Academic Advising

The University views sound academic advising as a significant responsibility in educating students. Academic advisers assist students in developing intellectual potential and exploring educational opportunities and life goals. Many people in the campus community contribute to the advising process, including faculty, staff, student, and professional advisers. Through the relationship established between adviser and student within a friendly, helpful, and professional atmosphere, a student has the opportunity to learn about educational options, degree requirements, and academic policies and procedures; to clarify educational objectives; to plan and pursue programs consistent with abilities, interests, and life goals; and to use all resources of the University to his or her best advantage.

Ultimately, the student is responsible for seeking adequate academic advice, for knowing and meeting degree requirements, and for enrolling in appropriate courses to ensure orderly and timely progress toward a degree. Frequent adviser contact provides students with current academic information and promotes progress toward educational goals. The University supports that progress and encourages effective academic advising campus-wide.

The advising systems are described in the college/school sections of this catalog.

Student Responsibility

While University faculty and staff members give students academic advice and assistance, each student is expected to take responsibility for his or her education and personal development. The student must know and abide by the academic and disciplinary policies given in this catalog and in General Information, including rules governing quantity of work, the standard of work required to continue in the University, scholastic probation and dismissal, and enforced withdrawal. The student must also know and meet the requirements of his or her degree program, including the University’s basic education requirements; must enroll in courses appropriate to the program; must meet prerequisites and take courses in the proper sequence to ensure orderly and timely progress; and must seek advice about degree requirements and other University policies when necessary.

The student must give correct local and permanent postal addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail address to the Office of the Registrar and to the offices of the student’s deans and must notify these offices immediately of any changes. Official correspondence is sent to the postal or e-mail address last given to the registrar; if the student has failed to correct this address, he or she will not be relieved of responsibility on the grounds that the correspondence was not delivered.

The student must verify his or her schedule of classes each semester, must see that necessary corrections are made, and must keep documentation of all schedule changes and other transactions.

All students should be familiar with the following sources of information:

The University Catalog

The catalog of the University is the document of authority for all students. Any academic unit may issue additional or more specific information that is consistent with approved policy. However, the information in the catalog supersedes that issued by any other unit if there is a conflict between the two. The University reserves the right to change the requirements given in the catalog at any time.

The catalog consists of five issues: the Undergraduate Catalog, the Graduate Catalog, the Law School Catalog, the Medical School Catalog, and General Information.

The Undergraduate Catalog is published in August of even-numbered years; the Graduate Catalog is published in August of odd-numbered years; the Law School Catalog is published in February of even-numbered years; the Medical School Catalog is published annually. These issues contain regulations and degree requirements that apply to undergraduate, graduate, School of Law, and School of Medicine students. Regulations are valid only for the academic years indicated by the dates in the title of each publication; for an explanation of the period for which degree requirements are valid, see the section “Graduation under a Particular Catalog” in each issue. The lists of available course offerings for each academic unit are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change. They are superseded by course offerings published each semester and summer session in the Course Schedule.

General Information, published every August, contains current and historical information about the University’s organization and physical facilities. It gives important information about academic policies and procedures that apply to all students for the academic year indicated in title of the publication. It includes the official academic calendar, admission procedures and residence requirements, information about tuition and fees, and policies on quantity of work, grades and the grade point average, credit by examination and correspondence, adding and dropping courses, withdrawal from the University, and scholastic probation and dismissal. General Information is meant to be used along with each of the other issues; each student must be familiar with the regulations given there and with those given in the issue that covers his or her degree program.

Assistance in obtaining information about the University—including costs, refund policies, withdrawal, academic programs, the faculty, accreditation, and facilities and services for disabled persons—is available from Brenda Schumann, Interim Registrar, at (512) 475-7510 and at The University of Texas at Austin, Office of the Registrar, P O Box 7216, Austin TX 78713-7216.

The Course Schedule

The Course Schedule is published by the Office of the Registrar and is available before registration for each semester and summer session at http://registrar.utexas.edu/schedules/. It includes information about registration procedures; times, locations, instructors, prerequisites, and special fees of classes offered; and advising locations.

Dean’s Offices

In each college, the office of the assistant or associate dean for student affairs serves as a central source of information about academic affairs and student services. The student should consult the dean’s office staff for information not provided in the publications listed above; a student who is in doubt about any University regulation should always seek clarification in the dean’s office before proceeding.