ADVISING
All students will be assigned a faculty advisor upon being admitted to the program. Master’s students are assigned a temporary advisor and may be re-assigned an advisor by the start of the fall semester. At the start of the fall semester, your advisor is considered permanent unless/until the student initiates a change of advisor by completing the necessary paperwork. Students can also switch advisors if it is determined that there is a better fit with another faculty member, although we recommend that you not do so until you have had an opportunity to work with your faculty advisor during your first year in the program. A form to switch your advisor is available on our website. You will have to meet with your advisor each semester prior to registration to get your advising bar lifted to enable you to register. Use this form to request an advisor change.
TRANSFER COURSEWORK
Up to six hours of graduate work may be transferred from another institution and counted toward the master's or doctoral degree if approved by the student's advisor, the graduate advisor, and the Graduate School. Please note that this coursework cannot have been used toward another degree. For more information please refer UT Graduate School about transfer credit. Use this form to transfer coursework.
STUDY ABROAD
Students may want to study abroad for a semester completing course work and/or internship credit. Both of these options are feasible with advance planning. Students need to plan their schedule carefully, as the core courses are offered only in one semester (only in Fall or only in Spring). Students are not allowed to study abroad in the semester in which they plan to graduate as per University policy. However, students interested in studying abroad in the fall semester of their second year must have completed all of the fall core courses in the previous year. Plan to work carefully with your faculty advisor as well as the Study Abroad Office to allow ample time to find appropriate courses, secure funding, and complete paperwork.
EXTENSION COURSES
Up to six semester hours of work done in extension classes through the university's Division of Continuing Education may be listed on the Program of Study, with the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee and the Graduate School Dean. The extension credit must be in graduate-level courses, the courses and instructors must be approved in advance by the Graduate School and by the program in which the student would otherwise take the work on campus, and the student must be admitted to the Graduate School before taking the extension courses. Grades earned in extension courses under these circumstances are included in the calculation of the grade point average.
Enrollment in University Extension courses does not count toward the full-time enrollment status required for academic employment. Please go to the Graduate School’s website to find the necessary documents and policies: https://gradschool.utexas.edu
FIELD EXPERIENCE
All PHEL students are required to complete a field experience. Master’s and EdD students will complete one internship. Master’s students may choose to complete a second internship (called an Individual Project). PhD students must complete a research apprenticeship. Any student may, with their advisor’s approval, take an independent study.
INTERNSHIP/FIELD EXPERIENCE
The nature of the internship/field experience is up to the discretion of the student, the supervisor, and the internship coordinator as they work out the details and make arrangements. All students must complete and have approved by their faculty supervisor an "Internship Contract" before proceeding. Students should start setting up their internship experience the semester prior to enrollment. They must complete the required form and obtain the necessary signatures before they can enroll. See the website for further details.
INDIVIDUAL PROJECT
Master’s students may enroll in a second internship. While the internship is a Pass/Fail course, the Individual Project is an A-F course. Students reduce the number of hours of the internship (e.g., reduce 120 hours to 100 hours) and add a scholarly component to be graded by the instructor of record (e.g., a policy brief, literature review, or conference paper). Students should start setting up their internship experience the semester prior to enrollment. They must complete the required form and obtain the necessary signatures before they can enroll. See the website for further details.
RESEARCH APPRENTICESHIP
All students pursuing the Ph.D. degree are required to complete a research apprenticeship. In essence, the research apprenticeship is an opportunity for a student to carry out original research under the guidance of an experienced scholar. The student and professor of record for the course (not necessarily the student’s advisor) work out the details of the apprenticeship jointly. Students should start setting up their apprenticeship experience the semester prior to enrollment. They must complete the required form and obtain the necessary signatures before they can enroll. See the website for further details.
INDEPENDENT/RESEARCH STUDY
Students may be interested in pursuing a topic in more depth, researching a subject of interest, or creating and implementing a professional development workshop. These two types of courses are available to help students develop a proposal and retain a faculty mentor to supervise the work. With advisor approval of the proposal, the student will complete the Consent of Instructor for Course Registration Form (see Appendix D) with signature from the faculty advisor. The student will submit the completed form to the graduate coordinator for enrollment in the course. The faculty member and student will jointly determine project assignments and timeline. The independent study grades are due at the end of the semester, so the timeline should be designed to allow the supervisor sufficient time to grade the project.