Info for New UT Math Faculty

Administrative

  1. General Information

    Department Chair: Bill Beckner (471-0117, beckner@math)

    Associate Chair: Ray Heitmann (471-6112, heitmann@math)

    Associate Chair: Ted Odell (471-4157, odell@math)

    Associate Chair: Kathy Davis (471-0128, davis@math)

    Executive Assistant: Jan Baker (471-0119, baker@math)

    Faculty Coordinator: Romero Guillerma (471-1109, gromero@math)

    Postal Address
    Department of Mathematics
    The University of Texas at Austin,
    1 University Station, C1200
    Austin, Texas 78712-0257
    Street Address
    Department of Mathematics
    The University of Texas at Austin
    2515 Speedway, RLM 8.100
    Austin, TX 78712-0257

    Phone/fax Numbers
    • Main dept phone: (512) 471-7711
    • Main dept fax: (512) 471-9038
    • UT Police: (512) 471-4441 or 911
    • We check the fax machine periodically and will put faxes in your physical mailbox.
  2. Space
    The department occupies floor 8 through 13 of the RLM Hall. Administrative offices are located on the 8th floor. The main office is 8.100. Department classrooms are 9.166, 10.176, 11.176 and 12.166. Department computer labs are 7.122, 8.118, 9.120, 10.130 and 13.138.
  3. Keys

    You get authorization from the department through Guillerma or Linda.

    You pick keys up from the University Keys office located in the Service Building. Photo ID is required.

  4. Phones, Voicemail and Faxes

    The Department's Main Switchboard number is (512) 471-7711. However, each office has a direct telephone number with Smart Voice voicemail, which can be given to students, family and friends. Problems with Voice Mail should be addressed Linda Porras, 8.150. Information about voice mail can be found at this site http://www.utexas.edu/its/voicemail/.

    Local Calls: UT phone numbers starts with 471 or 475 or 232. To call a number within UT, you can simple dial 1-xxxx (for 471-xxxx) or 2-xxxx (for 232-xxxx) or 5-xxxx (for 475-xxxx). To place a call to Austin metro area, dial 9, followed by the phone number.

    Long Distance Calls: Most of you will receive an individual access code for making long distance business calls. Please protect this number. Once each month, you will be given a list of all calls made on your access code. You will be asked to identify the calls as either grant (if you have one), or departmental. STATE LAW PROHIBITS CHARGING PERSONAL LONG DISTANCE CALLS TO YOUR OFFICE PHONE; they must be made collect or billed to your home number.

    To make a long distance call from your office telephone dial '8' and wait for a stutter dial tone. Next dial your access code and wait for another dial tone. Then enter the Area Code and number. You must always use the area code even when it is the same as ours.

    8 (wait for dial tone) + Access Code (wait for dial tone) + Area Code + Number

    Another idiosyncrasy of our system requires us to hang up for at least two seconds between calls, otherwise, the first call will be put on hold and will continue to ring the first number called.

    Fax Machine: The Department has a FAX machine for your use. It is located in the Mathematics Department front office (RLM 8.100). Eva can assist you. Our FAX number is (512) 471-9038.

  5. Postal Mail and Packages
    • Outgoing - Outgoing mail is taken down for pickup around 1:45 PM each day. There are boxes for your outgoing departmental mail in 8.100 just inside the front door.
      Important Note - For those of you who have grants, please put your grant account number for postage on letters and packages you mail out from the Department. Eva can assist you with this.
    • Incoming - There is one U.S. Mail delivery each day, usually in the middle of the morning.
    • Campus Mail - Campus Mail (mail from other U.T. departments) comes once each day around 10:00 AM. Outgoing campus mail should be posted in the special envelopes provided for this purpose for easier sorting and routing. Remember to write the Mathematics Department Mail Code (C1200) on all outgoing Campus Mail.
    • Personal Stamped Mail - You may put your personal, stamped mail in the wooden mailbox located on the wall outside the Machine Room of the Main Reception Office (RLM 8.100). This mail is usually picked up around NOON each day.
    • There is an on-campus post office, located just south of the UT Union building. Ask people near there for directions, it is a little hard to find.
  6. Photocopying

    Requests for duplicating are to be placed in the request box in the mailroom. Please allow 48 hours turn-around time (do not count weekends) except in extreme emergency. More time is needed for large projects.

