What is TEJAS?

Who is Eligible?

There are three major requirements to be eligible for TEJAS.

1. You must be receiving financial aid:

To be eligible for TEJAS you must be receiving financial aid during the time when you hold the award. If you are currently receiving financial aid, there is a high probability that you will be eligible for TEJAS in fall 2021. If you are not currently receiving financial aid, but have submitted a Free Application for Federal Student AID (FAFSA) form, then you may become eligible in the fall. If you are unsure of your financial aid situation, do not worry, fill out the TEJAS Student Interest Form anyway so that you stay informed should you become eligible.

All individuals in the student interest list are pre-screened by the Financial Aid office in May to ensure eligibility, and this has no affect on your financial aid status.

2. You must hold a research position:

You must hold a research position during the time when you hold the award. If you are already doing research with a professor at UT, or you are in FRI, and you anticipate continuing to work for them in the fall, then you are set.

If you do not have a position with a research group, do not worry! There are plenty of opportunities to join a research group and lots of time to find a research position. We suggest that you begin by signing up for our Research Placement Mixer (first event listed), and then joining us for a Finding Research Session (details below) for guidance on finding research that aligns with your interests. Our goal is to help you get into a research group before the fall semester begins!

Curious about what constitutes a "research position"? There are plenty of experiences/positions that can be counted as research:

• Carrying out your own independent research, or assisting research, under the supervision of a professor, FRI research educator (RE), postdoc, graduate student or researcher on campus.

• Mentoring other students on their research, such as being a mentor in FRI (or a similar program).

• Participating in a guided reading program such as in math.

• Educational research and outreach.

• Your research does not need to happen in CNS. For example, you could be doing research in COLA or at Dell Med. The only requirement is that your research supervisor works for UT Austin.

• If you are unsure of your situation, please reach out to Brandon Campitelli (brandon.campitelli@utexas.edu).

3. You cannot receive credit and TEJAS for your research hours:

There are several credit options available in CNS for students who are doing research, which you should consider if it is best for your degree plan. However, in order to receive TEJAS, you cannot also be receiving course credit for that research.

Questions about your eligibility?

Please reach out to Brandon Campitelli (brandon.campitelli@utexas.edu) describing your situation and he will happily help you determine your eligiblity.

I think I'm eligible, what are the details about TEJAS awards?

Financial support for doing research:

Are you currently involved with research at UT or are you interested in trying research? There are literally hundreds of research opportunities at UT that are waiting to be filled. The TEJAS program begins by providing you with support, training and resources to help you find and secure a research position that aligns with your interests at UT. 

The average TEJAS award pays on average $1500 per semester for a student who completes 8-10 hours weekly of research. Once you are in the program, TEJAS provides you with one or more semesters of financial support to carry out your research.

Professional development:

During your first semester in the TEJAS program, you will be introduced to a community of 30+ TEJAS research scholars who you will collaborate with to focus on your professional development as aspiring STEM professionals. This community meets once weekly for an hour as part of a mandatory Professionalism in STEM seminar class (offered each fall), and uses a self-directed learning approach to grow your professionalism. For more details, here is the syllabus from last year's class.

Additional opportunities in TEJAS:

Once you have completed the Professionalism in STEM seminar course, you will be invited to join our TEJAS Strategic Planning Committee, which focuses on offering continued support to those in the TEJAS community through additional professional development opportunities (such as workshops) and mentoring incoming TEJAS students.

What is the process for applying for TEJAS?

Step 1: Get on the mailing list

To receive information, updates and reminders about TEJAS, please fill out the TEJAS Student Interest Survey. We will contact you with all relevant information regarding TEJAS.

Please note that if the link above is not working, it is because the survey is closed for the spring. You should directly email Brandon Campitelli (brandon.campitelli@utexas.edu) to inquire about being added late.

Step 2a: Sign-up and join for our Research Placement Mixer [Feb]

Come to the Spring 2022 Research Placement Mixer, a virtual event where you can speak with representatives from research groups who are seeking undergraduates to assist on projects.  Faculty, postdocs, and graduate students will be on hand via zoom to talk about openings in their groups and answer your questions.

Date: Feb 1st (5-6pm) & 2nd (4-5pm) - attend the day that works best with your schedule
Location: Virtual

RSVP HERE to receive the information and links you will need to connect with the event.

Steb 2b: Join a General Information and Finding Research Session [Feb-Mar]

We are providing a number of virtual information sessions and workshops to support finding research on campus. Be sure to use the TEJAS Student Interest Form to signup to receive zoom information and reminders for these upcoming events. 

[1] General Information Sessions will provide general information about TEJAS, including how you will be financially supported, how to apply for the program, and answer any questions you might have.

