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Academic Policies and Procedures

Honors

Honors Program

The Honors Program in business is available to outstanding students who have distinguished themselves by superior performance during high school or their first year(s) at the University and in other ways.

University Honors

The designation University Honors, awarded at the end of each long-session semester, gives official recognition and commendation to students whose grades for the semester indicate distinguished academic accomplishment. Both the quality and the quantity of work done are considered. Criteria for University Honors are given in chapter 1.

Graduation with University Honors

Students who, upon graduation, have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement are eligible to graduate with University Honors. Criteria for graduation with University Honors are given in chapter 1.

Beta Gamma Sigma

The Alpha of Texas chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma, the national scholastic honor society in the field of business and administration, was chartered in 1922. Membership, based on outstanding scholarship, is restricted to the top 7 percent of the junior class, top 10 percent of the senior class, and top 20 percent of graduate students. The objectives of Beta Gamma Sigma are "to encourage and reward scholarship and accomplishment among students of business and administration, to promote the advancement of education in the art and science of business, and to foster integrity in the conduct of business operations."

The Minor

While a minor is not required as part of the BBA degree program, the student may choose to complete a minor in either a second business field or a field outside the school. The minor consists of at least twelve semester hours in a single field, including at least nine hours of upper-division coursework.[1] Six of the required hours must be completed in residence. A course used to fulfill the requirements of a minor may not be taken on the pass/fail basis unless the course is offered only on that basis. Only one business core course or one course counted toward the Bachelor of Business Administration degree requirements may also be counted toward the minor.

The Red McCombs School of Business allows the student to minor in any field in which the University offers a major. However, prerequisites and other enrollment restrictions may prevent the student from minoring in some fields. Before planning to take specific courses to fulfill the minor requirement, the student should consult the department that offers those courses.

The Business Foundations Program

The Business Foundations Program (BFP) is designed to provide a foundation in business concepts and practice for students in other majors. Any nonbusiness student with a University grade point average of at least 2.00 may take any BFP courses for which he or she meets the prerequisite. No admission process is required.

Nonbusiness students who wish to build a business course concentration may request certification in the BFP. Students who complete the following certification requirements and submit a request to the BFP director receive a certificate and a letter verifying completion of the program.

Business Foundations Certification Requirements

The certification requirements are

1. The following prerequisite courses:
   1. Economics 304K or 304L or the equivalent.
   2. Mathematics 303D or 305G or the equivalent.
2. The following courses, completed in residence:
   1. Accounting 310F.
   2. Management Information Systems 311F.
   3. Finance 320F.
   4. Legal Environment of Business 320F.
   5. Management 320F.
   6. Marketing 320F.
3. The student must complete the eight courses listed in requirements 1 and 2 on the letter-grade basis. He or she must earn a grade of at least C in each of the four lower-division courses and a grade point average of at least 2.00 in the four upper-division courses.
4. The student must complete at least two long-session semesters in residence.

Graduation

Special Requirements of the Red McCombs School of Business

All students must fulfill the general requirements for graduation given in chapter 1. Business students must also fulfill the following requirements.

1. All University students must have a grade point average of at least 2.00 to graduate. Business students must also have a grade point average in business courses of at least 2.00. Students in the Honors Program must have a University grade point average and a grade point average in business courses of at least 3.00. Students in the Professional Program in Accounting must have a grade point average of at least 3.00 in all coursework taken as part of the minimum thirty-six-hour MPA program; they must also have a grade point average of at least 3.00 in graduate accounting coursework.
2. The University requires that at least six semester hours of advanced coursework in the major field of study be completed in residence. For additional requirements, see "Bachelor of Business Administration Degree Requirements."
3. If a student has been given permission by the dean to take correspondence work along with residence coursework during his or her last semester, the correspondence work (including examination and grading) must be completed at least fifteen days before the end of the semester or summer session. If the student has been given permission to take correspondence work to complete requirements during the last semester but is not also enrolled in residence coursework, the student must complete correspondence work by the deadline for registering in absentia.
4. A candidate for a degree must be registered in the Red McCombs School of Business either in residence or in absentia the semester or summer session the degree is to be awarded and must apply to the dean for the degree no later than the date specified in the official academic calendar.

