Advising Center Guidelines
 
Contact the school advising center if you have questions about the following:

Correspondence study — Texas State juniors and seniors must have their application for correspondence signed by the school advisers. A maximum of 18 hours of correspondence credit may be applied toward a bachelor’s degree. Students on suspension are ineligible for correspondence course credit.

Graduation — Students must have completed or be currently enrolled in all courses required for graduation and make an application in the Dean’s office for graduation during the first three weeks of each long semester or no more than three weeks into June before they are allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony.

Courses taken at other universities — Permission must be obtained in writing from the Dean to take courses away from Texas State in the last 30 hours.

Transfer work in the last 30 hours/graduation — Students may take six of their last 30 hours (with written approval by the Dean’s office) at another institution as long as they have not transferred more than 66 hours from a junior college. There is a catch to this of which advisers should be aware. The Dean’s office discourages students from applying for graduation if they are taking courses at another institution during their last semester. The grades may not arrive in our Admissions office in time for us to get them on the official graduation list, so we have to pull the student's name from the list. The student will then have to reapply for graduation for the following semester, and the diploma and transcript will reflect the later date. This makes many students unhappy when they have been told, “yes, you make take six of your last 30 hours at another institution,” and then their diploma and transcript are dated one semester later.

Probation and suspension — Appeals for suspension are made to the Dean. (for other information see the 2003-2004 catalog.)

Application for degree outline — Students should be advised to apply for a degree outline in their major department after 45 hours have been completed (for transfer students after completion of one long semester).

Application for degree summary — Application for the degree summary should be requested from the dean’s office the semester prior to anticipated graduation. A summary will not be completed if more than 30 hours remain.

In order for students to be eligible to apply for graduation and be able to participate in the commencement ceremony, they must have completed or be currently enrolled in all courses required for their degree. If students drop a course, they will not be allowed to walk.

Miscellaneous graduation requirement information — The departmental adviser will monitor the following graduation requirements on all students. Often students are prevented from graduating because they have not attended to the following items. In order to prevent students from having last minute problems, academic advisers should check on the following requirements for their majors.

Writing intensive hours — All students must complete 18 hours of writing intensive courses if they are not transfer students. Transfer students must complete between 9 and 15 hours of writing intensive courses, depending on how many hours they have transferred into swt. The dean is responsible for making this waiver. Writing intensive courses from other schools are not counted.

Advanced hours — Forty of the 128 hours must be 3000 or 4000 level courses. If there is a choice in the major/minor between non-advanced or advanced courses, students should be advised to choose the advanced course(s). Permission to graduate with 39 advanced hours is virtually automatic.

Certification —Students seeking certification must complete English 1310 and 1320 with at least a grade of “C.” Math 1315 must be completed with at least a grade of “C” (students who passed the PPST may complete the math with a “D”) Overall GPA must be a 2.50 or no grade below a “C” in both teaching fields, English 1310 and 1320, Math 1315 and the professional education sequence.

Double majors — Students should be advised against getting a double major. If students request a double major, they should be advised to make an appointment with the director of the Advising Center.

Second baccalaureate degree — If a student has completed a baccalaureate degree at this university or at another university, the student is not required to complete the general studies requirement. However, students must be advised to complete the legislative requirement for political science and history. For a BA degree students must complete through the sophomore level of a foreign language as long as they have six hours completed course work. Students also have to complete four semesters of a science with two semesters in the same lab science (astronomy does not count for the lab science). Math 1315 or above will satisfy the third course and an additional course must be completed in the math/science/phil. 2330 area.

Two degrees simultaneously — In advising these students, it may be advantageous for the student to be advised to seek a master’s degree rather than a second baccalaureate degree. Students must complete a total of 158 hours if they complete two degrees.

Teacher certification after a degree has been awarded — Students who are seeking certification and have completed a baccalaureate degree should be referred to the office of teacher certification. Mr. Bobby Jarrett will make a deficiency plan for the student, and the student will not receive an additional degree.

Returning for a second degree — Students must complete 30 additional hours, 24 of which must be advanced, after returning for a second degree. Six hours must be in the major or first teaching field. Students returning for a second degree are not eligible to graduate with honors.

Contact your Major Department if you have questions about the following:

Advising for general studies courses
Substitutions for courses in a student's major
Miscellaneous graduation requirement information