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Academic Advising

Texas Tech University believes in the potential of each student to succeed and values their pursuit of excellence. Therefore, Texas Tech provides academic advisors and advising programs to inform, guide, empower, and encourage students from the time of their new student orientation until graduation. While students are responsible for their academic progress, academic advisors assist with educational planning that leads to timely matriculation and graduation. Students’ success requires their commitment to and investment in an action-oriented decision-making process. This fosters intellectual and personal development which results in informed and invested educational choices.

Students’ Responsibilities. The advising process is designed to prepare students to be leaders and decision-makers. To that end, students are responsible for being active and invested participants, especially by:

• Investing the time and energy necessary to meet and exceed the highest standards of academic excellence.
• Engaging in a mutually respectful working relationship with their academic advisor(s).
• Making and keeping a minimum of one appointment per semester with the appropriate academic advisor(s).
• Creating a class schedule based on deliberate examination of educational, career, and life goals.
• Cooperating and communicating with the university by reading and responding to all official communications.
• Reading and acting in accordance with official university documents related to institutional procedures, degree program requirements, standards of academic progress, and the code of student conduct.
• Completing required paperwork and adhering to university deadlines.
• Discussing the Graduate-On-Time (GOT) contract program with an academic advisor to determine its merits to their educational plan and, when deemed appropriate, signing a contract in the academic advisor’s office before the university-stipulated deadline.
• Keeping advisors informed about circumstances that could influence academic performance (e.g. work schedules, illness, family situations).
• Notifying advisors immediately when receiving a course grade of D or F, when dropping a course, or when withdrawing from the university.
• Exploring and, as appropriate, utilizing available student resources.
• Investigating opportunities to study abroad, conduct undergraduate research, and participate in service learning.
• Documenting and maintaining records of all university interactions.

Advisors’ Responsibilities. Advising is a process through which students examine themselves, explore their opportunities, determine their best-fit educational paths, and develop action plans for achieving their university degrees. Academic advisors facilitate this process. Additionally, advisors advocate for students in the university system, serve as resource brokers for the university community, and help students thrive in a large university setting. Academic advising programs identify relevant and desirable student learning and development outcomes and provide programs and services that encourage the achievement of those outcomes. The most important outcome of academic advising is self-discovery: each student’s educational goals are matched with offerings of the university. To that end, advisors are responsible for:

Student Growth and Development

• Reinforcing student self-direction and self-sufficiency.
• Assisting students in assessing their interests and abilities, making decisions, and developing short-term and long-term plans to meet their objectives.
• Discussing and clarifying educational, career, and life goals to assist in the development of a meaningful educational plan.
• Assisting students to understand the educational context within which they are enrolled.
• Assisting students to make the best academic decisions possible by encouraging identification and assessment of alternatives and consideration of the consequences of their decisions.
• Instructing students in the use of course selection tools and registration systems.

• Interpreting university policies, procedures, and standards, and clarifying requirements for both general education and their chosen academic major.
• Providing current, accurate, and timely information, especially for the selection of appropriate courses and other educational experiences.
• Making advising conferences available to students each academic term in a format that is convenient to the student (i.e., in person, by telephone, or online, individually or in groups).
• Allowing an appropriate amount of time for students to discuss plans, programs, courses, academic progress, and other subjects related to their educational programs

• Directing students with educational, career or personal concerns, or skill/learning deficiencies to resources and programs on the campus when necessary.
• Making students aware of and referring to educational, institutional, and community resources and services (e.g., internship, study abroad, honors, service-learning, research opportunities).
• Identifying environmental conditions that may positively or negatively influence student academic achievement and proposing interventions that may neutralize negative conditions.
• Evaluating and monitoring student academic progress and the impact on achievement of goals.
• Collecting and distributing relevant data about student needs, preferences, aspirations, and performance for use in institutional decisions and policy.
• Maintaining confidentiality in accordance with the Operating Policies of Texas Tech University and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.
  

Departments in each academic college provide academic advisors who specialize in specific majors. Texas Tech also values students who have yet to choose an academic major or who are uncertain of their educational direction. The Texas Tech University Advising Center serves these students through retention-based academic advising and conducts university-wide transition programs to facilitate the persistence and success of all students.

When faced with a difficult question or challenging situation, the University Advising Center is always a good place to begin. From here, it’s possible.

Contact information: Texas Tech University Advising Center, 79 Holden Hall, T 806.742.2189, T 806.742.2200, advising@ttu.edu, www.advising.ttu.edu

Significant portions of this content paraphrased and used with permission. Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (2006). CAS professional standards for higher education (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Academic Testing Services (Back to Top)

Academic Testing Services provides a wide variety of standardized exams integral to the admissions, enrollment, matriculation, and graduation/certification/licensure requirements of Texas Tech, the state, and specific employers recruiting TTU graduates. These standardized exams meet specific requirement needs for undergraduate, graduate, and professional career path programs at Texas Tech. Exams administered include, but are not limited to: Accuplacer, ACT, GRE, LSAT, MAT, MCAT, MPRE, NICET, OKAP, PCAT, PRAXIS, Texas Educator Certification (formerly TeXes), THEA, and TOEFL.

