Policies, Guidelines & Resources

Liberal Arts Career Services' goal is to help students go "Beyond the Tower" as they intern, begin careers or take whatever their next step may be. To do this we partner with employers offering opportunities across all sectors and industries, and in turn we are committed to connecting employers with talented applicants offering a great variety of skills.

To make this an equally beneficial program for all - students, employers and LACS - we require employers to follow our recruiting policies and guidelines outlined below.

Job & Internship Posting Standards
Internship Guidelines
Equal Opportunity Policy
NACE General Recruiting Guidelines
Third Party Recruiter Policy
Campus-wide Recruiting Policy
Student Organization Recruiting Policy

Questions? Please contact Robert Vega, LACS Assistant Director, r.vega@austin.utexas.edu, 512-471-7900.

Job & Internship Posting Standards

Organizations wishing to recruit students and alumni of The University of Texas Austin using BTT Gateway or AccessUT can do so free of charge. All job/internship submissions are reviewed and approved/rejected based upon the information contained in the postings.

Postings must adhere to the following criteria:

• All jobs and internships posted must be career-related/professionally-oriented and require candidates pursuing or already possessing a university degree.
• Third-party recruiters (e.g., employment agencies) may post specific positions as long as the hiring client's info is fully disclosed; third-party recruiters may not post general advertisement(s) to solicit candidates for their services.
• Internship postings must meet the definition and criteria established for internships by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). For more information, please see the internship guidelines.
• In accordance with UT System Regent’s Rules & Regulations, job and internship postings with the following requirements are ineligible (see campus-wide policy below for details):
  • Positions requiring or asking employees to market products/services on the UT Austin campus. Examples include campus brand ambassador and similar positions.
  • Fee-based programs. Examples include fee-based training programs, fee-based placements or positions requiring the purchase of supplies or a training kit.
  • Postings advertising events, services or programs (e.g., career fairs, test prep, etc.).

Internship Guidelines

Liberal Arts Career Services welcomes career-related and professionally-oriented internships from any industry or sector. When evaluating internships posted in our BTT Gateway system for approval, we consider the points below. For details on these points, please visit our Recruiting Interns page.

• Internship Responsibilities
• Location
• Compensation (Paid/Unpaid)
• Resources
• Supervision
• Credit Eligibility

Equal Employment Opportunity Policy

Employment recruiters who wish to make use of the assistance, services and/or facilities offered by Liberal Arts Career Services at The University of Texas at Austin must comply with UT's Equal Employment Opportunity Policy and the additional Recruiting Policies and Guidelines outlined below.

NACE General Recruiting Guidelines

Principles for Professional Conduct
As part of the University's commitment to leadership in the area of ethics and professional conduct, we require employers utilizing Liberal Arts Career Services to adhere to employment laws and principles of professional practice, as outlined by the federal government and The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Principles for Professional Practice, respectively.

NACE's Principles for Professional Conduct

Reasonable Offer Deadlines

Liberal Arts Career Services prohibits exploding offers in conjunction with on-campus recruiting in the College of Liberal Arts. Offers must remain open for a minimum of three weeks in order to provide the student with the time needed to consider the offer.

NACE's Reasonable Offer Deadlines Guidelines

Rescinding Offers
Liberal Arts Career Services strongly discourages rescinding internship or full-time job offers. If an employer must rescind an offer under exceptional circumstances, the employer should contact us so that we may facilitate the resulting conversation with the student.

Likewise, students are strongly discouraged from reneging on an offer once accepted in writing. If a student reneges on an offer, please contact us so that we may contact the candidate. Reneging on offers is a violation of the terms of the LACS student agreement.

NACE's Position Statement on Rescinded and Deferred Employment

Hold Harmless Agreements
The University of Texas at Austin will not enter into a hold harmless agreement or indemnity agreement with an employer hosting a UT student intern. In addition, LACS advises students not to sign hold harmless or indemnity agreements with internship host organizations.

NACE's Hold Harmless Recommendations and Hold Harmless Case Study

Additional NACE Resources






Position Statement on Unpaid Internships
Common Questions About Internships (Employers)
Legal Q&A: What are some of the Legal Issues Surrounding Internships?
Legal Q&A: Interviewing and Hiring International Students
Legal Issues Surrounding Diversity Recruiting
NACE Knowledge Center
NACE Frequently Requested Links

Third Party Recruiters

Career services and employment professionals are involved in a partnership effort, with a common goal of achieving the best match between the individual student and the employing organization. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), as the national professional association for career services and recruitment, is also concerned with this process. The concern led NACE to the development and adoption of the Principles for Professional Practice for Third Party Recruiters. With regard to Third Party Recruiting, Liberal Arts Career Services follows the guidelines: Third-party recruiters will disclose to students the name(s) of the client, or clients, that the third-party recruiter is representing and to whom the students' credentials will be disclosed. When deemed necessary, third-party recruiters will disclose information upon request to career services that would enable career services to verify that it is recruiting for a bona fide job opportunity. Information should include contact information for the organization for which the third party is providing recruiting services. Career services must respect the confidentiality of this information and may not publish it in any manner.

NACE's Principles for Professional Conduct - Third Party Recruiters

Campus-Wide Recruiting Policies

The University prohibits employers and organizations from posting - and career centers from promoting - any fee-based opportunities. Examples include internship programs with fees or tuition and jobs that require students to purchase supplies or pay for training/certification.

The University prohibits recruiting in any public space on campus or in any room not specifically designated for recruiting activities. Examples of space properly designated for recruiting include the career center, rooms reserved for information sessions and career fair space.

The following activities, which are considered on-campus soliciting, are prohibited outside of recruiting designated spaces:

• Tabling in any UT public space, including the West Mall and the Texas Union.
• Posting flyers or other marketing materials on any kiosk, bulletin board or public space on the UT campus.
• Recruiting at student organization meetings - read more in the section below.
• Recruiting in classrooms.
• Distributing recruiting email blasts to students in the UT Austin directory.
• Collecting student information, including resumes, on campus.
• Working with student groups, representatives, interns or ambassadors to recruit for your company/organization or to promote your opportunities, products or services to UT Austin students on campus.

Ambassadors/Student Representatives: UT students representing your company on campus share the same prohibitions and permissions as employer representatives.

In addition to UT Austin's solicitation policy, employers are also prohibited from posting positions which require students/employees to participate in commercial activity on campus, including taking photographs which may infringe on trademarks. If you have questions about UT's trademark policies, please contact Craig Westemeier, Director of Trademark and Licensing at craig.westemeier@athletics.utexas.edu.

For more help with campus-wide policies, please contact our recruiting team at 512-471-7900 or recruit@austin.utexas.edu.

Student Organization Recruiting Policy

The University prohibits recruiting at student organization on-campus meetings and events. Employers are prohibited from actively recruiting students; collecting resumes or other student information; sharing your information for the purpose of recruiting; tabling; or posting marketing material at these events on-campus.

However, student organizations may invite employer representatives to meetings so that the employer representative can share his/her story with the students; this should not involve recruiting. For example, an alumnus can visit a student organization meeting to share his story as a graduate of UT now working for X company. The alumnus can inform students that his company's job posting is available at the campus career center, but he cannot promote the job opportunity in any way.

For more help with student organization policies, please contact our recruiting team at 512-471-7900 or recruit@austin.utexas.edu.