    Should you wish to duplicate your own tests and class materials, we have two copy machines available in our Mail Room for faculty and T.A.'s to run their own tests and class notes if they desire. Eva can assist you if you need help.

    A copy machine is also available in the PMA Library. See Romero Guillerma (8.128) to obtain the code number required to operate the machine. Charges for use of this machine are billed to the Department. We ask that you use the Library copy machine ONLY when materials may not be taken from the Library. It is less expensive to run them on our machines.

    Duplication of Preprints - The Mathematics Department has a very limited budget for processing preprints, but we will do our very best to help you. If you have a grant or if there is someone working in your area who has a grant, please see if he/she might be willing to pay for multiple copies of your preprints. For faculty who do not have grants, we ask that you do not make more copies than you absolutely need for a project.

  7. Scanning

    There are two heavy duty document scanners located in RLM 8.100 and 10.130. They scan documents into combined PDF and email it to you. Instructions on operations are printed on the scanner. If you cannot find your email address listed on the scanner, check with Maorong Zou (mzou@math) and he will add your name to the scanner.

  8. Email Aliases
    fac All math faculty, including postdocs.
    prof All Full Professors
    asscprof All Associate Professors
    asstprof The Assistant Professors
    inst All Instructors
    lect All Lecturers
    grad All Math Graduate Students
    office All office staff
    department All members of the departmental, including graduate students
    gripe Your computing support staff
  9. Purchasing
    • You can purchase items less than $500 and get reimbursed later. However, you WILL NOT be reimbursed for sales tax. Instead, you need to use the university's tax-exempt status to avoid paying sales tax in the first place. At some merchants (e.g. OfficeMax), you can just tell them you're a UT faculty member making a university purchase, and they won’t charge sales tax. For most merchants, you need to have a tax-exempt form. You can get this form from the department accounting office, or download and print one from here.
    • Turn in receipts for reimbursement to the department accounting office, along with the account number that you're charging the purchase to.
    • The university has specific regulations about the details of the receipt. In particular, they want receipts that indicate that you *paid* the amount, not just that you were *billed* for it. For e.g. DSL telephone bills, this may require that you provide the next month's bill, showing that you paid the previous month's bill. You can also use cancelled checks or credit card statements to prove that you paid a bill.
    • Denise D. Berry, our IT purchaser, can buy computer related things for you, her office is 8.132.
    • When you receive a shipment that purchasing ordered for you, give the packing slip to Denise D. Berry or whoever does the accounting for the purchase in question.
    • UT has a campus computer store that has good educational software discounts. Web site: http://www.campuscomputer.com/.
    • UT has some campus software licenses. For info, see http://www.utexas.edu/its/sds.
  10. Clerical Support

    The Department of Mathematics employs several clerical assistants (when available) to aid the staff with routine clerical duties. Jobs performed by these students include: assisting in the machine room, assisting with preparation of faculty teas, answering telephones, running errands, filing and helping people at the counter in the main office. These students provide invaluable help for the faculty and staff.

    The department also provide dedicated staff for accounting and purchasing.

  11. LaTeX Typesetting Service
    Most researchers these days prefer to typeset their own papers, editing as they go. But for those of you who want or require typesetting help, our TeX specialist Margaret Combs (RLM 8.124) can assist you with the following:
    • Guidance on some of the finer points of TeX/LaTeX
    • Reformat your original TeX/LaTeX input with any specialized journal required style files
    • Complete typesetting from your original handwritten manuscripts (please follow a few courtesy rules)
      1. Clearly indicate upper/lower case letters, Greek symbols, etc.
      2. Submit original only (no photocopies)
      3. Do not use red ink on yellow paper
    Original work is done on a first-come, first-served basis and the normal turn around time is approximately two weeks or less.
  12. Grant Proposals

    All grants are administered by the Department and it is important that we know if you plan to submit a grant (NSF, etc.). Therefore you *must* notify Margaret Combs (RLM 8.124, combs@math.utexas.edu) if you plan such a submission. Your budget will be prepared by one of our accounting staff, after consultation with you. Once you have the budget, you may do all of the submission yourself, if you wish. If you choose this option, please note that all grants *must* be submitted via our Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP). It is vital that you also supply the Department with a complete copy of your submission (direct to Margaret Combs).

    There is also the option of having Margaret upload everything for you and coordinating the submission through OSP.

