Advising Policies and Procedures

Initial Advisement

When you were admitted to the Department of Special Education you were assigned an Academic Adviser. This is a faculty member from the concentration area in which you plan to primarily focus your study. Prior to your first semester of coursework, you must make an appointment with the faculty member who has been assigned as your Academic Adviser to broadly plan your doctoral coursework and to specifically discuss your first semester's courses.

Milestone Agreement

Students seeking a Ph.D. at UT System institutions will be required to sign, with their departments, agreements providing the expected timelines for the attainment of their academic milestones and graduation. (Note: Instructions on how to complete your milestone agreement can be found online at the Graduate School's website: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/academics/milestones.)

Registration and Advising

During each registration advising period, you must schedule a meeting with your Academic Adviser to be advised for coursework to be taken the following semester. An advising bar is placed on all students’ registration each semester and remains in effect until advising is completed. This means that you will not be allowed access to the registration process until this bar is removed. Your adviser must indicate approval by signing the I Have Been Advised Form. When the signed form has been submitted electronically to the Graduate Coordinator, your registration bar will be lifted and you will be allowed to register. It is expected that the courses agreed upon between you and your academic adviser will be the courses you register for. If you register for courses other than those that are indicated on your I Have Been Advised Form, you must alert your academic adviser and obtain permission to do so (Note: Instructions on how to register can be found in the current Course Schedule or online: http://www.utexas.edu/student/registrar/schedules/).

Advising Checklist

International students: If you have a J-bar on your registration, complete the English Skills Screening. Take the screening results with you to your advising meeting and provide a copy to the Graduate Coordinator for your file.
Visit the Registrar's website at http://www.utexas.edu/student/registrar/schedules/ or view the current Course Schedule online for a listing of course offerings and specific registration instructions.
Schedule an appointment with your Academic Adviser.
Obtain the doctoral I Have Been Advised Form . Be sure to update your mailing address and other contact information on this form.
In consultation with your Academic Adviser, design Program of Work and determine which courses you will need to take during the upcoming semester.
Complete the I Have Been Advised Form . When enrolling in independent study or practicum/internship courses, make sure you fill in the name of the faculty member who has agreed to supervise you.
Have your Academic Adviser sign the word version of the I Have Been Advised Form . Ensure that you also sign the form at the bottom.
Submit the I Have Been Advised Form to the Graduate Coordinator.
The Graduate Coordinator will lift your advising bar and, assuming you have no other bars, you will be allowed to register during your next scheduled access period.
Important : You must confirm your registration even if your fee-bill is zero. Failure to complete this step will result in your registration being cancelled!

Information about the form

I Have Been Advised Forms are color-coded differently for master’s and doctoral students, and marked for each semester; please make sure you have the correct version of the form for the semester of registration.
Fill out the top portion of the form each semester; the Department uses this information to contact you in case of questions or changes in the course schedule, or your registration.
Because course numbers are associated with a variety of topics, be sure to write in the course title as well as the unique number.
If you are taking an independent study course, report, or thesis, please write in the name of the faculty member who has agreed to supervise you.
Your Academic Adviser must sign this form before the Graduate Coordinator will clear your registration bar.
Only register for courses that are indicated with pre-approval by your Academic Adviser on your I Have Been Advised Forms.

Ongoing Advisement

In addition to meeting with your Academic Adviser to complete the Program of Work, there are several reasons and benefits to meeting with your Academic Adviser on an ongoing basis:

Your relationship with your Academic Adviser is the foundation for a successful doctoral experience. This is the individual who will typically (though not necessarily) serve in a variety of roles in your doctoral work, including research mentoring supervisor, and dissertation supervisor
Your Academic Adviser can assist you in becoming familiar with the concentration, the department, and other university resources
Your Academic Adviser represents you at Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) meetings, for any matters that go before the GSC, including your annual review of progress, and advancement to candidacy

It is not unusual for your Academic Adviser, Research Mentoring Supervisor, and the Dissertation Supervisor to be the same faculty member. However, you may select different faculty members based on personal preference and mutual interest in the research being conducted.

What is a J-Bar? (for New International Students)

Some international students may have a departmental condition placed on their admission to the graduate program, which requires that they complete an English Skills Screening within their first semester of coursework at The University of Texas. A J-bar is placed on certain international students' records to require them to go through English screening. This is done by ESL Services in the International Office. This screening is done anytime that the International Office is open for new international student check in.