The Degree Audit and Graduation Application

The student may request a degree audit in the Undergraduate Dean's Office when he or she enters a business major. The degree audit is prepared by comparing the degree requirements of the student's major with the student's University record, including transferred work. It shows the coursework required for the major, the courses completed that fulfill requirements, the hours of designated coursework that are still needed, grade point averages, and the residency requirements that have been fulfilled. In preparing the degree audit, every effort is made to avoid errors, but it is the student's responsibility to be aware of and to fulfill all graduation requirements.

A degree candidate must apply for the degree in the Undergraduate Dean's Office no later than the date given in the official academic calendar. No degree will be conferred unless the diploma application form has been properly filed.

Degrees

Degree requirements are listed in "Bachelor of Business Administration Degree Requirements" and in "Program Degree Requirements." For a complete list of requirements for a degree, the student should combine the requirements in these two sections with the University-wide graduation requirements in chapter 1 and the school graduation requirements in this chapter.

Applicability of Certain Courses

Physical Activity Courses

Physical activity (PED) courses are offered by the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education. They may not be counted toward the Bachelor of Business Administration degree. However, they are counted among courses for which the student is enrolled, and the grades are included in the grade point average.

ROTC Courses

No more than twelve semester hours of air force science, military science, or naval science coursework may be counted toward the Bachelor of Business Administration degree. ROTC courses may be used only as lower-division electives and may be counted toward the degree only by students who complete the third and fourth years of the ROTC program and accept a commission in the service.

Courses Taken on the Pass/Fail Basis

A business student may count toward the degree up to four one-semester courses in elective subjects outside the major taken on the pass/fail basis; only electives, nonbusiness electives, and upper-division nonbusiness electives may be taken on the pass/fail basis. The student may also take examinations for credit on the pass/fail basis; credit earned by examination is not counted toward the total of four courses that the student may take pass/fail. If a student chooses to major in a subject in which he or she has taken a course pass/fail, the major department decides whether the course may be counted toward the student's major requirements. Complete rules on registration on the pass/fail basis are given in General Information.

Correspondence and Extension Courses

Students planning to take correspondence or extension courses should consult with the Undergraduate Dean's Office before doing so to ensure compliance with the following restrictions.

1. Credit that a University student in residence earns simultaneously by correspondence or extension from the University or elsewhere will not be counted toward a business degree unless it is specifically approved in advance by the dean.
2. Correspondence instruction in the required business core courses may not be counted toward the degree unless specifically approved in advance by the dean.
3. No more than 30 percent of the semester hours required for any degree may be completed by correspondence, extension, or both.
4. With regard to registration on the pass/fail basis, correspondence and extension courses are subject to the same restrictions as courses taken in residence; these restrictions are given above.

Concurrent Enrollment

Although a student may earn credit in residence at another institution while enrolled in residence at the University, this credit will not be counted toward a degree unless it is approved in advance by the dean.

Bachelor of Business Administration Degree Requirements

1. At least 120 semester hours of credit are required for the Bachelor of Business Administration, with a grade point average of at least 2.00 on all work undertaken at the University for which a grade or symbol other than Q, W, X, or CR is recorded. In addition, a grade point average of at least 2.00 in business courses is required.

   The official grade in a course is the last one made; however, if a student repeats a course and has two or more grades, all grades and all semester hours are used to calculate the University grade point average and to determine the student's scholastic eligibility to remain in the University and his or her academic standing in the Red McCombs School of Business.

   A student may not repeat for credit or grade points any course in which he or she has earned a grade of C or higher (or of CR in a course taken on the pass/fail basis).

2. A candidate for the Bachelor of Business Administration degree must be enrolled in the Red McCombs School of Business in the semester or summer session in which the degree is awarded, unless the student is simultaneously receiving a degree from another college or school of the University.

3. Each student is expected to follow the course sequence prescribed for the student's degree plan, and to meet the curriculum requirements described in items 4 and 5 below in the year specified.