Note: Students may choose to take the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) rather than the TOEFL. However, IELTS is not administered on the Texas Tech campus. A full list of test centers is available on the IELTS Web site at www.ielts.org. Information regarding scores accepted at Texas Tech for both the TOELF and the IELTS can be found in the Admissions section of this catalog and the Graduate School section.

CLEP exams for course credit and Distance Education/Distance Learning exams may expedite the matriculation time of enrolled students. All exams are administered in a proctored, standardized testing environment.

Contact information: Pat McConnel, Director; 214 West Hall; 806.742.3671; testing@ttu.edu; www.depts.ttu.edu/testing

Cross-Cultural Academic Advancement Center (Back to Top)

The Cross-Cultural Academic Advancement Center is intended to ensure that all Texas Tech faculty, staff,, and students are prepared for a pluralistic society. The center focuses on retention activities; training; community engagement; referral services; and collaboration with enrollment management, academic departments, and student affairs. The objectives of the center include:

Affirming identity

• Through the sponsorship of culturally sensitive programming and in concert with academically relevant support services, the center supports an environment that maximizes the intellectual and leadership potential of the campus.

Building community

• By affording students a physical location in which to meet their need for affirmation and encourage their willingness to engage with others across lines of difference.
• By serving as a respite for faculty, staff, and students to engage and affirm their own sense of identity and that of others.

Cultivating academic achievement

• By carefully coordinating and tracking referral services (i.e., existent counseling service, ACTT, PEGASUS Program, McNair Scholars Program, Career Center, college/departmental advising, and PASS).
• By monitoring targeted students (i.e., those likely to leave Texas Tech prematurely).
• By establishing opportunities to participate in graduate and undergraduate research.
• By establishing academic apprentice relationships with faculty through the Lauro Cavazos and Ophelia Powell-Malone Mentoring Program (Mentor Tech).

Contact information: Cross-Cultural Academic Advancement Center, 806.742.8682

DISCOVERY! Program (Back to Top)

Begin with the DISCOVERY! Major Map.

Choosing a major is a big decision, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. DISCOVERY! helps you find your direction by examining your values, skills, interests, and abilities. Once you have identified your direction, you will be ready to determine which academic majors are the best fit for you. Through a deliberate study of yourself and one-to-one meetings with an academic advisor, you will narrow the range of academic alternatives and be equipped to choose a compatible career.

Then, the DISCOVERY! Academic Physical will help you:

• Determine your style of procrastination, learn how to manage it, and begin to take action.
• Understand how to learn in a classroom in which your preferred learning style is different from the instructor’s style of teaching.
• Identify your Top 10 Survival Strategies, and design your action plan for success.
  DISCOVERY! will help you find your direction to an amazing university experience, an on-time graduation, and a future career field that will be fulfilling and rewarding

Marsha Sharp Center for Student Athletes (Back to Top)

The Marsha Sharp Center for Student Athletes is a facility to support the academic success of student athletes at Texas Tech. The 15,500-square-foot facility has a hall of honor to recognize the academic performance of student athletes, two classrooms, two computer labs, tutoring rooms, a study lounge, and administrative offices.

In addition to enhancing academic performance of student athletes, the center also serves as the primary facility to administer the Life Skills program for student athletes at the university. It is also a meeting facility for the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and for other athletic and campus meetings and events.

McNair Scholars Program (Back to Top)

The Texas Tech McNair Scholars Program prepares First Generation College (FCG) undergraduate students from low-income backgrounds for doctoral study. McNair Scholars participate in undergraduate research in partnership with faculty mentors in specific fields of study. The undergraduate is also paired with a graduate student mentor whose personal and professional interests are similar to those of the McNair Scholar. The graduate student mentor guides the exploration of graduate-level education and assists with the application process.

McNair Scholars attend workshops, conduct research, and receive scholarship and travel funds for academic and professional development. Scholars work with departmental advisors for course selection and meet one-to-one with McNair staff for assistance with such issues as financial, cultural, and personal needs extending beyond the traditional advising relationship.

Contact Information: 341 Administration Building, 806.742.1095, mcnairscholars@ttu.edu, www.mcnairscholars.ttu.edu

PASS Learning Center (Back to Top)

Under direction of Programs for Academic Support Services (PASS), the Learning Center provides students with a wide variety of services designed to increase their study strategy effectiveness and enable them to get the most out of their education. In-house and online peer tutoring, a self-help computer lab, and individual academic skills counseling provide learning assistance.

Computer software and printed materials are available in mathematics, study skills, and other specific subject areas. Test preparation guides are available for the GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, LSAT, and MCAT. Additionally, study skills and other academic topic presentations are available to faculty and campus organizations. Located in 205 West Hall, the Learning Center is free to all Texas Tech students and open during the fall and spring semesters from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. Summer hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Departmental information is available at www.pass.ttu.edu.