The screening consists of a 30-minute essay and a 15-minute oral interview. After the screening is done, the results are discussed with the students and they are informed of a requirement for further coursework in English. If English classes are required, then information on those classes is provided to the students and a copy of the requirement is sent to the students' individual departments. Information on the classes and other services offered by ESL Services can be found at https://world.utexas.edu/esl.

Based on the results of the screening and the recommendations of the International Office, the student’s Academic Adviser may require completion of the appropriate ESL course(s) or courses related to academic communication and writing offered by the Graduate School. Such courses are considered prerequisites and do not count toward the doctoral degree.

Important: If requirements for additional English coursework are not fulfilled, the J-bar will appear again for the following semester.

What is Admission with Conditions?

Some students may be admitted to the Doctoral degree with conditions. According to the graduate catalog, the Graduate Studies Committee:

May require the student to maintain a certain grade point average or to take a certain number of semester hours of coursework. A conditionally admitted student may also be required to remedy deficiencies in undergraduate preparation by taking upper-division or graduate courses. The graduate adviser notifies the student of these conditions at the time of admission. A student who does not fulfill the conditions within the specified time may be barred from subsequent registration in the Graduate School. If the student changes his or her major before the conditions have been fulfilled, the conditions remain in effect unless the graduate adviser for the new concentration, on behalf of the Graduate Studies Committee, petitions the graduate dean and receives approval for them to be changed.

If any conditions were placed on your admission, please make sure that your Academic Adviser and the graduate coordinator are informed when you have fulfilled these requirements, so that the appropriate procedures may be initiated to remove your conditional status.

Changing Your Academic Adviser

When you were admitted to the doctoral degree, you were assigned an Academic Adviser in your area of concentration, based on information about your research and career interests. If the doctoral experience remains focused around these mutual interests, the Academic Adviser typically also assumes other roles such as research mentoring supervisor and dissertation supervisor. All changes in Academic Advisers must be requested in writing, following the steps below:

Identify the faculty member in your concentration area who will serve as your new Academic Adviser, and make sure that s/he is willing to serve in this role
Inform your current Academic Adviser of the proposed change
Submit the “Change of Academic Adviser” form to graduate adviser. Make sure to list your current and proposed academic advisers
The Graduate Adviser will review and approve the change.

Transfer to Another Concentration Area in the Department

Once they are in the doctoral concentration, occasionally a few students may discover that their research and professional interests may be more suitably addressed in another concentration area within the department. Requests for a change in concentration should be made only after careful thought and discussion with your current Academic Adviser and other mentors, as such a change signifies a considerable shift in your emphasis in the concentration, including the topic of your dissertation research and ultimately your career options. It can also affect course requirements and the total number of credit hours required to obtain the doctoral degree. Before you take any formal steps to change your concentration, be sure that you thoroughly understand the impact of the change on your Program of Work and degree requirements, and that you have identified a faculty member in your proposed concentration area who is willing to serve as your Academic Adviser and mentor. All requests for a change in concentration are subject to review and approval by the faculty in the proposed area.

Students who wish to request a change in concentration should submit the following materials to the Graduate Coordinator:

Request for “Change in Concentration” form,
revised personal goals statement explaining the rationale for the change, and
current resume or curriculum vitae.

Once the area faculty in the concentration the student is interested in joining have reviewed the request, a recommendation will be made to the Graduate Adviser and the student will be notified. A revised doctoral Program of Work should be filed with the Graduate Coordinator as soon as possible, which reflects any changes resulting from the change in concentration. Students are expected to complete all degree requirements related to their new concentration area in order to graduate. Please note that a change in concentration does not affect The University’s rules governing coursework that may be counted on the doctoral Program of Work (i.e., you are still governed by the six-year rule or the 99-hour rule.)

Annual Review of Student Progress

Taking time to reflect on your progress with your studies is an essential part of ensuring that you have been advised appropriately and that your activities will meet all degree requirements in a timely manner. This process should also assist you in determining if your professional needs are being met and continue to be aligned with your career goals, which may have changed since you entered the program. During each academic year, the Department’s Graduate Studies Committee will formally review the progress of all doctoral students. You will be asked to submit documentation of coursework and other activities you have completed to-date, as well as any other accomplishments that are relevant to your preparation. Materials to be submitted for the annual reviews and directions for completing the process will be sent from the Graduate Coordinator.