  13. Computer Facilities

    The Department of Mathematics operates a state-of-the-art computer network for education, research, and departmental administration. This is predominantly a UNIX-based system consisting of Linux PC's, servers, and Apple Macintosh desktops. The Department also has a 46-node dual Opteron cluster for research computing.

    Each office in the department is equipped with at least one networked computer and shared offices generally have more. In addition, there are five 24x7x365 departmental computer labs available for general use, including a 40-seat instructional laboratory for the undergraduate mathematics program. All labs are equipped with a printer, and the undergraduate computer lab includes a projection system. A color printer is provided for faculty and graduate students in RLM 8.100. Access to wireless networking is provided throughout the RLM building for faculty, students, staff, and registered departmental guests.

    The University's Informational Technology Services provides extensive on-campus computing facilities for students. In addition, the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the J. J. Pickle Research Campus in north Austin maintains several multi-processor high performance computing clusters. The Institute for Computational Engineering & Sciences (ICES) maintains a Visualization Lab for education and research as well as other facilities and equipment for computational research.

    Computer Support

    Your UT Math network account can access all Linux systems on the department network. For computer related questions, send email to gripe@math, in the rare case when email is not available, call the front office 471-7711.

    • Your email address is YOUR_USERNAME@math.utexas.edu
    • Your home directory is /home/YOUR_USERNAME
    • Your home page is http://www.ma.utexas.edu/users/YOUR_USERNAME, your web folder is /home/YOUR_USERNAME/.public_html
    • Our SMTP/IMAP/POP server is mail.ma.utexas.edu. To setup email clients on your personal computers, see http://www.ma.utexas.edu/dev/math/Computing/_upgrade2006/ for instructions.
    • To connect to UT Math network, you need a SSH client (Unix has 'ssh', Windows has 'putty'). If you don't remember specific hostnames, you can just use math.utexas.edu, it will send you to one of our lab computers.
    • To change your password, use the command yppasswd from a terminal window.
    • More information on the UT Math computing environment (e.g. mail servers, web server, etc.) is available on the department web pages http://www.ma.utexas.edu/Computing/faq.html

    The department offers limited support of Windows and Mac OS X laptops.

  14. Office Supplies
    Eva Hernandez (Main Office, 8.100) is in charge of ordering office supplies such as pens, pencils, papers, stationary, tape, staples, etc. She will help you get your new office equipped.
  15. Travel

    Any time you are to be absent from the campus on an ordinary work day, you are required to file a request for travel authorization form containing the following information:

    1. Destination
    2. Date of Departure
    3. Date of Return
    4. Classes missed, listed by number, and name of the faculty member who will be responsible for each class. Please note: TA's may not take your class except for the purpose of administering a test but a faculty member must still be listed. Graduate students with the rank of Assistant Instructor are considered to be faculty members and may be listed.
    5. Purpose of the Trip
      a. If on State Funds, how will The University benefit?
      b. If on Grant Funds, how will the trip enhance your research?

    This information is required whether or not you are traveling on University Funds. This will then be forwarded to the appropriate administrative officials for approval. You may find the online travel request form at: https://www.ma.utexas.edu/dev/math/Administration/Business_Forms.html or paper forms outside the main office. Please fill out and submit travel requests two weeks prior to travel. Travel arrangements can be made through University approved travel agencies: http://www.utexas.edu/services/travel/contact.html or other outside agencies. The University approved agencies are authorized to direct charge University accounts with approved Request for Travel Authorization document information. Airfare purchased elsewhere will be reimbursed upon return from your trip. Please consult with Linda Gianoly (RLM 8.112) for details.

    Faculty Travel Grants are available to faculty once per year in the amount of $1200. Check for eligibility, details and form: http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/ftg/home.html.

    Travel Reimbursement

    Reimbursement for travel (especially for visitors coming to UT) is a hassle, especially the first time you do it. This is especially true if you're paying with state funds. Some accounts can't be used for travel, others can, and yet others require special approval. Travel reimbursement is easier if you're paying for it with grant or gift funds.