[2] Finding Research Sessions will equip you with the tools for finding a research placement on campus, and are really useful if you are not currently doing research on campus.

[3] We will host drop-in Q&A sessions, where you can show up at any time during the time block to ask questions about TEJAS. These will be scheduled after spring break.

Materials used at info sessions and workshops:

• TEJAS - General Info Session Recording (18 mins; updated 2/23/3033)
• TEJAS - INFO SLIDES (updated 2/23/2022)
• TEJAS - FINDING A RESEARCH PLACEMENT SLIDES (updated 3/02/2022)
  • Finding research that interests you and taking steps to join a research group can be challenging and a barrier that you might not think you can get over. You totally can. Check out the slides above for ideas to get you started, and then reach out to Brandon (brandon.campitelli@utexas.edu) for support on this.

Step 3: Secure a research position [Feb - June]

To be eligible for TEJAS, you will need to  have secured a position doing research at UT before the onset of the fall semester. Please see Steps 2a and 2b above about support for finding and securing a research placement.

Curious about what constitutes a "research position"? There are plenty of experiences/positions that can be counted as research:

• Carrying out your own independent research, or assisting research, under the supervision of a professor, FRI research educator (RE), postdoc, graduate student or researcher on campus.

• Mentoring other students on their research, such as being a mentor in FRI (or a similar program).

• Participating in a guided reading program such as in math.

• Educational research and outreach.

• Your research does not need to happen in CNS. For example, you could be doing research in COLA or at Dell Med. The only requirement is that your research supervisor works for UT Austin.

• If you are unsure of your situation, please reach out to Brandon Campitelli (brandon.campitelli@utexas.edu).

Step 4: Financial Aid eligibility check [May]

You do not need to complete anything for this step. However, by filling out the TEJAS Student Interest Form, we will request the Financial Aid Office to determine if you are eligible. This screening will have no impact on you or your financial aid package.

Step 5: Fill out the TEJAS application [June-July]

Those who are eligible for financial aid will be given an opportunity to submit a formal TEJAS Student Application. Please see the "TEJAS Application" section for access to the application form.

Ready to apply? Please Fill Out the TEJAS Application Form

If you have a research placement and you are eligible through financial aid, you will need to use the application form linked below to submit a formal application. Before filling out the application, please prepare THESE items in advance (unfortunately the application form does not allow you to "save", and so it will be helpful to have these items ready in advance):

TEJAS Application Form 

Are you a faculty member interested in hiring a TEJAS student?

TEJAS provides financial support for student researchers:

TEJAS is an award that functions like a work-study program for research. Eligible students receive a stipend of approx. $1500 per semester for two semesters, with 70% of their hourly wages covered by financial aid, and 30% (~$500 per semester) of their wages covered by their employer (eg, faculty research group they are working for, TIDES, FRI etc). We will consider all faculty who are interested in hiring a TEJAS student, whether or not you have access to funds to support a student. In addition, TIDES will handle the appointment of TEJAS students including processing their Workday appointment and approving their weekly time sheets.

TEJAS provides a professional development component for first-time students:

First-time students in the TEJAS program are also enrolled in a 1-hour seminar course focused on developing Professionalism in Research (see syllabus). Faculty reviews of their TEJAS students have been very positive, especially for students carrying out remote research during the pandemic. TEJAS provides an extra layer of community, support and academic mentorship for your research student.

Questions about supervising a TEJAS student?

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Brandon Campitelli (brandon.campitelli@utexas.edu) if you would like to discuss recruiting a TEJAS student for your research group. You can also fill out the faculty interest survey (below) if you would like us to get you connected to a TEJAS student before next fall.

TEJAS - FACULTY INTEREST FORM

Are you a faculty member and/or departmental representative interested in partnering with TEJAS?

Several CNS departments and individual faculty have partnered with TEJAS by commiting funds to TEJAS students and/or including the TEJAS program in grant proposals as part of their broader impacts section or student-facing programming. We invite these partnerships as it provides a clear path for students into research environments, which benefits everyone. If you are interested in discussing how TEJAS can partner with you to support your goals, please do not hesitate to reach out to Brandon Campitelli (brandon.campitelli@utexas.edu).

Are you someone interested in sharing this program with others?

Fantastic, thank you! Please feel free to share any of the following with students and researchers who you believe might benefit from participating in this program:

• Send them this link to this TEJAS website.
• Share this ONE-PAGER about the program.
• Share the program director, Brandon Campitelli's, email address (brandon.campitelli@utexas.edu)

Still have questions?

Please contact Brandon Campitelli (brandon.campitelli@utexas.edu) with any questions you may have about TEJAS.