Undergraduate
CSE Academic Advising will create a Candidate Plan of Study (CPS) during a student’s first semester within CSE at UHCL, which will be emailed to the student at their UHCL email address about halfway through the first semester. For transfer students, an initial CPS will be created by Academic Transfer Advising as part of their initial advising appointment; CSE Advising will finalize the CPS and send to the student during their first semester. Once the CPS is emailed, the student needs to sign and return the final CPS, or they can come directly to the CSE Advising office to sign in person. The CPS also includes information on recommended faculty mentors and undergraduate policy information.
Graduate
All graduate students are assigned faculty advisors upon acceptance into a master's degree program, and faculty advisor name and contact information are noted on the formal acceptance letter. CSE Academic Advising will create a Candidate Plan of Study (CPS) during a student's first semester within CSE at UHCL; the CPS will include degree requirements as well as assigned foundation courses noted in the formal acceptance letter. Students meet with faculty advisors in order to determine what courses to take each semester and also discuss career and internship options for the degree.
Faculty Roles in Academic Advising
Each undergraduate CPS shows one or more faculty members who serve as faculty mentors. Faculty mentors are faculty within your chosen program that assist undergraduate students with detailed program and course content questions. They are your subject matter experts in your chosen field, and a very important part of your academic experience. They can help you with questions about the degree program, elective selection, career options, getting involved in research and offering general academic guidance. CSE Academic Advising recommends that students meet with faculty mentors regularly to talk about their plans, especially once they are late in their sophomore year.
Each graduate CPS shows the student's assigned faculty advisor. The faculty advisor is the primary guidance for the graduate student to select courses, manage their degree program, discuss internships or co-op procedure, and also are the ones to approve a student’s CPS (required only at the graduate level). The faculty advisor is assigned when a student is admitted, and faculty advisor contact information is listed on the student’s admission letter.