    To schedule a conference trip and have everything paid for in advance, after you fill out that form, ask accounting for the RTA and DOC ID for your trip. Then you can call the UT travel agent, Navigant, to have everything purchased from your account: 512-459-8203 or 800-798-0292

    If you're hosting a visitor whose expenses will be paid by UT, you need to fill out UT Math visitor Authorization form, available from https://www.ma.utexas.edu/dev/math/Administration/Business_Forms.html . This form must be filed 2 weeks prior to the visit. Visitors can either pay for their own travel and get reimbursed, or we can order the tickets for them. Similarly, some hotels (e.g. Austin Folk House B&B) can be direct-billed to the department.

  16. Faculty Files

    Two files are maintained for each faculty member on our staff:

    • Personnel File
    • Faculty Teaching Evaluation File

    Each faculty member is responsible for keeping these files continually up to date. The files are used in determining salary increases, contract renewals and promotions.

    One of the most important items in the personnel file of regular faculty members is the Vita. Linda Porras (RLM 8.150) will assist you in keeping your biographical information up to date.

  17. Release of faculty academic/personnel files to individual faculty members

    Policy: Only the President is authorized to release Faculty Academic Personnel files. The President's Office of The University of Texas at Austin will, on written request, make available to an individual faculty member, all the information in the individual faculty member's personnel folders except for (1) individual letters of recommendation, and (2) correspondence to and/or from EEOC.

    Procedures: All requests are to be directed to the Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Kevin P. Hegarty, Custodian of Records. The request should indicate all departments with which the faculty member has been associated.

  18. Faculty Lounge, Daily Tea

    The Vaughn Lounge is the faculty/graduate-student lounge located on the 12th floor adjacent to the elevators (12.104). It contains a refrigerator and sink for your use. Copies of Math. Reviews, Notices, etc. are placed there for your use. There is also a bulletin board on which information is posted regarding conferences, grants, awards, etc. The Vaughn Lounge is open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily.

    The Departmental Social Hour is held Monday through Thursday from 3:40 to 4:20 p.m. in the Vaughn Lounge. Everyone is invited to come. Refreshments of tea and cookies are served.

  19. Department Coffee

    The Mathematics Department offers coffee for its employees. The coffee machine is located in the main office, RLM 8.100. Single cups may be purchased for 50 cents. Please supply your own average-sized coffee cup. It is courtesy to make a new pot of coffee if you drink the last in a pot. Any of the staff can show you how to do this.



Academics

  1. Teaching Assignments

    Ray Heitmann (heitmann@math), is in charge of teaching assignments.

    It's worthwhile reading over the graduate and undergraduate program information that's available from the department main page. People in the department tend to refer to courses by number, so it's good to be generally familiar with the requirements, etc.

  2. Class Rosters, Grade Submission, etc

    Most class-related paperwork is handled through UT Direct (the online paperwork system accessed via your UT EID). You just log on to UT direct, and there's a menu entry for your classes. UT direct URL: https://utdirect.utexas.edu/utdirect/ . A very useful feature there is the class photo roster.

  3. First-day Handout

    The first-day handout, which is mandated by University rules, must spell out in fairly explicit terms how the various activities in a course (tests, homework, final exam, class participation, etc.) contribute to the determination of a final course grade. This applies to Graduate as well as Undergraduate courses. Do not make the mistake, however, of being too specific in this regard. You are, to a great extent, bound by the grading policy you announce in the handout, so you want to afford yourself some leeway for dealing with exceptional cases in an ad hoc fashion. It is strongly recommended that you include in this document the dates of all your midterm tests as well as a statement outlining your policy concerning make-up tests.

    In scheduling midterms make a serious effort to avoid conflicts with religious holidays. University policy requires that students observing such holidays be permitted to make up missed work. A specific date that would also be wise to steer clear of where testing is concerned is Friday, October 10, the day before the annual Texas-Oklahoma football game in Dallas. Students leave campus in droves that day; so don't be surprised if class attendance is low. Experience with tests on Fridays of OU weekends past suggests strongly that on October 10 many a student will be more intent on getting to the party in "Big D" than on keeping a "big D", or worse, out of an instructor's grade book.

    Please email a copy of your first-day handout for each course you teach to Professor Kathy Davis, the Undergraduate Advisor, davis@math.utexas.edu.

    You are required to include the following information of your syllabus: The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471- 6259, 471-6441 TTY.

