/Institutions/The-University-of-Texas-Permian-Basin/json/2023-2024/2023-2024-Undergraduate-Catalog-local.json

/Institutions/The-University-of-Texas-Permian-Basin/json/2023-2024/2023-2024-Undergraduate-Catalog.json

College of Arts and Sciences

One of UT Permian Basin's most academically diverse colleges, the College of Arts & Sciences contributes to the education of virtually every student at UT Permian Basin through its core curriculum. The College of Arts & Sciences offers more than 30 degree programs in arts, humanities, social sciences, biology, and chemistry. In addition to excellent teaching, the college produces quality research and creative work.

The Department websites can be found at https://www.utpb.edu/academics/colleges/arts-sciences/departments/cas-departments

Mission
The mission of the College of Arts and Sciences is to offer academic programs that teach students the following personal and marketable skills: to know the importance of a Liberal Art's Education in a diverse and complex world; to better understand the meaning of the student's life; to become more sensitive to the meaning of other people's lives; to increase the student's range and complexity of information and data that make sense to the student by developing critical thinking skills; to teach the student to write and speak well enough to convey the special quality of their mind to others; to teach the student to explore the boundaries of their intellect; to seek truth, knowledge and wisdom; and to develop a good work ethic as productive adults.

Undergraduate Major Disciplines
The College of Arts and Sciences offers the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in the following disciplines: Art, Communication, Criminology, English, History, Humanities, Leadership Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Spanish. The College offers the Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in the following disciplines: Athletic Training, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Geology, Information Systems, Kinesiology and Mathematics. The Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) is offered in applied arts and sciences disciplines. The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is offered in Art. the Bachelor of Music (BM) is offered in Music.

The College also provides a Pre-Professional Health Curriculum for students planning to enter medical, dental, optometry, pharmacy or veterinary schools. Students planning careers in these and other allied health fields are referred to the Biology section on pre-professional health programs in this catalog, and to faculty in Biology and Chemistry for advising. Students planning to attend law school are referred to the Pre-Law section of the catalog.

In addition to the University's minimum general education core requirements for the BA and BS degrees, students must complete the specific Major discipline's degree requirements. The specific additional requirements for these disciplines and various options may be found in the academic discipline sections of this catalog.

For the BA, BFA, and  BS, a minimum of 120 semester credit hours is required. The degrees in all majors require that at least 48 hours must be taken at the upper division (junior and senior) level except the BA in Communication and the BAAS, both of which require only 42 upper level hours. Depending on the major, at least 18-30 credit hours must be taken within the major at the upper level. Individual disciplines may set additional and more specific requirements for their respective degrees. This information can be found in the academic discipline sections of this catalog. Enrollment in upper level courses in the major is permitted only after the student has completed all lower-division (freshman and sophomore) prerequisites in the major.

Minor
Students majoring in a discipline within the College must complete a minor with the exception of those seeking the following: the double major, a second bachelor's degree, a concurrent second bachelor's degree, the BA in Humanities, the BA in Art (the all level teaching certification program only), and the BFA in Art.  A minor consists of a minimum of 18 credit hours, at least nine of which must be upper division. No courses may be counted simultaneously toward the major and minor. Each discipline specifies the requirements for the minor, and there are interdisciplinary minors in Leadership Studies, Bilingual/ESL, Energy Studies, Latin American Studies, Multicultural Studies, Special Populations and Women's Studies. Although a student may not major in non-degree programs such as Fine Arts students may minor in these fields. The specific requirements for these minors may be found in the academic discipline sections of this catalog.

Advising
All freshman and sophomore students in the College of Arts and Sciences will be advised by professional advisors in the Academic Advising Center. Juniors and seniors will be assigned a faculty advisor in their chosen major and will be advised by that advisor for their last two years at UT Permian Basin. All incoming transfer students in the College of Arts and Sciences will be initially advised by professional advisors in the Academic Advising Center. If the incoming transfer student is a freshman or sophomore, the student will be advised by the professional advisors until the student is a junior at which time a faculty advisor in the student's chosen major will be assigned. If the incoming transfer student is a junior or senior, after initial advising by a professional advisor in the Academic Advising Center, a faculty advisor will be assigned. All students should meet their advisor once during each semester. At that meeting the advisor will update the student's degree plan and discuss the courses the student should take during the subsequent semester. In this way, the student can complete his or her degree in a timely and efficient manner. A student who enters the University and decides to defer declaring a major will be advised by the Academic Advising Office. Once the student declares a major and is a junior or senior, the Academic Advising Office will assign a faculty advisor in that major field. Prospective high school and community college students are encouraged to contact the Academic Advising Office for assistance in planning high school and lower division transfer programs or to learn more information about specific major programs and career opportunities. Freshman or sophomore students in online programs will be advised online by professional advisors in the Academic Advising Center. The student must initiate advising by emailing advising@utpb.edu.

Teacher Certification and TExES Requirements
Students who seek teaching certification are subject to additional course requirements and procedures that are described in the College of Education section of this catalog. The Teacher Certification Officer in the College of Education should be consulted for the purpose of generating a separate teacher certification plan.

Graduate Programs
At the graduate level, Master's degrees are offered in eleven Arts & Science fields. The Master of Arts (MA) degree is offered in English, History, Mathematics, Psychology, and Spanish; the Master of Science (MS) is offered in Biology, Computer Science, Criminal Justice Administration, Geology and Human Performance; and the Master of Public Administration (MPA) is offered in Public Administration under Leadership Studies. The specific admissions and course requirements for the Master's Degrees are available in the UT Permian Basin Graduate Catalog.