Faculty Participation in the Bridging Disciplines Programs

The Bridging Disciplines Programs depend on faculty involvement and direction in every facet of the programs, from developing and overseeing the curricula, to admitting students, to mentoring students in connecting experiences, to teaching BDP forum seminar courses, to allowing existing courses to be listed in the various programs. Each of the BDPs was formed by drawing together faculty from across multiple colleges and schools at UT, and the certificates offered through the program reflect areas of faculty expertise as well as student interest.

Faculty involvement with the BDPs takes the following forms:

Serving on BDP Faculty Panels

More than 100 faculty members representing every college and school at UT serve on the faculty panels that oversee the various BDP certificates. Faculty panels provide the direction and oversight for the individual BDP certificate programs: they develop and make ongoing decisions about the curriculum; they read applications from students who want to pursue the BDP and make admissions decisions; they read the integration essays students write as they finish their certificates; and they participate in community-building events with the students. The chair of each faculty panel also serves on the BDP Steering Committee, which provides oversight for the BDPs as a whole.

Mentoring Students in Connecting Experiences

In order to complete the BDP, every student must participate in at least one Connecting Experience—an undergraduate research or internship experience for credit, completed under the supervision of a faculty mentor. Many members of the BDP faculty panels, along with many other faculty members across campus, mentor BDP students in their research and internship experiences. You can find more information about mentoring students in connecting experiences here, or contact Lynda Gonzales, Undergraduate Research Coordinator, if you would like to speak with someone about working with a BDP student on a research project.

Teaching BDP Forum Seminars

While most of the courses listed in the BDP curricula are offered in departments across campus, the BDPs offer one-credit forum seminars and other interdisciplinary courses that serve as introductory foundation courses for the various programs. These courses are generally taught by members of the faculty panels for the relevant BDPs. You can find more information about the courses offered through the BDPs here.

Listing Courses in the BDP Curriculum

Hundreds of faculty members from across the University allow us to list their courses in one or more of the BDPs. The BDPs were designed to build on existing course offerings at UT rather than starting each program from scratch, and we rely on the support of faculty who agree to list their courses on our curricula.

For more information about how to get involved with the BDPs in any of the ways described here, please contact Dr. Jeanette Herman, Director of the Bridging Disciplines Programs.