  4. Final Examinations

    The permission of the Chairman is necessary if you wish NOT to give a final examination in an undergraduate course. The department is obliged to report any dispensation from the requirement of having a final exam in such a course to the Dean, who insists that we present a compelling reason to justify the omission of the final, especially when the course in question is a large service course with a heavy enrollment of freshmen and sophomores. Final exams need not, however, be comprehensive exams.

    In no course where a final exam is given should there be any deviation from the officially scheduled date, time and place for the exam. Final exam dates and times can be found at this location: http://registrar.utexas.edu/. The locations of final exams are set by Official Publications and will be posted outside RLM 8.100 sometime late in the term. In particular, no "last" midterm that has the semblance and de facto impact of a final exam is permitted. A student is guaranteed that the final exam for any course, which has one, will be administered at the scheduled time and in the appointed place. By the same token, in registering for a class a student commits himself or herself to being present for an exam at that time. Naturally, allowances can be made for individual exceptions, circumstances warranting, at an instructor's discretion. Nevertheless, a generally reluctant attitude is advised towards students seeking privileged final exam times, particularly early ones. Monday, December 8, and Tuesday, December 9 are official pre-final no-class day, on which all classroom activity, including review sessions, is prohibited.

  5. Miscellaneous Tips

    With regard to tests or other organized class activities (e.g., review sessions) arranged by you or by your TA at irregular (= non-class) times: be extremely accommodating towards individuals unable to participate in such activities because of academic, work or family obligations. Students are only required to be available for officially designated class functions, as indicated in the Course Schedule. Unless extra provisions are made to extend to them all the benefits that derive from the special activity, students excluded by prior commitments from partaking in the occasion may raise the objection -- and might well find sympathy for their protest with the Dean -- that those who are able take part in the activity enjoy an unfair advantage in the course. In the case of a test administered outside the regular class period, the opportunity for a make-up must be provided.

    Class length: MWF -- 50 minutes, starting on the hour; TTh -- 75 minutes, starting as scheduled. Please refrain from beginning lectures early. If you find yourself slipping unavoidably into what soccer enthusiasts call "stoppage time", please allow students who are headed for other classes the next hour to leave on time, lest your rambling on cause them to disrupt said classes by arriving late or, heaven protect us from such extremes of long windedness, to miss the classes entirely.

    To request a classroom change, see Nancy Lamm (nlamm@math) in RLM 8.1144. To reserve a more spacious room in which to give tests, see Ben Garcia (bgarcia@math) in RLM 8.142.

    Do your utmost to cover the syllabi in courses upon which follow-up courses hinge in a critical way. This directive applies primarily to the courses M408C and M408D. Syllabi may be found at: http://www.ma.utexas.edu/text/syllabi/syllabi.html.

    Submit tests and other duplication projects with a 48-hour lead-time if you expect to have them when you need them. The department's copying budget is not flush enough to absorb the expense of reproducing excessive amounts of material, whether it be for diagnostic or review or enrichment purposes, beyond the ordinary needs of a course (e.g., first-day handouts, tests). Before submitting any large special project for copying, please check it out with Jan Baker (RLM 8.148).

  6. Administrative Items
    1. Adds and drops

      Don't get involved in the departmental add/drop process at the beginning of the term. JUST SAY NO to students who entreat you to write special notes requesting that they be allowed to add your class, although you are free to sign an official, Advising Center-issued "Permission to Add Form" if one is presented to you by a student.

      Until the 12th class day, the approval of a Q-drop (= a drop without academic penalty) lies completely at an instructor's discretion. In order to drop a course after that date, for academic reasons or otherwise, a student will have to obtain prior approval from the Dean of his or her college. After the 21st class day, most Deans will approve Q-drops only for urgent and well-substantiated reasons of a non-academic nature. (A sample drop form is attached.)

      Computer prerequisite checks will be carried out in many lower level courses. Please follow the instructions accompanying the prerequisite check material that is likely to appear soon in your mailbox.

      More info about scheduling is available on the University academic calendar.

    2. Beware the pitfalls of the insidious "X"' ("Incomplete") grade

      Barring a few exceptional cases that arise too seldom to warrant commentary here, the only circumstances under which an "X" grade may properly be assigned are the following:

      • (a) with all other coursework complete, a student is absent from the final exam for a valid, well documented reason or
      • (b) a student has taken and passed the final exam, but left some part (in principle, a small part) of coursework unfinished or
      • (c) something is amiss with a student's final exam -- say, -- there is a reason to suspect the student of cheating on the exam -- creating a hesitancy on the part of an instructor to assign a course grade before further consultation with the student.

