Welcome to Curriculum & Enrollment and Undergraduate Studies at The University of Texas at Austin! This portfolio houses four large operational areas focused on student success: Enrollment Management, Academic Curricular and Career Innovation, Student Engagement, and Business Services. Collectively, we work to attract bright and talented students and to provide a variety of support, services, and resources for them to be successful during their time at the university.

As part of Research Week 2022, the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) hosted the Longhorn Research Poster Session in the Texas Union Ballroom on April 20. Students presented more than 180 research posters on interdisciplinary topics ranging from art education to electrophysiology to history. This year’s event marked a return to an in-person poster session, where students presented large-format posters of their research to attendees. The top presenters were selected for $2,000, $1,000, and $500 awards.

On March 8, the Office of Undergraduate Research announced the winners of the seventh annual Texas Student Research Showdown at an award ceremony.

Students participating in this research communication competition created two-minute videos to explain their research and creative activity to a general audience. A panel of faculty and staff judges scored the videos on their ability to capture an audience’s attention, tell a narrative, convey rigorous scholarship, and target a general audience. Current undergraduates also voted for an audience award winner.

Patty Micks, assistant dean of the School of Undergraduate Studies, is a recipient of this year’s Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate Award. The award, given out by the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition at the University of South Carolina and Cengage, honors college faculty, administrators, staff, and students for their outstanding work on behalf of first-year students and for the impact their efforts have on the students and culture of their institutions.

Last summer, with the help of the School of Undergraduate Studies (UGS) Summer Exploration Grant, Eva Kahn studied abroad in Rome. Eva, now a humanities major, shares her experience taking classes and traveling.

Dr. Jeff Mayo, assistant director of the First-Year Experience, has won the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students’ Transfer Champion Rising Star Award.

Terrian Spurs, a senior communication and leadership student, started at UT Austin in the School of Undergraduate Studies. Before graduating next spring, she reflects on her time as a first-gen Longhorn.

Former Undergraduate Studies student Aleigha Jalomo is currently pursuing an advertising degree. Before she graduates next spring, Aleigha shares her experience as a first-gen student on the Forty Acres.

Ryan Hightower, a former Undergraduate Studies student, is a sophomore studying economics and human dimensions of organization (HDO). She is a first-generation Longhorn with plenty of advice to share about finding your way on the Forty Acres.

Mental health can be a difficult subject to talk about. The pandemic brought conversations about the importance of mental health and seeking help into the mainstream, but a public spotlight on the subject doesn’t necessarily make it easier to discuss. Signature Course professor Aaron Rochlen’s class “Movies and Mental Health” uses movies as the starting point for those conversations.