James W. Vick Advising Excellence Center

The James W. Vick Advising Excellence Center supports and elevates the advising community at The University of Texas at Austin by working to ensure all advisors have the training, tools, and resources they need to best support their students.

The Vick Advising Excellence Center partners with the Academic Counselors Association (ACA) in developing advisor training and professional development opportunities, exploring innovative tools to support advising, gathering data to support advising needs, and researching and sharing best practices to empower all advisors on campus. The Vick Advising Excellence Center also serves as a conduit between the advising community and university leadership to elevate issues and champion ideas for the betterment of advisors.

The Vick Advising Excellence Center also provides support for advising related to the Core Curriculum and the Skills and Experience Flags. More information is available at http://ugs.utexas.edu/vick. 

Sanger Learning Center

The Sanger Learning Center is a university-wide learning resource dedicated to students’ mastery of course content and development of transferable academic and professional skills. Services are free to currently enrolled students in all schools and colleges (some restrictions may apply).

Summary of Services

• Appointment Tutoring provides one-to-one tutoring sessions for many challenging undergraduate courses.
• Drop-in Tutoring offers informal, group-based content support for many lower-division math, physics, and chemistry courses. 
• Learning Specialist Appointments are private academic counseling appointments. Students can explore time management, study skills, test anxiety and more with SLC professional staff.
• Math Refreshers are workshops to refresh students’ algebra, trigonometry, and calculus skills. 
• Math Reviews help calculus and pre-calculus students prepare for exams. 
• Peer Academic Coaching offers students the opportunity to develop effective study skills by meeting one-on-one with a trained peer academic coach. 
• Peer-led Undergraduate Studying supports student performance and motivation with weekly study groups in historically difficult upper-division courses.  
• The Public Speaking Center provides one-to-one consultation services to undergraduate and graduate students who are working on oral communication assignments. 
• Supplemental Instruction offers guided study sessions to support students in historically difficult, lower-division courses. 

More information about the Sanger Learning Center is available at http://ugs.utexas.edu/slc.

360 Connections

The 360 Connections initiative was developed so all first-year students have the opportunity to connect with a small peer group during their first semester on campus. By participating in a 360 Connection (which may be a cohort, program, community, group, or class), students receive a holistic, 360° view of life as a Longhorn. More information about the 360 Connections is available at http://ugs.utexas.edu/360.

First-year Interest Groups

A First-year Interest Group (FIG) is comprised of 18-25 new students who take two to four classes together during their first semester at the University. FIGs help students integrate socially, academically, and developmentally to ensure a smooth transition to college life, leading to academic success and on-time graduation. Each group attends a weekly seminar led by a peer mentor and a staff facilitator. Each FIG student attends classes, studies, and participates in various activities with their mentor and fellow first-years. More information about FIGs is available at http://ugs.utexas.edu/fig.

Transfer-year Interest Groups

Transfer-year Interest Groups (TrIGs) provide a unique opportunity for new transfer students to build a peer academic community, gain the skills to meet the University’s level of academic rigor, and register for their first-choice courses. Each TrIG includes a peer mentor and staff facilitator who meet with students in regular seminars, small group meetings, and one-on-one discussions. More information about TrIGs is available at http://ugs.utexas.edu/tye/trig.

Bridging Disciplines Programs

The Bridging Disciplines Programs (BDPs) are designed to complement a student’s major with an individualized plan of study leading to an interdisciplinary certificate in one of the following areas:

• Children and Society
• Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies
• Design Strategies
• Digital Arts and Media
• Environment and Sustainability
• Ethics and Leadership in Business
• Ethics and Leadership in Health Care
• Ethics and Leadership in Law, Politics, and Government
• Human Rights and Social Justice
• Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship
• Museum Studies
• Patients, Practitioners, and Cultures of Care
• Public Policy
• Smart Cities
• Social Entrepreneurship and Nonprofits
• Social Inequality, Health, and Policy

All degree-seeking undergraduates at the University are eligible to apply. More information about BDPs is available at http://ugs.utexas.edu/bdp.

Office of Undergraduate Research

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) fosters undergraduate participation in research and creative activity across the disciplines by raising the visibility of undergraduate research on campus, facilitating students' pursuit of research related to their interests and goals, and helping students share their work with others.

Services offered include weekly sessions on how to get involved in research, individual advising, and workshops on a variety of topics like designing and presenting a research poster. The office coordinates Research Week, the University's annual celebration of undergraduate research and creative activity.

Undergraduate Research also oversees Eureka, an online database devoted to undergraduate research projects and opportunities at the University. More information on the Office of Undergraduate Research is available at http://ugs.utexas.edu/our.

