The College of Arts and Sciences

• Department of Behavioral Science
• Department of Humanities & Fine Arts
• Department of Science & Mathematics
• Undergraduate Major Disciplines
• Minor
• Advising
• Teacher Certification Information
• Graduate Programs

The College of Arts and Sciences was formed in 1994 by combining the departments of Behavioral Sciences, Humanities and Fine Arts and Science and Mathematics. All three of the College’s academic departments have roots which can be traced to the beginning of the institution. From these roots the College has grown to over 103 full- and part-time faculty with 21 programs offering the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, or the Bachelor Applied Arts and Sciences, Bachelor of Social Work, or the Bachelor of Science degress and nine programs offering the Master of Arts, Master of Science, or Master of Public Administration degrees.

The primary mission of the College is to interweave the arts and sciences with professional education that provides the student with the freedom to realize one’s potential as an independent person with critical thinking, openness, adaptability, tolerance, integrity and a capacity for life-long learning. Central to this task is a general education curriculum that requires study in a broad array of disciplines designed to provide breadth and diversity of knowledge and skills. In addition, the College addresses the needs of those students who desire intensive study in a major discipline in the arts and sciences. To make the most of a liberal arts education, these students move beyond the breadth of general education to mastering a major discipline in considerable depth.

The faculty of the College shares a commitment to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge through excellence in teaching, scholarship and creative activities. The College is proud of its seven master’s level research and applied programs that are designed to afford students the opportunity for advanced academic and health related work, careers in teaching, laboratory and naturalistic research, creative and professional endeavors and other areas of scholarly or public service. See The University of Texas of the Permian Basin’s Graduate Studies Catalog for more details.

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Applied Arts and Sciences: BAAS, jointly administered by all three departments

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Undergraduate Major Disciplines

The College of Arts and Sciences offers the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in the following disciplines: Art, Child and Family Studies, Communication, Criminology, English, History, Humanities, Leadership Studies, Multidisciplinary Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Spanish. The College offers the Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in the following disciplines: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Criminal Justice Administration, Earth Science, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Information Systems, Kinesiology and Mathematics. The Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) is offered in Applied Arts and Sciences. The Bachelor of Fine Arts is offered in Art. The Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) is offered in Social Work.

Also included in Biology and Chemistry is the Pre-professional Health Curriculum for students planning to enter medical, dental, optometry, pharmacy or veterinary schools. Students planning careers in these and other allied health fields are referred to the sections on pre-professional health programs on page 253 in this catalog, and to faculty in Biology and Chemistry for advising. In addition to the University’s minimum general education core requirements for the BA and BS degrees, students must complete the specific major discipline’s degree requirements. The specific additional requirements for these disciplines and various options may be found in the academic discipline sections of this catalog. See also the sections on Occupational Therapy, (page 244) Physical Therapy (page 245) and Physician Assistant Studies (page 246) in this catalog.

For the BA, BAAS, BFA, and BS degrees, a minimum of 120 semester credit hours is required. The BSW degree requires a minimum of 125 semester credit hours. The degrees in all majors require that at least 54 hours must be taken at the upper division (junior and senior) level except the BA in Communication and the BAAS, both of which require only 42 upper level hours. Depending on the major, at least 18-30 credit hours must be taken within the major at the upper level. Individual disciplines may set additional and more specific requirements for their respective degrees. This information can be found in the academic discipline sections of this catalog. Enrollment in upper level courses in the major is permitted only after the student has completed all lower-division (freshman and sophomore) prerequisites in the major.

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Minor

Students majoring in a discipline within the College must complete a minor with the exception of those seeking: the double major, a second bachelor’s degree, or a concurrent second bachelor’s degree; the BA in Humanities; BA in Multidisciplinary Studies; BS in Environmental Science; the BA in Art (the all level teaching certification program only), the BFA in Art, and BSW of Social Work. A minor consists of a minimum of 18 credit hours, at least nine of which must be upper division. Each discipline specifies the requirements for the minor and there are interdisciplinary minors in Leadership Studies, Bilingual/ESL, Multicultural Studies, Special Populations and Women’s Studies. In addition, although a student may not major in non-degree programs such as Fine Arts, Geography and Drama, students may minor in these fields. The specific requirements for these minors may be found in the academic discipline sections of this catalog.

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Advising

When a student selects a major upon admission to the College of Arts and Sciences, a faculty advisor in the major field is assigned to the student by the Arts and Sciences Academic Advising Office. The student receives this information in a letter and it is then the student’s responsibility to contact the major advisor to schedule a meeting. At that meeting, the major advisor will complete a degree plan. This degree plan will detail the courses a student will need to complete in order to earn a degree. The plan includes a list of the General Education required courses and the courses required by the major. The major advisor will also discuss the student’s minor and will list the courses required for the minor on the degree plan.

Students should meet their faculty advisors once during each semester. At that meeting the advisor will update the student’s degree plan and discuss the courses the student should take during the subsequent semester. In this way, the student can complete his or her degree in a timely and efficient manner.

A student who enters the University and decides to defer declaring a major will be advised by the Arts and Sciences Academic Advising Office. Once the student declares a major, the Arts and Sciences Academic Advising Office will assign an advisor in that major field.

Prospective high school and community college students are encouraged to contact the Arts and Sciences Academic Advising Office for assistance in planning high school and lower division transfer programs or to learn more information about specific major programs and career opportunities.

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Teacher Certification Information

Students who seek teaching certification are subject to additional course requirements and procedures that are described in the School of Education section of this catalog. The Teacher Certification Officer in the School of Education should be consulted for the purpose of generating a separate teacher certification plan.

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Graduate Programs

At the graduate level, master’s degrees are offered in 9 Arts & Science fields. The Master of Arts (MA) degree is offered in English, History, Psychology and Spanish; and the Master of Science (MS) is offered in Biology, Criminal Justice Administration, Geology and Kinesiology; and the Master of Public Administration (MPA) is offered in Public Administration under Leadership Studies. The specific admissions and course requirements for these Master’s Degrees may be found in The University of Texas of the Permian Basin’s Graduate Studies Catalog.

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