Ukrainian Scholars Offered Temporary Faculty Spots on the Forty Acres
- May 4, 2022
The University of Texas at Austin is offering eight temporary faculty positions to Ukrainian scholars who are displaced or unable to return home as a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Texas Global is partnering with the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (CREEES) to support placement of the scholars in temporary positions at various colleges across the university. Mary Neuburger, director of CREEES, said opening up faculty spots is an effective way for UT Austin to support Ukrainians displaced by the war. She hopes these positions can help Ukrainian scholars continue their careers and eventually return to their home country.
“Pretty much all of (the scholars) are from eastern Ukraine, where they’re completely unable to return because it’s under occupation or their universities don’t exist or are not operative anymore because they’ve been bombed out,” Neuburger said.
Funded by the Office of the Vice President for Research, Texas Global and the individual departments hiring the scholars, these are temporary, one-year positions lasting for the 2022-2023 academic year. Margaret Luévano, director of international student and scholar services, said individual departments will determine the best fit for their open positions.
Laurie Young, the director of special initiatives at Texas Global, said hosting Ukrainian scholars will help build international bonds. “This is why we do what we do, these real connections that are made from these intercultural experiences,” Young said.
The plan is to support the scholars in every aspect of their transition to Austin.
“We’re planning on helping them find housing, (and) if they have children, making sure they’re in a good school district, telling them the details of, ‘This is how you sign your kids up for school,’ ” Neuburger said. “We want to create a community for them with people that invite them to events and things like that.”
Learn more from the full article in the Austin American-Statesman.
