News
From the College of Natural Sciences
A Glass Box of Emotions
Dear Students,As we head into the last week of class for possibly the strangest semester ever, I want to check in with you and talk about your health, specifically your mental health. Here are just a few of the challenges I've heard about:focusing on school, work, or sometimes anything at allcreating and keeping a routinegetting enough (or any) phy...Summer Love
Dear Students,In honor of registration that starts this week, I wanted to highlight some of the exciting improvements UT and CNS have made for this summer.All courses will be online so you can stay at home and get ahead on your coursework at UT.For in-state residents' undergrad classes, tuition is half what it is during the long semesters.CNS has a...A Web of Connection
Dear Students,Today is March 51st. Just kidding, I know it's April 20th per the Julian calendar, but March seemed like a month that didn't want to end so I've just continued it. I'm going to keep it short and sweet this week and ask you to check on 5 people. They could be friends, they could be classmates that you haven't talked to since before Spr...Plot Twists
Dear Students,In a world already full of plot twists, the last few weeks have also brought some news about changes in University leadership, most recently with last week's news that President Fenves announced he is moving to be president of Emory University. Leadership changes often come every four or five years in higher education, but there wer...Weathering the Storm Together
Dear Students,I want to take a minute to talk about a couple of things on the horizon, both of which are important but vary exponentially in impact. First, advising and registration for the summer and fall are coming up fast. As always, your academic advisors are here to help you plan, especially given the move to online courses for the summer. Mor...How to Prepare Now for Online Classes
Dear CNS Students, As we prepare for classes to start again next week, I wanted to provide you with a few quick updates and links on where to get information. First, if you need technology for shifting to online classes, please contact Student Emergency Services or fill out our CNS Survey (and we'll get the information to SES). There are a number o...Taking Care of Yourself
Dear Students, I'm sure you've all been hearing about COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and how to take measures to stop or slow the spread of the disease. The University has a central page for up-to-date information that I encourage you to check regularly. Even beyond COVID-19, I want to encourage you to take care of yourself. This is a stressful point in th...How's That Whole Learning Thing Going?
Dear Students, The semester is in full swing and by now you've probably had a chance to demonstrate your knowledge through tests, papers, presentations, or class discussions. So how's it going? It's a question we don't often ask ourselves, yet it's critical to the process. I find I get swept up in the day-to-day goings-on of learning something and ...Keep On Keeping On
Dear Students, As I was trying to write this week's newsletter, I realized that I was fresh out of inspirational ideas to give to you, and it occurred to me that maybe some of you are suffering from a creative or inspirational dry spell also… or a different kind of low spot in your life. So my message this week is short: keep on keeping on. If thi...Finding Your Support Network
Dear Students, This past Friday I had the honor to attend the Black Excellence in STEM event, co-hosted by Natural Sciences and Engineering, which highlighted many scientists and engineers who contributed significantly to society and were also Black. As I looked around, I was struck by the beautiful community I saw, both formal student groups and i...Black Excellence in STEM
"Many of the younger students may have no idea of the struggles that we had—just like I didn't know the struggles of my grandparents. Everybody comes on the shoulders of someone."– Col. Leon Holland, member of the first cohort of Black students admitted to UT in 1956 in a group known asThe Precursors.Dear Students, I came across this quote from UT ...Working Toward Belonging
Dear Students,Jacqueline Gibson is a change maker. Before she graduated last year, the College of Natural Sciences recognized Jacqueline for her leadership in tackling ways to use technology to build a more equitable world. In the Department of Computer Science, she co-founded the Association of Black Computer Scientists, and she worked with Dr. Al...Distinguish Yourself
Dear Students,This is your call for nominations. CNS Distinctions are a way for the College to highlight all the remarkable things you as students do in entrepreneurship, research, service & leadership, and in the area of diversity, equity, & inclusion. Nominations are open to all students, regardless of year in school, AND you can self-nom...The Gift of Perspective
Dear Students,Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful, restful break. I spent some of the time off thinking about what this new year holds. I'm not big on resolutions, but time away from work affords time for reflection. I caught myself thinking about all the plans I had for the fall semester, all the things I wanted to get done and fell short. Bu...
