigate related sites, photograph, sketch and journal his findings.