The Office of Academic Affairs serves, supports and collaborates with UT institutions in helping more students complete their degrees in a timely manner and accomplish their educational and career goals so they can lead engaged, productive and healthy lives.
The Lumina- and Trellis-funded Exemplary Student Pathways Project is a signature example of this work.
UT System undergraduates bring to our institutions a rich tapestry of assets and experiences: they come from a variety of backgrounds; many are first generation; many have prior work experience; and many are bilingual in Spanish. They come from all over Texas and beyond and many are working while enrolled in college.
In collaboration with campuses, we seek to become more data-informed, student-ready, intentional, and holistic in our approach to student success, with a focus on ensuring access, participation and excellence for all students in high-quality programs and experiences, in the classroom and beyond.
Pillar Commitments
The UT System organizes its undergraduate student success work around three aspirational pillars:
- FINANCES. The UT System is committed to making sure that no student drops out of college because of financial hardship.
- ADVISING. All UT students will receive the advising they need to help them discover clear pathways to degree completion and beyond.
- BELONGING. All UT students should feel like they belong in college. No student should fail to graduate because of a lack of engagement or a sense of not belonging
How are UT institutions meeting these commitments?
- Finances
- UT institutions are committed to funding all tuition and fees for students whose families earn a gross income under a certain threshold.
- Many UT institutions keep residence halls open during holidays to assist students in need.
- All academic universities are working to ensure that students' basic needs are met, through on-campus food, clothing and household items pantries.
- Many UT institutions have identified or are in the process of identifying emergency aid programs and assembling other resources to address housing insecurity.
- Some UT institutions are working with the Office of Institutional Research and Analysis to develop predictive analytic tools to distribute financial aid dollars more effectively to students in need.
- Advising
- All academic universities have peer tutoring and/or peer mentoring programs—effective for the students in need of extra academic support, high-impact programs for the student peer tutors and mentor.
- With funding from UT System, every academic university has a graduation help desk in place—one-stop shops (virtual and/or brick-and-mortar) for students who encounter barriers in the path to timely graduation and have nowhere else to turn.
- Belonging
- All academic institutions offer a variety of innovative and award-winning curricular programs for first-year students, including cohort-based learning communities, and freshmen signature courses and seminars.
- UT institutions provide many co-curricular programs for students, including those addressing the needs of first-generation and low-income students, veterans, and transfer students.
- High-impact practices—HIPS—abound across the UT System, providing students opportunities to belong and engage more deeply in their learning through internships, service learning, undergraduate research, domestic and international study abroad, and others.
How is the UT System supporting institutions in meeting these commitments?
- Advising in the UT System – To advance the Advising pillar of the UT System’s student success framework, the UT System works hard to recognize and support advisors and advising. MORE
- Transfer in the UT System – UT institutions are dedicated to facilitating the successful transfer of students into and out of the System’s universities, helping students complete degrees in an affordable and timely manner, and removing barriers that stand in their way. MORE
- Student Success Guiding Coalition – A system-convened collective of student success leaders and advocates working to generate, maintain and accelerate momentum in student success efforts and initiatives.MORE
- Predictive Analytics – Mining historical and current student and institutional data, the UT System Office of Institutional Research Analysis works with UT institutions to develop a variety of predictive analytic tools, designed to help greater numbers of students to enroll, persist, and complete their educations, and with a focus on increasing financial well-being and academic and social belonging.
UT Institution Initiatives
Please consult campus websites for additional information on institution-specific initiatives focused on undergraduate student success.
