Academic Advisement

Texas A&M University-Kingsville places very strong emphasis on developing a one-to-one individual academic advisory relationship between each student and an adviser. This relationship is essential when a student participates in the registration process.

Academic colleges and their departments have specific academic advising procedures, requirements and schedules for students’ degree plans and for procedures to register for classes. A student’s adviser is normally in the department offering the field in which the student is majoring. 

A student who remains unsure of a major would profit by discussing this with an academic adviser or by going to the university counseling center or the Career Services Center to receive career counseling and testing or other appropriate referral. Some vocational aptitude tests and tests designed to help a student select a major are available.

Timely Completion of Developmental Education Course Work

Timely completion of required developmental education courses will improve the likelihood of student success. Therefore,

  1. new freshmen at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (defined as having completed 0-30 semester hours prior to their first full-time enrollment) must complete all developmental education requirements within their first 45 completed hours on our campus;
  2. transfer students arriving at the sophomore level or above (defined as having completed 31 or more semester credit hours) must complete all developmental education requirements within their first 30 hours of enrollment on our campus.

Failure to achieve the freshmen or transfer student standard will result in the student being placed on scholastic probation, regardless of grade point average. At this point, the student will have one semester to achieve Texas Success Initiative (TSI) compliance.

Continued failure in achieving TSI compliance as described above will result in the student being placed on enforced withdrawal (or its equivalent), regardless of grade point average. The students may return to the university after completing required developmental education elsewhere or the student may request approval for readmission from the Associate Vice President for Student Success.

Degree Plan

DegreeWorks is an automated system available online to assist a student in planning and monitoring progress towards degree completion. Information concerning DegreeWorks is available from your academic advisor, the Office of the Registrar, or on the Registrar’s website.

Requirements for degree completion are reflected in DegreeWorks which will serve as the official degree plan for all students. Exceptions: Upon initial registration at this institution, Student Athletes and Student Veterans will require a department chair signed copy of their degree plan to ensure compliance with Federal regulations.

Course substitutions/adjustments in the degree plan are permitted only with the approval of the Department Chair and Dean.

Final degree requirements must be approved by the dean of the college in which the major is taken. All undergraduate degrees must conform to "General Requirements for Graduation with a Baccalaureate Degree" set forth in this catalog. The registrar will be the final authority for graduation requirements.

Course Listings

The term "course" means a definite unit of work in a subject. Courses are offered on a semester basis. University course offerings are listed in this catalog by college and by department or program within that college according to the following method:

Letter Code

A four letter code at the beginning identifies the department or program that offers the course. A list of these letter codes is provided under the List of Course Prefixes section of the catalog.

Number Code

The four digit code distinguishes each course in that department or program and identifies the level at which it is offered. The first and second digits in the course number hold specific meanings. The first digit indicates the course level (1000 freshman; 2000 sophomore; 3000 junior; 4000 senior; 5000 graduate; 6000 doctoral) and the second digit indicates semester credit hours for the course. Courses numbered at the 1000 and 2000 level are lower division courses that are normally introductory in nature. Upper division courses numbered 3000 and 4000 are advanced undergraduate courses that normally require junior or senior standing and/or the completion of a preceding course or courses. Courses numbered 5000 and 6000 are open only to students with graduate standing.

Title

The identification code is followed by the course title. The identification code and a shortened form of the course title are used to list courses in the Course Schedule (available view the Blue and Gold Connection) each semester for registration purposes and on a student's permanent transcript.

Two-Year College Equivalency

Courses commonly taught at two year colleges in the State of Texas are identified immediately following the title of the equivalent course by a four-letter, four-number code in parentheses. When such an entry appears, the university accepts those courses as the equivalent. No work taken at a two year college can be transferred as an upper division course.

Credit Hours

The final information given on a course listing's entry line indicates the semester credit hours of the course. Courses with variable semester credit hours will have the variable amount listed in a hyphenated format (example: 1-3 SCH). Numbers in the parentheses following semester credit hours are the number of hours of lecture, laboratory, and recitation (if applicable) that are required each week respectively. An example of this format would be 3 SCH (3-0-1)

Courses with variable hours required each week will be hyphenated listing the variable amount in parentheses. For example, if a course has variable hours of lecture (between 0 and 3), zero hours of laboratory, and variable hours of recitation (between 0 and 3), the course would read as below with red numbers being the lecture hours, the blue numbers being the laboratory hours, and the green numbers being the recitation hours. Variable credit and hours for the course will be determine at the time of registration. 

contact hours definition graphic

Course Description and Special Conditions

Below the entry line is a brief description of the course and a notice of any special restrictions for registration in the course.