Religious scholar Reza Aslan at Texas Hall tonight

Author and religious scholar Reza Aslan kicks off the 2016-17 Maverick Speakers Series at 7 p.m. tonight, Tuesday, Sept. 13, at Texas Hall. His topic is "My Journey Through the World's Religions."

A recipient of the James Joyce Award, Dr. Aslan is an internationally renowned writer, commentator, professor, producer, and scholar of religions. His books, including his New York Times best-seller Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, have been translated into dozens of languages. He is a producer of the HBO series The Leftovers and executive producer of Rough Draft with Reza Aslan on Ovation, CNN’s documentary series Believer, and the ABC drama Of Kings and Prophets.

VIP packages including a private dinner and photograph with the speaker, preferred seating, and season tickets are available. The lecture is free for students, faculty, and staff and costs $5 for community members. LEARN MORE.

Parking for Maverick Speakers Series event

Arrive early for the best parking spots before tonight's Maverick Speakers Series event featuring Reza Aslan. Expect heavy traffic on the west side of campus for the 7 p.m. event at Texas Hall. See the campus maps for parking locations.

Two campus carry town hall meetings planned

Town hall meetings on UTA's implementation of Senate Bill 11—the campus carry law—are open to students, faculty, and staff 2-3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, in Room 100 of Nedderman Hall and 2-3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, in Room 148 of the Fine Arts Building. Read more about campus carry at UTA.

MAVTUBE

Foam fans unite Saturday for volleyball, party

Grab a towel and dive into the EXCEL Foam Party at 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, on the Moritz Plaza. Attend the women's volleyball game at 7 p.m. in College Park Center and receive the perfect foam party gift—a free waterproof phone case (while supplies last). Watch the video.

Make plans for UTA Night at the Levitt

Join your fellow Mavericks for music and more at UTA Night at the Levitt on Friday, Sept 16. The Levitt Pavilion is located in downtown Arlington on Abram Street.

The event includes music by the band Seryn, a four-piece alternative-folk group from Denton, raffles, and giveaways at the UTA tent. Wear your Maverick apparel for a chance to win a prize. The event is free and open to the public.

Stay connected with UTA social media

Stay up-to-date with the latest events and innovations at UTA on our official social media channels. Engage with students, alumni, faculty, staff, and the UTA community on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Vine, Pinterest, and Snapchat (utarlington).

To see a list of some University-hosted social media pages and groups—including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Flickr—and to learn more about how your department, program, or campus organization can utilize social networking platforms, see UTA’s social media index and social media guidelines.

Repairs outside Vandergriff Hall require pedestrian detours

Be aware of detours around scaffolding and boom lifts in the College Park District in the next couple of weeks. Exterior repairs will affect areas around Vandergriff Hall, including the sidewalks. Look for pedestrian detours to enter the restaurants along Spaniolo Drive.

Parking enforcement has begun

Students who have not yet registered their vehicles for parking permits are asked to do so immediately at uta.edu/pats. Monitoring and enforcement of vehicles permitted to be parked on campus began last week, following the traditional start-of-the-semester grace period. Owners of unpermitted vehicles are subject to a citation and a $50 fine. Parking enforcement personnel will monitor campus lots with license plate recognition technology.

Update your contact information for MavAlert system

UTA's MavAlert Emergency Notification System rapidly notifies faculty, staff, and students in the event of a campus emergency via registered email addresses and text message devices. Verify your contact information at uta.edu/mymav.

The MavAlert test will coincide with the regular monthly test of the Outdoor Warning System at 12:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month. The City of Arlington's monthly weather warning test will follow at 1 p.m. The next test is Wednesday, Oct. 5.

Fake tech support latest phone scam

A new phone scam involves criminals identifying themselves as members of technical support from UTA or a software vendor like Microsoft. The telephone caller may use a cloned number from UTA or another legitimate entity. Read more from the FBI and Microsoft.

If UTA's technical support staff contacts you, they will never be rude or aggressive or ask for personal or credit card information.

If you receive such calls, immediately ask for the help desk ticket, or ITSM, number and a call-back telephone number. A real UTA number begins with 817-272-xxx or has a five-digit extension that starts with 2-xxxx.

If you or anyone you know has information related to this scam, call the UTA Police Department at 817-272-3381. If you receive an email that appears suspicious, send it to phish@uta.edu. For tips on avoiding online scams, spam, phishing, social engineering, and more, go to the Information Security Office website.

Important Dates

Tuesday, Sept. 13—Grade exclusion site opens for fall 2016 submissions. Check to see if you’re eligible for grade exclusion or grade forgiveness. Contact your academic adviser to file grade forgiveness requests for the fall term.

Friday, Oct. 7—Fall Candidates for Graduation: Privacy settings in MyMav will be used to determine inclusion of your name in the Commencement booklet and The Shorthorn graduation edition.

Friday, Oct. 7—Final deadline to apply for fall graduation.

FERPA outlines your rights on education records

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords to students rights with respect to their education records. These rights include the right to inspect and review your education record; the right to request amendments to your education record to items that you believe are inaccurate or misleading; the right to provide written consent before the University discloses personally identifiable information from your record, except to the extent FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent; and the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education.

Read more about your privacy rights and FERPA policies and procedures.

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