Assistant Professor Earl Huff, Jr., PhD, at the School of Information, was selected as a mentee for the Provost’s Mentored Faculty Scholars Program and matched with mentor Professor Stephanie W. Cawthon, PhD, at the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin.
Their collaboration across colleges reflects the goal of this newly launched program, which augments traditional in-department faculty mentoring at UT Austin.
Drs. Huff and Cawthon also share research interests in equity and access.
Dr. Huff applies human-centered approaches in designing and developing information and communication technology that is more equitable, inclusive, and accessible, and he is also interested in increasing diversity in the computing and information sciences by developing interventions for improving awareness, access, and self-efficacy of students from historically excluded populations. The domains of Earl’s research have included transportation, education, and social media.
Dr. Cawthon is an internationally renowned expert for her research that investigates issues of equity and access — exploring individual, school, community, and system-level factors that affect education, employment, and quality of life outcomes for deaf, hard of hearing, and disabled people.
The Provost’s Mentored Faculty Program was launched in 2022 by the Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Endeavors, together with the senior vice provost for Faculty Affairs and vice provost for Faculty Development. It is a one-year, scholarship-focused 1:1 mentoring program for tenured and tenure-track faculty, at any rank and from any discipline. Mentees nominated for this program possess both strong scholarly records and a commitment to enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within our community.
Drs. Huff and Cawthon are part of the program’s second-year cohort in Spring 2023.
Through sustained, 1:1 interactions with their mentors over a one-year period, along with workshops and cohort sessions featuring mentoring experts from among UT’s faculty, each mentee will develop a soft skillset critical to building or expanding their scholarly portfolio and increasing its impact. This includes maximizing the reach of their scholarship beyond traditional sub-disciplines; navigating the university’s culture and climate; navigating the external scholarly and publishing landscape; understanding how funds flow within UT; and knowing how to design a larger-scale initiative or scholarly endeavor that returns on its investment.