The spring 2014 semester’s deadline day is March 31, and the College of Liberal Arts advising team wants to make sure the process goes as smoothly and efficiently as possible for everyone involved.
Deadline day is the last day in the semester where students can q-drop a course, pass/fail a course, withdraw from the semester, apply for graduation online or apply to graduate In Absentia.
Students wishing to do any of the above can meet with a peer adviser in the Liberal Arts Student Division office (GEB 2.200). Peer advisers are the administrative front line to academic advisers. They are student workers who are trained to help UT students with the academic paperwork process and to connect students to resources around campus.
Quick tips for students looking to drop classes or withdraw before the deadline:
- Arrive earlier in the day. Lines are much shorter before 11 a.m.
- Unlike previous semesters, students do not have to obtain their professor’s signatures when q-dropping this spring.
- International students, students enrolled in two colleges and students on scholastic probation are all required to obtain additional signatures in order to drop a course. These signatures are due back within three business days.
- Seniors graduating this semester need to be prepared to meet with a student division adviser before they can have any drops or pass/fails, as any change to their course load could effect their graduation date.
- If the March 31 deadline is missed, students are able to drop the course or withdraw only if they still haven’t used their One Time Exception. Once an OTE is used, students cannot q-drop or withdraw past the deadline again.
- Students are only allowed six q-drops in their academic career, so use them carefully.
Finding an open window in a busy schedule to see a peer adviser is highly recommended, as it’s not uncommon for the line to stretch out the door, down the hall and onto the steps of Gebauer. In past semesters, the wait time has reached up to 45 minutes. However, the student division is doing everything they can to try to combat some of that congestion.
“To reduce wait time this semester, we are calling on our adviser team to help process student forms,” says Hali Hoyt, an administrative associate for COLA. “We could have up to 15 academic and peer advisers processing forms at once, hopefully getting students in and out in record time. Our overall goal is to be as accurate and efficient as possible when helping students.”
Every deadline day, peer advisers are faced with out-of-the-ordinary situations that require resourcefulness and multi-departmental communication. It’s the day that the knowledge and training the peers have received throughout their time in the student division is tested. Many of them look forward to the rush and adrenaline that comes with deadline day, along with the teamwork it takes to make the day a success.
“Some of my favorite deadline day memories have to do with the unity of our advising team,” says César Trevino, an African and African diaspora studies major who has been a peer adviser for more than a year. “Our individual strengths and resourcefulness lead to the efficacy and success of deadline day. Together, we can ensure that we are providing the best service to students.”
Psychology senior Nguyenchau Dinh is also an experienced peer adviser. Her advice to students stressed out about the deadline?
“Breathe. Don’t freak out. Everything will be okay.”
Photo credit: Jonathan Bliss / Flickr