Student Advising

For current CS students, advisor assignments and hours are available from the department office. It is very important that you meet with your advisor every semester and make a good plan for the courses you plan to take.

ADVISING STEPS

1. Read the catalog. There many versions. Your catalog is the one in effect when you first started at UTEP. You may switch to a later catalog, but you may not switch to an earlier one. You must complete all the requirements in the catalog under which your degree is completed. You may not mix requirements between catalogs. Catalogs can be found here.
2. Fill out a Plan of Study. Your degree plan lists all the requirements for your degree. Your Plan of Study lists when you anticipate taking courses. To fill out the plan of study, you need three things: a degree plan, a list of course offerings, and a plan of study (you can down load a blank plan of study here.) Complete the plan of study by filling in the courses that you still must complete in the semester you intend to take the course. Be sure that you follow the prerequisites. Suggested plans of study are available for 2006, 2008 (assuming you need precalc) and 2008 (assuming you can start with Calc I). You must follow the You must put the courses in the semesters they are offered. (For example, CS4375 is only offered in the Fall.) Planned course offerings are shown here. Example plans are available here.
3. Schedule an appointment with your advisor in the CS office; sign-up sheets are kept in a notebook on the front counter
4. Complete an Academic Advising Form prior to seeing your advisor (the form can be changed if needed)
5. Bring an up-to-date transcript to the advising session (non-official). This transcript you can print by logging into my.utep.edu. Select Goldmine from the menu, then select Student Services and Financial Aid. Then click Student Records and afterwards Academic Transcript. On that page select the transcript level and type, and then click Submit.

TIP

• Schedule an appointment with your advisor as soon as the advising schedule starts so you can register early.
  

STATEMENT OF STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY

The student shares the responsibility for developing an advising partnership with the advisor. Over time, the partnership results in increased responsibility for the student. The student will:

• Acquire the information (from the University of Texas at El Paso Undergraduate Catalog and departmental website) needed to assume final responsibility for course scheduling, program planning, and the successful completion of all graduation requirements.
• Make, keep, and be prepared for appointments with your assigned advisor; if you cannot make your appointment, please call the front office to cancel (747-5480);
• Complete and discuss his or her plan of study with the advisor;
• Communicate goals, needs, and concerns to the advisor;
• Seek information on opportunities in the department and university (research, internships, financial aid, scholarships, graduate studies, and student organizations);
• Inform the advisor of changes in plans and/or circumstances that might impact academic performance; and
• Be prepared with accurate information and relevant materials when meeting with the adviser.

CAUTIONARY ITEMS

• Students may repeat courses at most three times. (See p 153 and p 271 in the 2006-2008 catalog, or similar wording in other catalogs.) The catalog states,

  "Once a student has reached the maximum of three enrollments, he or she will not be allowed to enroll in the course a fourth time. IF the course is required in the student's degree plan, the student will not be able to complete the requirements for that degree."

• Students must complete all 1000-level courses before they have acquired 90 credits. The catalog states (p 119 of the 2008 catalog),

  All freshman-level courses which are required by specific course number must be completed before the student has completed 90 hours toward the degree. Mo credit for these freshmen-level courses will be granted toward fulfilling the minimum credit hour requirements for the degree even though the courses must be completed.

  Our interpretation of this is that required 1000-level courses taken after a student has accumulated 90 credits cannot be applied to the total credit hours for the degree. Students in this situation must still take the 1000-level courses, but must also take other courses to accumulate the total credits.
• No more than 6 Ws will be allowed in a student degree plan. This rule comes from the Higher Education Coordinating Board, and the current interpretation is that once a student has withdrawn from 6 courses (including courses taken at community college), the student will not be allowed to withdraw. Thus, if the student stops attending class, he or she will fail the class.
• The first time that a freshman course is repeated, the previously earned grade is automatically excluded from the GPA calculation.
• Be careful about planning your last two years of study. Not every course is offered every semester. The Department has arranged the schedule with the expectation that you will take CS 3432, CS 3331, and CS 3320 in your Junior (next to last) year. Then you will be able to take CS 4310, CS 4311, and CS 4375 in your senior (last) year.

Please make an appointment to see your advisor during the advising period. Students will be advised only during the assigned times and dates.

The same information can be downloaded here.

Special cases:

• For pre-engineering students, advising is handled through the Circles program. Students with special concerns may contact Professor Freudenthal. (contact information)
• Students planning to transfer to UTEP Computer Science after taking CS courses elsewhere are encouraged to consult informally with Professor Freudenthal as early as possible. (contact information)