News
From the College of Natural Sciences
Starting Anew
Dear Students, Welcome back! I hope you entered the new semester having had some time to rest and reset. With everything happening in the world, from spikes in the coronavirus to national unrest, it remains very important that you continue to take care of you as you also tend to your school work, research and life as a UT student. It may be a ...You Made It
Dear CNS Students, Here we are, nearly at the end of the semester and the year. You made it through courses, transitions, technological snafus and all the rest. It's been tough. Whether you are graduating this month (congratulations!) or completing your first semester at UT (well done!), you have accomplished something important by reaching a ...Looking Forward
Dear CNS Students, Last week, you all received a message from the Provost with information regarding changes to the Q-Drop and Pass/Fail policies for the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters. If you don't know who the Provost is, this is who is in charge of all academics at the University, so that message contains the official change in policy....Gobbling Up Some Awareness
Dear CNS Students, As we head into Thanksgiving, I've been thinking about gratitude and, in particular, a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer: "In normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we ...I’ll take “Amazing Longhorns” for $500, Alex
Dear Students, I have always been a "Jeopardy!" fan. So I was saddened the other day when I saw that long time host Alex Trebek passed away. As a host, he stood out as someone who was able to build excitement and interest while maintaining a kind and calm approach to leading the show. At almost the same time, I got a notice that Jeopardy was looki...Too Busy for This, Not That
Dear students, Last week, I attended the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement's annual Heman Sweatt lecture. You can find a recap online here, including some great advice from the evening's speaker, PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor. She covered hot topics like entering a job market during a tough economy, being compassi...Distract Yourself
Dear students, I am writing you a day earlier than usual this week, because I suspect some of you may have your thoughts elsewhere. Election Day may be when you cast a ballot for president for the first time, so perhaps you are glad to be adding your voice to the process. Or perhaps you are feeling uncertain about the outcome. Combined with al...The Things You Carry
Dear students, Walking around campus I have seen several of you wearing your backpacks, your face masks and your "I voted" stickers, too. So many of you are staying safe, participating in public life, and working hard. Some of you have let me know in our recent survey that you are doing all of these things while also balancing a lot in your courses...Planning for Spring
Dear Students, First, I want to thank those of you who took some time out last week to respond to this survey. It remains open so, if you haven't yet responded but now feel ready to share some reflections about how things are going this semester, please take a couple of minutes to take the survey today. Secondly, some of our early survey respondent...Getting a Pulse on How it’s Going
Dear Students,When I sit down to write a weekly note to all of you, most of the time I look at the academic calendar, think about what happens for students at about this time of the semester, and then try to say something that I would have wanted said to me at that point in my career as a student. This task recently became a lot tougher. I was nev...Super Science-y Challenge
Dear Students,Early in October each year, the world spends a few days stepping back and celebrating big discoveries in science. Have you noticed? This is when Nobel Prizes get announced, the MacArthur Foundation gives out its famous "genius" awards, and buzz swirls about the ways science changes the world. This week's excitement — about discoveries...A Message from Two Special Guests
Note from Dean David Vanden Bout: The College of Natural Sciences now has two full-time CARE counselors who are here to help students cope with a wide range of mental health-related challenges. Our CARE counselors are Nic Dahlberg, LPC, and Andrea Ortega, LCSW-S. I offered them this space this week to connect with you all. Dear Students, ...Stressed about Stress
Dear Students,Well, the semester has really started now. Assignments are due. Exams are happening. Quizzes are piling up. And there are too many hours of video to review.I'm guessing that for many of you, your stress levels are rising. We often think about strategies to alleviate stress like: exercise, practicing mindfulness, eating well, getting e...Happily Ever After
Dear Students,Now that we are past the mid-point of September, you are no doubt juggling a lot: class work, personal life, and maybe putting pieces in place for the future, too. Whether you are a freshman or a senior on the cusp of graduating, people around you may have already started asking the not-always-welcome question: "So what are your plans...
