CSE Advising Policies and Procedures

At UHCL, "First-time college" students include:

• Freshmen with dual credit or graduated from early college high schools.
• Students with 0-29 credit hours of transfer coursework.
• All new first-time college students have a First Semester Mandatory Advising hold placed on their account. This hold requires a meeting with their assigned academic advisor to register. During this important meeting, we will discuss your degree and its requirements, campus services and resources, and recommend classes for your first semester. After the initial meeting, the hold is adjusted to allow enrollment and will populate once more in the middle of the student's first semester to ensure that they check in with academic advising to receive the support they need.

CSE Graduate Students are those pursuing a master's degree. There is no Mandatory Advising for graduate students.

• To receive guidance on what courses to take, all CSE graduate students are assigned faculty advisors upon acceptance into a master's degree program. The faculty advisor's name and contact information are noted on the formal acceptance letter.
• To make an appointment with your faculty advisor, please contact them by email, phone, or in person during office hours. Please note that faculty advisors are actively involved in teaching classes and conducting academic research, which may result in limited availability.

Students with Academic Standing issues who find themselves on Academic Probation or Suspension will have a registration hold placed on their account, requiring a meeting with their assigned advisor.

• Academic Probation: Students are placed on Academic Probation when their cumulative GPA falls below 2.0 (undergraduate students) or 3.0 (graduate students). Students will meet with their academic advisor to develop a "Success Plan" that they must abide by for the following term. Once the student submits the signed Success Plan to the advisor, the advisor will adjust the hold to allow registration.
  
  
• Academic Suspension: Students on Academic Probation who fail to earn a term GPA of 2.0 or above (undergraduate students) or 3.0 or above (graduate students) will be placed on Academic Suspension. If you are suspended, you will not be able to enroll, audit, or attend classes for an established period, as follows:
• First suspension - one semester
• Second suspension - one year
• Third suspension - after one year
• Reinstatement Process: To return after suspension, students must submit a request for reinstatement to the associate dean of the college. Once the reinstatement request has been approved, academic standing will change from academic suspension to academic probation, and a registration hold will be placed on the student's account. Students will meet with their academic advisor to develop a "Success Plan" that they must abide by for the following term. Once the student submits the signed Success Plan to the advisor, the advisor will adjust the hold to allow registration.

Make an Appointment

Any transfer credit from other institutions is not automatically applied to your student record. If you take a course at another institution, you must:

1. Submit your final transcript to the UHCL Office of Admissions
2. Email transfercredit@uhcl.edu to request that your transcript be evaluated and posted to your record.
3. Once they confirm they have completed posting, check your Advisement Report.

The University of Houston System Student Pathways Program allows eligible pathway participants to enroll in an approved course(s) during the Open Registration period at the host institution.

The Pathways Program requirements and specifics:

• Students must be first-time degree-seeking undergraduate students.
• The program does not guarantee seats in courses.
• Allows up to six hours of degree requirement courses to be taken at any of the UH system universities
  • Can be taken in a single semester or two different semesters.
• The program itself does not waive academic requirements and, therefore, requires the prior approval of your Program Director and Associate Dean. (Your academic advisor will assist you with this process).
• If approved, the student is responsible for paying for the course(s) or making payment arrangements by the deadline posted at the host Institution. It is ultimately the student's responsibility to pay tuition and fee costs at the host institution.
• Upon completion of the semester, the host institution will submit the electronic official transcript request via SPEEDE to the student's home institution. You can confirm your transcript is here by contacting our UHCL Office of Admissions at 281-283-2500 or admissions@uhcl.edu.
• Remember, any transfer credit from other institutions is not automatically applied to your student record. Once you confirm the transcript has been received by our Admissions Office, you must:
  1. Email transfercredit@uhcl.edu to request that your transcript be evaluated and posted to your record.
  2. Once they confirm they have completed posting, check your Advisement Report.

As always, please make an appointment with your assigned Academic Advisor if you have more questions.

Certain graduate and undergraduate courses require special permission to register. These "controlled courses" cannot be registered through your E-services. You must complete the Controlled Class Form and submit it to the CSE Associate Dean. The Controlled Class Form must be filled out if you are a CSE student attempting any of the following:

• Undergraduate CSE student trying to take a graduate-level course
• Enrolling in a Practicum
• Enrolling in an Internship course
• Enroll in a course that requires "Department Consent"

If approved, you will be enrolled in the course by the Office of Academic Records. After you have submitted the form and given the process a few weeks, check your E-services account to confirm that you have been enrolled in the course; then you must submit payment by the fee payment deadline. 

Courses that state "Approval of Instructor" or "Instructor Consent Required" require the instructor to provide you with a permission number, which you will enter in E-Services when enrolling.

To change your major, please fill out the Academic Record Change Form and contact the advising front office (281-283-3711) to ensure you are scheduled with the correct advisor.

You can add any minor to your plan. We recommend that you first speak with faculty in your program for recommendations on what minor would be best for your major. Afterward, please complete the Minor Declaration Form and email it to or schedule a meeting with your assigned academic advisor.

To request an updated CPS, please email cseadvising@uhcl.edu.

• Subject: Request for Copy of CPS (Student ID)
• Message: Briefly explain the reason for the request.
• Please note that you will receive the latest CPS we have on file. If you would like an updated CPS, note that in your message.

You can verify that you are on track to graduate in the upcoming term by meeting with your academic advisor or requesting a CPS check by emailing cseadvising@uhcl.edu.

• Subject: Request for CPS Check for Graduation (Student ID)
• Message: Briefly explain the reason for the request.

Request for Change of Faculty Advisor:

• Complete the Faculty Advisor Change Form and review it with the faculty member you are requesting as your new advisor. Do not contact your original Faculty Advisor.
• If the new faculty approves, email the approved form to cseadvising@uhcl.edu.
• An updated CPS will be prepared (allow 4-6 weeks) and sent to you and your new advisor.
• Meet with your new faculty advisor to finalize your CPS.

Foundation Courses:

• All CSE majors except Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, and Software Engineering may request a waiver of an assigned foundation class at the initial meeting between the student and faculty advisor. If approved, the faculty advisor notes the waiver on the CPS and communicates it with CSE Advising.
  • If the faculty advisor refuses the waiver and the student would like to challenge the denial, the student may choose to submit a final appeal to the Waiver Committee using the Final Appeal Waiver Request.
• Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, and Software Engineering graduate students who wish to have a foundation course waived must submit a Foundation Course Waiver Request to the Associate Dean’s office. Allow approximately 6 weeks for committee review.  After processing, the response will be scanned and emailed to your UHCL email.