PASS Supplemental Instruction (Back to Top)

Under direction of Programs for Academic Support Services (PASS), Supplemental Instruction (SI) offers regularly scheduled modified forms of discussion sections in a select number of historically difficult courses Persistent attendance with SI has proven to assist students' retention in the course as well as increase their final course grade as compared to students who do not use SI. For a full list of courses that include SI, go to www.pass.ttu.edu and follow the Supplemental Instruction link.

PEGASUS Program for First Generation College Students
(Back to Top)

If neither of your parents earned a four-year (bachelor’s) degree, then the Texas Tech PEGASUS Program exists for you. You are set to accomplish what no one in your immediate family has ever done. As a member of PEGASUS, you will have access to an advisor who works specifically with First Generation College (FGC) students and to an academic advisor who specializes in your major. PEGASUS offers many opportunities for community building with events such as FGC socials, study sessions, and community service opportunities. You can also take advantage of POWER session to achieve scholarship and unprecedented success in the following important areas:

• Transitioning to the university environment
• Securing financial aid
• Improving study skills
• Managing your time and your style of procrastination
• Overcoming personal struggles

You will benefit from one-to-one relationships with FGC PEGASUS Mentors who are successful upper-class FGC students. They have navigated the challenges you are now facing and are ready to help you excel at Texas Tech. Their friendships and experiences will provide meaningful help and real-world advice on how to be successful during your first year of college.

PEGASUS is built around giving back to others. As a member, you are proof of access to higher education for FGC families, foster children, and other historically underrepresented populations. From conducting outreach events to building ongoing relationships, PEGASUS students inspire, inform, and nurture pre-college students to prepare for and enroll in college.

FGC advisors, peer mentors, and PEGASUS members engage in community where common goals will encourage your own academic efforts.

Contact information: 79 Holden Hall, 806.742.2189, www.fgc.ttu.edu, pegasus@ttu.edu

Study Abroad Program (Back to Top)

In today’s globalized job market, students who participate in a study abroad program or international internship are more marketable and competitive in almost every field. An overseas educational experience equips students with an international perspective that helps them to function objectively and comfortably in the global marketplace while earning credit towards their degree.

The Study Abroad division of the Office of International Affairs coordinates all study abroad programs for Texas Tech University. Two international Texas Tech centers – one in Seville, Spain and another in Quedlinburg, Germany – offer students the opportunity to take Texas Tech catalog classes and receive direct TTU credit since the centers serve as satellite campuses. Students may elect a concentrated language program (equivalent of four semesters of Spanish or German) or, at the Seville Center, take other courses that meet general education requirements. Students live with host families and are immersed in the language and culture through excursions and day-to-day experiences.

Other study abroad programs available to Texas Tech students range from two weeks to a full academic year. Many academics departments offer their own faculty-led programs during the summer. Study Abroad advisors assist students with choosing a program that best fits their individual needs and provide guidance during the application and orientation process. All Texas Tech students participating in the study abroad program to earn Texas Tech credit need to consult the Office of International Affairs.

Students participating in any Texas Tech study abroad program are eligible to apply for the Study Abroad Competitive Scholarship, funded by the International Education Fee paid by all Texas Tech students. Students also remain eligible for Texas Tech financial aid to help finance their program.

Contact information: Sandra Crosier, Study Abroad Director, International Cultural Center, 806.742.3667, www.studyabroad.ttu.edu.

TECHniques Center (Back to Top)

The TECHniques Center is a fee-for-service academic enhancement program that is the only one of its kind in Texas. The program provides supplemental academic support services to meet the needs and promote the retention of undergraduate students with documented evidence of learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders.

Student participants are undergraduates majoring in degree programs that they have chosen. They are expected to meet the same academic requirements and have the same curricula as other students. Qualified staff members work closely with students enrolled in this program to provide support, assistance, and guidance. Certified tutors provide interactive study skills and content tutoring and are trained to work with each student’s individual learning style.

Contact information: 242 West Hall, 806.742.1822, www.techniques.ttu.edu, techniques.center@ttu.edu

University Writing Center (Back to Top)

The University Writing Center assists writers during the various stages of their writing projects without regard to their status as either a student (undergraduate or graduate) or faculty member, their level of proficiency, or their particular college.

The center strives to create a supportive environment in which writers and their tutors can work effectively one-to-one either in person or on-screen and online. In addition, the center trains writing tutors to become knowledgeable, effective readers of and responders to texts from various disciplines. Tutors read and respond to texts at any stage of the writing process and address sentence-level issues as well as global issues involving focus, organization, and development. They do not proofread or edit documents for clients but help clients learn to proofread and edit for themselves.

The University Writing Center is located in Room 175 of the English/Philosophy Complex and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday. Writers may call the center to make appointments for 30-minute sessions. They also may bring their writing projects as either a hard copy or texts on discs. To submit texts electronically, writers may access the University Writing Center through its Web site at http://english.ttu.edu/uwc01.