4. Required work of thirty-four semester hours should be taken in the first year:
   1. Rhetoric and Composition 306.
   2. Economics 304K and 304L.
   3. Mathematics 403K and 403L, or Mathematics 408C and 408D.
   4. Six hours in natural science, to be taken in one of the following fields: astronomy, biology, chemistry, geological sciences, physics.
   5. Three hours of anthropology, psychology or sociology chosen from approved courses; courses dealing primarily with statistics or data processing may not be used to fulfill this requirement.
   6. Six hours in fine arts or humanities, to be chosen from the following areas: archaeology, architecture, art (including art history, design, studio art, visual art studies), classics (including classical civilization, Greek, Latin), fine arts, humanities, music (including music, instruments, ensemble), philosophy (excluding courses in logic), theater and dance.
   7. Business Administration 101 and 102.

5. Required work of thirty semester hours should be taken in the second year:[2]
   1. Accounting 311 and 312.
   2. English 316K.
   3. Management Information Systems 310.
   4. Statistics 309.
   5. Six hours of American government, including Texas government.
   6. Six hours of American history.
   7. Three hours in applied communications, chosen from approved courses that are concerned with oral communication skills and that require the student's active participation in the development and application of these skills.

6. Twenty-one semester hours beyond the first two years are specified as follows:[2]
   1. Legal Environment of Business 323.
   2. Finance 354.
   3. Marketing 337.
   4. Finance 357.
   5. Management 335 or 336.
   6. Management Information Systems 324.
   7. A professional, business-related internship or practicum course chosen from the following: Accounting 366P, Business Administration 353C, 353F, 353H, 353K, 353M, 353S, Finance 366P, Management 366P, Management Information Systems 366P, Marketing 366P. Only one internship course may be counted toward the degree.

7. The following requirements apply in addition to those listed in items 4, 5, and 6 above:
   1. Additional coursework to provide a total of at least sixty semester hours outside the Red McCombs School of Business. At least six of these hours must be at the upper-division level. Students should consult the requirements of their major department for additional information about coursework to be taken outside the school.
   2. Completion of the requirements of one of the majors listed in the section "Program Degree Requirements" below. In no event is a degree of Bachelor of Business Administration awarded to a student with fewer than forty-eight semester hours in business, at least twenty-four of which have been completed in residence on the letter-grade basis at the University. At least twelve semester hours of upper-division coursework in the major must be completed in residence at the University on the letter-grade basis.[3] For additional residence requirements, see the general requirements for graduation in chapter 1.

8. Proficiency in a foreign language equivalent to that shown by the completion of the first two semesters taught at the University. This requirement may be fulfilled either by completion of the two high school units in a single foreign language that are required for admission to the University as a freshman or by the demonstration of proficiency at the second-semester level. Credit earned at the college level to achieve the proficiency may not be counted toward the degree. It may be earned on the pass/fail basis.

9. Any two courses certified as having a substantial writing component; one of these courses must be upper-division. Courses with a substantial writing component are identified in the Course Schedule. They must be taken on the letter-grade basis to fulfill this requirement. They may be used simultaneously to fulfill other requirements.

Program Degree Requirements

Accounting

Two programs are available to students who wish to study accounting at the University. The first is the four-year major in accounting leading to the Bachelor of Business Administration degree. The second is the five-year Professional Program in Accounting, which leads to the simultaneous award of the BBA and the Master in Professional Accounting degrees. The objective of the BBA accounting curriculum is to provide students with a broad overall education, solid grounding in the common body of knowledge of business administration, and exposure to accounting in sufficient depth to help them achieve entry-level competence for pursuit of a career in industry. The Professional Program in Accounting is designed for students who wish to concentrate in accounting and obtain education in an accounting specialization.

Bachelor of Business Administration

The requirements of this program are

1. The Bachelor of Business Administration degree requirements.
2. Twenty-one semester hours of accounting: Accounting 311, 312, 326, 327, 329, 362, and 364.
3. Economics 320K.
4. Management 335 and 336.
5. Additional elective coursework if necessary to provide a total of at least 120 semester hours.

