The Faculty Development Award (FDA) program is for professional-track faculty and is designed to recognize excellence. The award provides up to $10,000 to support professional development opportunities and activities for each awardee. Awardees have up to two years to complete planned activities funded by the award.

The Faculty Development Leave (UT-FDL) program provides tenured faculty members with paid leave from teaching and service responsibilities to allow them to focus on research, scholarship, and creative endeavors. At other universities, this type of leave is commonly called a “sabbatical.”

In Fall 2023, the Faculty Development team launched the new Faculty Writing Communities program. Writing is one of the central means through which scholars across disciplines disseminate their work. Yet, it is often hard to find time and space to write, when teaching, mentorship, service and personal responsibilities are already competing for one’s limited time. This program gives faculty a dedicated time and space to focus on the task of writing, as well as an opportunity to reinforce commitment and accountability in the writing process.

The University of Texas at Austin is an institutional member of the NCFDD. The NCFDD is a nationally-recognized independent organization dedicated to supporting faculty, post-docs, and graduate students in making successful transitions throughout their careers. They provide online career development, training, and mentoring resources.

The FTG program provides funding to help enable faculty to present at conferences and professional meetings. Eligible faculty may receive a total of up to $1,400 per academic year for expenses incurred for presenting at up to two conferences per academic year.

The SEC Faculty Travel Program provides funds for faculty who want to enhance collaboration and stimulate scholarly initiatives between SEC institutions. It allows faculty members to travel to universities within the SEC to exchange ideas, conduct collaborative research, and develop grant proposals, performances, and exhibits.

The transition to tenure marks a new phase in many faculty members’ careers, with new opportunities for leadership and scholarly growth. The Associate Professor Experimental (APX) program is a design thinking and flash funding retreat that aims to provide dedicated time and financial resources to recently tenured faculty. All newly tenured faculty are invited to a 4-day retreat in fall semester, during which faculty generate new scholarly collaborations with peers from different academic disciplines. Proposals generated during the retreat are considered for 1-year of seed funding through the program.