Student Services & Campus Life

Section I Home History Mission Statement Table of Contents Calendars

Section II Office of Admissions New Student Relations Office of the Registrar Academic Advising Financial Aid Testing Office

Section III Tuition and Fees Refund Policy

Section IV Student Services and Campus Life

Section V General Education Core Curriculum Certificates Associate Degrees Baccalaureate Degrees Graduate Degrees Preparatory Programs Student Responsibility and Discipline Academic Policies Undergraduate Satisfactory Academic Progress Scholastic Honors

Section VI College of Applied Technology and General Studies College of Liberal Arts College of Science Mathematics & Technology School of Business School of Education School of Health Sciences

Section VII Programs of Study Course Listings

Section VIII Governance Administration Deans

Section IX AIDS, HIV and Hepatitis B Infection Bacterial Meningitis Family Educational Rights and Privacy Hazing Policy Immunization Requirements Illicit Drug Use and Alcohol Abuse Program and Policy Sexual Harassment Policy Solicitation Policy Student Right-to-Know Act and Campus Security Act Student Criminal Background Checks Student Travel Policy

< Student Services and Campus Life

UTB/TSC Emergency Academic Continuity Plan

In compliance with the Emergency UTB/TSC Academic Continuity Program, academic courses, partially or entirely, will be made available on the MyUTBTSC Blackboard course management system. This allows faculty members and students to continue their teaching and learning via MyUTBTSC Blackboard http://myutbtsc.blackboard.com, in case the university shuts down as a result of a hurricane or any other natural disaster. The university will use MyUTBTSC Blackboard to post announcements notifying faculty members and students of their responsibilities as a hurricane approaches our region. If the university is forced to shut down, faculty will notify their students using MyUTBTSC Blackboard on how to proceed with their course(s). To receive credit for a course, it is the student’s responsibility to complete all the requirements for that course. Failure to access course materials once reasonably possible can result in a reduction of your overall grade in the class.

To facilitate the completion of classes, most or all of the communication between students and the institution, the instructor, and fellow classmates will take place using the features in MyUTBTSC Blackboard and the UTB e-mail system. Therefore, all students must use Scorpion Online to provide a current e-mail address. Students may update their e-mail address by following the link titled Validate your e-Mail account in the MyUTBTSC Blackboard Portal. In the event of a disaster that disrupts normal operations, all students and faculty must make every effort to access an internet-enabled computer as often as possible to continue the learning process.

UTB/TSC First in the World with MyUTBTSC Blackboard Outcomes System

The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College has begun the process of becoming one of the first institutions in Texas and the U.S. to implement the most comprehensive e-learning solution in higher education: Blackboard Outcomes Suite. Using the familiar MyUTBTSC Blackboard platform, UTB/TSC faculty and students will have access to an unprecedented series of online tools for instruction, collaboration, and evaluation of learning outcomes. The enhanced MyUTBTSC Blackboard tools will be available for all UTB/TSC courses offered in all delivery modes: ONSITE (classroom based), ONLINE (internet based) and HYBIRD (combination onsite and online).

During 2007, the Office of Distance Education and Instructional Technologies (DE/IT) coordinated the overall planning of this project with the participation of faculty, students, staff and administrators. Once the project is completed, the enhanced MyUTBTSC Blackboard will provide UTB/TSC faculty, students and staff with the following online tools:

• Blackboard Learning System enables instructors to create and manage course content, use publisher content, evaluate performance and communicate with students for all UTB/TSC course offerings (onsite, online and hybrid).

• MyUTBTSC Blackboard Portal connects current and prospective students, faculty and staff to online academic communities, delivers targeted content to diverse user groups and takes advantage of the institution’s robust Information Technology Services to enhance learning, student services, campus life and outreach.

• Server ASP Hosting by Blackboard provides 24x7 reliability, even in case of a natural disaster in our area. (see Emergency Academic Continuity Plan)

• Blackboard Outcomes System helps plan, measure and improve learning outcomes at all levels (course, program, departmental, school/college and institutional level). This new online system will enable the documentation of outcomes assessment and evaluations through the use of its surveys, rubrics and extensive data reports.

NEW “ My Virtual Hard Drive and e-Portfolios” via MyUTBTSC Blackboard

• Virtual Hard Drive provides online virtual hard drives for all students, faculty and staff to store their e-documents. Users can also share (password protected) specific e-documents, learning artifacts, presentations, course chapters, etc. with other specific users (students, faculty, staff ) for instruction, collaboration or evaluation purposes.

• E-Portfolios provides students, faculty and staff with Personal and Professional e-Portfolios, as well as multiple e-Portfolios to be used for each course (evaluation), for a complete degree program (resume), for a support service (i.e. advising, fi nancial aid, distance education support, help desk, etc. ) and many other possibilities.

• Learning Objects allows the creation of a learning object repository. These learning objects (a course document, a graphic, a presentation, a lesson, a course chapter, etc.) is easy to search and incorporate into courses, modules or presentations.

All Tools will be available via MyUTBTSC Blackboard

NEW - MyUTBTSC Virtual Info Shop Kiosk Project

The UTB/TSC Virtual Info Shop is a totally new concept in student outreach and support services. Using cutting edge information technology, the Info Shop goes beyond offering passive online information by introducing remote interactivity with UTB/TSC staff . Each Info Shop provides real-time, full-motion videoconferencing through a kiosk equipped with a video camera, two 20” LCD monitors, microphone, speakers, a computer, a keyboard, networked printer and specialized software. The Info Shops are placed in strategic locations to provide convenient access to current and prospective students, parents, and school counselors. The Info Shop hardware and software enables two-way video calls between the off - campus kiosk user and staff members from the Office of Distance Education, the Information Technology Services Help Desk, the Advising Center, the Financial Aid Office, the Admissions Office, the Registrars Office, and Enrollment Planning. The user and the staff member are able to see and hear each other via one of the two monitors, video camera, microphone and speakers. The second monitor enables UTB/TSC staff to provide live demonstrations, such as step-by-step instructions in filling out forms, navigating the institution’s intranet, or specialized training via a power point presentation. Additionally, each Info Shop has a networked printer that enables staff to send printed documents (forms, receipts, flyers, etc.) to the off -campus kiosk user. Each Info Shop is permanently connected to the My UTB/TSC Blackboard Portal, the university’s intranet access to all online student services. The combination of video and data interactivity make it possible for users to experience the comprehensive range of student services traditionally offered only face-to-face on campus.

(956) 882-8200 • Gorgas Hall • 80 Fort Brown
The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College

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