      In the last case the symbol "X" is thus used to convey the message "contact me ASAP". Be adamant in refusing to hand out "bleeding-heart incompletes", which struggling students frequently seek as a means to gain a temporary reprieve from a looming bad grade, hoping thereby to avert some academic unpleasantry that receiving such a grade would entail (e.g., scholastic probation, loss of a scholarship). Above all, do not fall for that deceptively seductive line: "If you give me an "X", I'll attend Dr. Gehirntod's section of this course next term. He can just let you know the grade I earn, and then you can use that grade to clear the incomplete." Such a practice is explicitly forbidden by the General Information Catalog. Moreover, it is seldom the case that an incomplete is really the solution to the problem confronting the student. So, by all means, listen sympathetically to whatever heartrending, tear jerking story a student desperate to forestall a poor or failing grade might concoct, offer the student any advice you deem appropriate, but do not give -- I repeat, DO NOT GIVE -- the person an "X" unless (a), (b) or (c) applies. Send students who will not take "no" for an answer in this regard to the hardhearted and dry-eyed Professor Hamrick. A student who, for whatever reason (e.g., extended health problems), has missed a significant portion of a course -- in some -- -- mathematics courses absence for as little as a week can be -- -- devastating -- is not a candidate for an "X". An individual in this situation should seek relief from his or her Dean, not from the instructor of the course. The Dean has access to much more information about the student and has the authority to make an exception.

      A maximum of one semester, if it is merited, is allotted for removal of an "X", after which it automatically changes to an "F". An instructor is always free to impose a shorter, more specific deadline. Students don't understand this and often simply assume they can wait a whole semester before dealing with the "X". To help the department avoid certain administrative hassles associated with incompletes, we plead with you to take the following steps whenever you assign an "X": fill out an "incomplete agreement form" (sample attached), stating precisely both the method whereby and the time frame within which the incomplete is to be removed; have the form signed by the student involved; leave a copy of the form on file with Gary Hamrick; adhere strictly to the terms spelled out in this agreement. The removal of an incomplete -- or any change of grade, for that matter -- is effected by filling out and submitting a change of grade form (sample attached).

    3. Teaching evaluations

      Teaching evaluations (official title: Course-Instructor Surveys) are mandatory in all organized courses, undergraduate or graduate. They are extremely important in considerations related to reappointment, continuation and promotion. Participation instructions will be sent to the faculty by the Measurement and Evaluation Center via campus mail sometime in mid-semester. (If you wish to conduct the survey earlier than the last two weeks of the semester, you can make private arrangements with the MEC for doing so.) The statistical results of the survey, but not the students' remarks, are reported automatically to the department. Results with student comments from these surveys are returned to you by MEC sometime in the beginning of the following semester.

    4. Grievance protocol

      In processing complaints and resolving disputes, the sequence of individual involvement, as needed to settle the matter, goes as follows:

      • when the issue involves a student complaint about an instructor: Professor Kathy Davis (Undergraduate Advisor, RLM 4.101), Professor William Beckner (Chairman/RLM 8.152), relevant college's Dean's office, the University Ombudsman's office (SSB).
      • when the issue is a dispute between an undergraduate student and his or her instructor: instructor, Mathematics Department Ombudsman, Professor Kathy Davis, relevant college's Dean's office, University Ombudsman's office.
      • when the issue involves his or her TA -- instructor, Nancy Lamm (TA/AI Coordinator/RLM 8.144), Professor Dan Knopf (Graduate Advisor/RLM 8.146), Professor William Beckner.
      • when the issue involves an instructor and his or her TA - Nancy Lamm, Professor Lorenzo Sadun, Professor William Beckner.
      • for problems involving graders: Ben Garcia (Graduate Student and Grader Coordinator/RLM 8.142).
    5. Grade distributions

      The department has no preordained standards for grade distribution (i.e., we set no quotas for the percentage of any specific letter grade in any course).

    6. TA and grader workloads

      TAs and graders are students first, employees second. The duties for the TA assigned to your course can be found at http:/www.ma.utexas.edu/dev/math/Administration/GraderPolicy.html. The assignment of TAs and graders to courses is a complicated and time-consuming business. Please do not make it more complicated by pressuring Nancy or Ben to assign a particular individual as your TA or grader.

