Ad Hoc Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program
Students admitted to established academic programs may propose to construct an ad hoc interdisciplinary doctoral program that draws on the intellectual resources of several graduate programs and involves faculty members from more than one college or school. This procedure allows students who have been admitted to a graduate program to design a course of study that does not fit into an existing degree plan. Each program must be approved by the graduate dean.
Students interested in the ad hoc interdisciplinary doctoral program should consult the graduate adviser of the program to which they are admitted or to which they plan to apply. Additional information is available from the Office of Graduate Studies and at http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/admissions/adhoc/guidelines.html .
Combined JD/PhD Programs
The School of Law and the Graduate School offer programs leading to the Doctor of Jurisprudence and the Doctor of Philosophy with a major in government or philosophy. These programs are designed to prepare students for academic careers in law or the cognate discipline or both. By counting law courses toward the PhD and courses in the cognate discipline toward the JD, students can save up to a year of coursework. The law school provides financial aid to students at the dissertation stage of the program. More information on the JD/PhD in government is available at (512) 471-5121, and on the JD/PhD in philosophy at http://www.utexas.edu/law/academics/curriculum/philosophy/ .
Graduate Portfolio Programs
The goal of graduate portfolio programs is to recognize and encourage cross-disciplinary research and scholarly activity. A portfolio program usually consists of four thematically related graduate courses and a research paper, presentation, or practical experience. The portfolio must include courses offered by at least two graduate programs other than the student’s major program. Portfolio programs are approved by the Graduate School. Although the certification requirements of each program are independent of the requirements for graduate degrees, courses included in the Program of Work may, with appropriate approval, be counted toward certification. Upon completion of both degree and portfolio program requirements, the student’s University transcript reflects portfolio certification.
Graduate portfolio programs are available in the following areas:
- African and African American studies
- Applied statistical modeling
- Arts and cultural management and entrepreneurship
- Cellular and molecular imaging for diagnostics and therapeutics
- Communication, information, and cultural policy
- Cultural studies
- Disability studies
- Dispute resolution
- Gerontology
- Imaging science
- Integrated watershed science
- Interdisciplinary European studies
- Mexican American studies
- Molecular biophysics
- Museum studies
- Nanoscience and nanotechnology
- Native American and indigenous studies
- Nonprofit studies
- Study of religion
- Romance studies
- Romance linguistics
- Scientific computation
- Societal impacts of science and technology
- Sustainability
- Women’s and gender studies
Information about portfolio programs is available from the Office of Graduate Studies and at http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/docport/ .
Cooperative Consortium Program
A cooperative arrangement between The University of Texas System and the Texas A&M University System allows a graduate student at one institution to use unique facilities or courses at the other institution with a minimum of paperwork. The graduate student registers and pays fees at the home institution and may retain any fellowship or financial assistance awarded by it. Space must be readily available, and the instructor or laboratory director of the proposed work must consent to the arrangement. Approval must be given by the graduate dean of each institution.
A similar arrangement among component institutions of The University of Texas System has been authorized by the chancellor and the Board of Regents. The University has active arrangements with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Science Park in Bastrop County, and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
Cooperative Degree Programs
With appropriate approval, the University of Texas at Austin and another component of The University of Texas System may enter into a cooperative agreement in which one component serves as the degree-granting institution while some or all of the courses in the degree program are taught at the other component. The component that grants the degree is the “sponsoring” institution. A student who enters such a cooperative program is admitted on the understanding that institutional sponsorship of the program may change during the student’s enrollment. The student’s continuation in the program will not be affected by such a transfer of sponsorship, but the student will become subject to the policies and procedures of the new sponsoring institution, which may differ from those of the original sponsor. The student will receive his or her degree from the component that sponsors the program at the time of the student’s graduation.