Texas Success Initiative

The Texas Success Initiative (TSI) is a state-mandated program designed to improve student success in college. There are two components of the program: (1) an assessment to determine students’ basic skills in reading, mathematics, and writing and (2) developmental instruction to strengthen academic skills.

Developmental instruction options include a co-requisite model under which students concurrently enroll in a developmental studies course and credit-bearing course for each subject area for which the student is referred to developmental coursework. Co-requisite courses are available only to students who meet both Texas Success Initiative (TSI) eligibility and specific program requirements.

All non-exempt students are required by law to take the TSI Assessment (TSIA), which is the only college-readiness assessment approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. More information about the Texas Success Initiative, including a list of exemptions, is available in the General Information Catalog and at http://ugs.utexas.edu/tsi.

Texas Career Engagement

Texas Career Engagement is a campus-serving unit that provides career-related programming, services and resources to all University of Texas at Austin undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, and ensures equitable access to talent across the institution for employers. Our collective work helps students discover career options, complement academics with experiential learning, develop professional skills, connect with employers for internships and employment, and prepare for advanced-degree programs. At our core, Texas Career Engagement exists to advance equitable access to career education, experiences, opportunities, and success. More information is available at http://careerengagement.utexas.edu/.

Internship and Career Experiences Program

The Texas Career Engagement Internships and Career Experiences program creates, supports and provides experiential learning opportunities for students and faculty. This is done through the creation of internships, workshops, programmatic support, resources for faculty, and experiences that enhance learning with career readiness. Texas Career Engagement administers select internship and career-related courses for undergraduate and graduate students including:

• Undergraduate Studies 107D  (Topic 2: Exploring Careers and Majors), offered by the School of Undergraduate Studies, is a one-credit course open to first- and second-year students of all majors who are unsure of their major or career direction. This is an exploratory course focused on helping students learn more about themselves, their values, interests, and personalities, and exploring majors across campus and potential career options.
• A zero-credit, tuition-free internship course that maintains a student’s enrollment is available to all undergraduate and graduate students participating in internships and other career experiences. More information is available at http://careerengagement.utexas.edu/undergraduate-students/get-experience/internships/zero-credit-internships-career-experiences-course/

Home to Texas

Archer Fellowship Program

The Archer Fellowship Program is a credit-bearing academic program offered by UT Austin's academic colleges and schools administered by Texas Career Engagement that provides students a unique opportunity to live, work, and learn in our nation’s capital during the fall or spring semester. While in Washington, D.C., students complete UT Austin coursework and gain hands-on work experience in an internship of their choice. Tailored to students’ own personal and intellectual interests, the Archer Fellowship Program was founded to support qualified undergraduates in the pursuit of noble public service. The Archer Fellowship Program is a joint effort of the UT System Office of Federal Relations, the Archer Center, and the nine participating UT System academic campuses. More information is available at http://ugs.utexas.edu/archer.

Graduation Help Desk

The Graduation Help Desk consolidates all the tools available to help students stay on track to graduate and offers students assistance enrolling in classes required to fulfill degree requirements. Graduation Help Desk staff work with students, advisors, and faculty to resolve roadblocks to timely graduation. Some of those tools include:

• Senior Countdown - Students commit to graduating on time. We help them get there. By enrolling in Senior Countdown, students are given priority access to the Graduation Help Desk and are guaranteed access to courses they need to graduate.
• Completion Scholarships – Students who are at risk of not graduating because of unmet financial need benefit from completion scholarships. These scholarships allow students to pay for the final course they need to cross the finish line or help them get back on track for a timely graduation.

More information is available at http://studentsuccess.utexas.edu/resources/graduation-help-desk. The Graduation Help Desk team can also be contacted at graduationhelpdesk@utexas.edu or by phone at 512-475-7378.

University Leadership Network

University Leadership Network (ULN) is a nationally recognized incentive-based scholarship program. ULN’s mission is to encourage and support students to graduate in four years and become leaders through professional and experiential learning opportunities that advance their education, communities, and lives. ULN participation is by invitation only; and eligibility is based on a student’s financial need demonstrated by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The financial support and comprehensive four-year plan allow students to streamline their educational experience, helping them to minimize student loan debt and graduate career-ready and poised to become leaders in their community. ULN’s main functions include:

• Building Community
• Developing Leadership Skills
• Career Readiness via Experiential Learning
• Financial Education

More information is available at http://studentsuccess.utexas.edu/programs/uln. The ULN team can also be reached at uln@austin.utexas.edu.

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