    7. Teaching schedules

      Teaching schedules for Fall 2008 can be found on the bulletin board outside of RLM 8.140. Request forms for Fall and Spring 2009/2010 teaching assignments will be circulated to continuing faculty in October.

    8. Conference courses

      "Conference course" is the local name for an individual instruction or reading course (as opposed to an "organized course", which means a class taught in lecture or seminar mode with an officially scheduled time and location for class meetings). If you agree to supervise a student in such a course, it is recommended that you clarify in writing what work you expect the student to do in order to get credit or to receive a specific letter grade. Graduate conference courses are given exclusively on a credit/no credit basis, despite what a student might tell you to the contrary. Lecturers are forbidden by Graduate School rules to supervise graduate-level conference courses.

    9. Travel

      If, during any period when you are in the employ of UT, be it on the teaching budget or in a research capacity, you are forced for whatever reason, professional or personal, to travel away from Austin, you are required to complete a "Request for Travel Authorization" These forms can be found on line at https://www.ma.utexas.edu/dev/math/Administration/Business_Forms.html Emergency situations aside, this should be done at least two weeks in advance of the trip; in the case of travel abroad, a month of lead time is needed. On the form you must indicate what classes, if any, you will miss during your trip and which faculty members -- not TAs -- will assume responsibility for meeting those classes.

    10. Open Records Policy and Posting of Course Grades

      Under existing University policy, the final grade a student receives in a course is part of the confidential record of that student. Both the State and the Federal Open Records laws prohibit the release of any personally identifiable confidential record unless such release has been authorized in writing by each individual involved. Furthermore, the Federal Law states:

      "Personally identifiable" means that the data or information includes (a) the name of a student, the student's parent, or other family member, (b) the address of the student, (c) a personal identifier, such as the student's social security number or student number, (d) a list of personal characteristics which would make it possible to identify the student with reasonable certainty, or (e) other information which would make it possible to identify the student with reasonable certainty.

      In summary, the Provost's Office policy prohibits the disclosure of any confidential student information in a personally identifiable manner, which now include name, student identification number, social security number or a portion thereof, without the student's written consent.

      Faculty may continue to use student specific password protected systems (such as UT Direct and its applications) to communicate academic work grades or other confidential information to individual students. Students may also access their final course grades using UT Direct services called CLIPS. Information about CLIPS and e-grade book can be found at the following site. http://registrar.utexas.edu/staff/

  7. Instructional Services available to Students
    1. Learning Skills Center, http://www.utexas.edu/student/utlc/.
    2. Counseling and Mental Health Center (e.g., for test anxiety, depression), http://www.utexas.edu/student/cmhc/.
    3. Departmental computer labs are in RLM 8.118 and RLM 7.122. (See the department receptionist in RLM 8.100 for details.)
  8. Instructional Services available to Faculty
    1. Center for Teaching Effectiveness, http://www.utexas.edu/academic/cte/
    2. Dean of Students Office (e.g., for dealing with academic dishonesty issues, for services available to students with learning disabilities), http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/.
    3. The department has a camcorder and a monitor available for instructional purposes. See Eva Hernandez in RLM 8.100.
    4. Microphones are available by completing a sign-up sheet. Please see Eva for these needs. Since we must pick up microphones elsewhere on campus, please let us know at least two days in advance.
  9. Graders

    Graders are hired for varying numbers of hours per week to assist faculty with grading homework papers; see the TA-Grader Policy. They will begin work normally one week after class starts. Your grader will be contacting you before this date. At this time, you are to determine either by oral or written test that he/she is qualified to grade your course. You may be asked to sign a statement to that effect. Please post your office hours on your door ASAP, so that the grader may contact you. Graders cannot be put on the payroll until we have your certifications of proficiency in hand. Ben Garcia is the grader supervisor. Please see him immediately if you have any difficulties during the session: i.e., not turning in papers on time, misgrading, etc. Ben's office hours are 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday-Friday.

    NOTE: University regulations prohibit graders from grading test papers.

    GRADERS ARE NOT TO USE DEPARTMENT EQUIPMENT,(i.e., COPY MACHINES).

  10. Odds and Ends

    • It is a department tradition to erase the blackboard at the end of a lecture.
    • Please check your mailbox and email on a regular basis.
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