Professional Program in Accounting

The Professional Program in Accounting (PPA) is a three-year curriculum of undergraduate and graduate coursework. The professional curriculum, which usually begins in the student's junior year, includes specially designed accounting courses taught in relatively small classes by full-time faculty members.

The accounting faculty has designed three concentrations within the PPA: auditing/financial reporting, managerial accounting/control, and taxation. Each concentration is a sequence of courses that offers strong preparation for a particular career path. In addition, the student may choose a generalist curriculum.

Because PPA students are expected to become leaders in the accounting profession, highly motivated students with the personal qualities and intellectual capacity to establish successful careers in public accounting, industry, not-for-profit organizations, and higher education are encouraged to apply.

Admission

Students are admitted to the PPA according to the following requirements. Admission is granted only for the fall semester; June 1 is the application deadline for those who wish to begin the program the following fall. Students interested in the PPA must have met the foreign language requirement for the BBA degree; must have completed at least sixty semester hours of coursework, including Accounting 311 and 312, Business Administration 101, Economics 304K and 304L, and Mathematics 403K and 403L; and must have completed or be registered for Business Administration 102.

Admission is based on the applicant's University grade point average and SAT I or American College Testing Program score, as well as other relevant examples of academic ability and leadership. An applicant with a University grade point average of less than 3.00 is unlikely to be admitted to the PPA. Admission may be restricted by the availability of instructional resources.

Before beginning the fifth year, PPA students must be admitted to the Master in Professional Accounting (MPA) program. Application forms must be submitted by February 1 of the student's fourth year. Students must earn an acceptable score on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and have their test scores sent to the University's Office of Admissions. Students usually take the GMAT in the fall or winter of their fourth year.

Continuance

Students in the PPA are expected to maintain a University grade point average of at least 3.00. A student whose grade point average falls below 3.00 is placed on probation for one semester. If the student's grade point average is still below 3.00 at the end of the probationary semester, the student may be dropped from the program. A student with extremely poor academic performance may be dismissed from the program without a semester on probation. A PPA student who does not make satisfactory progress is usually encouraged to complete work toward the bachelor's degree under the major program in accounting.

Graduation

To receive an MPA degree, a PPA student must have a grade point average of at least 3.00 in all coursework taken as part of the minimum thirty-six-hour MPA degree. He or she must also have a grade point average in graduate accounting coursework of at least 3.00.

Degree Requirements

The requirements of this program are

1. Undergraduate coursework

   1. The Bachelor of Business Administration degree requirements. Because the PPA program includes a graduate-level internship course, PPA students do not take the undergraduate internship course described in requirement 6g of the BBA degree requirements.
   2. Economics 320K.
   3. Management 335 and 336.
   4. The following courses: Accounting 151, 152, 455, 456, and 459.
   5. For students in the auditing/financial reporting, managerial accounting/control, or generalist concentration, Statistics 376 and either Finance 367 or 377L; for students in the taxation concentration, six semester hours of coursework in legal environment of business approved by the PPA adviser.

2. Graduate coursework

   1. The following courses: Accounting 380K (Topic 1: Financial Accounting Standards and Analysis I), 380K (Topic 4: Introduction to Assurance Services), and 382K (Topic 1: Principles of Systems Analysis).
   2. Twenty-seven additional semester hours of graduate coursework, including at least twelve hours in accounting and no more than six hours outside business. Coursework in the student's concentration must be approved in advance by the PPA adviser.

   More information about the graduate work included in the PPA is given in The Graduate Catalog.

Contents |  Next file |  Previous file

Undergraduate catalog

Contents
Chapter 1 - The University
Chapter 2 - School of Architecture
Chapter 3 - Red McCombs School of Business
Chapter 4 - College of Communication
Chapter 5 - College of Education
Chapter 6 - College of Engineering
Chapter 7 - College of Fine Arts
Chapter 8 - College of Liberal Arts
Chapter 9 - College of Natural Sciences
Chapter 10 - School of Nursing
Chapter 11 - College of Pharmacy
Chapter 12 - School of Social Work
Chapter 13 - The Faculty
Texas Common Course Numbering System (Appendix A)
Appendix B

Related information

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