General

Office of the Dean of Students

The Student Services Building (SSB) houses the Office of the Dean of Students, which offers many services for students.  It is located on 100-F West Dean Keeton.  Below are just some of the services offered.  For more complete information, please visit the DoS website.  Note:  your Dean is the Dean of Graduate Studies – not the Dean of Students, but the services provided by the Dean of Students office are for all UT students.  The most commonly-used services are listed below.

• Counseling and Mental Health Center
• Financial Services
• Judicial Services
• Health Services
• Legal Services for Students
• Multicultural Information Center
• Student Ombuds Services
• Services for Students with Disabilities
• Student Activities and Leadership Development
• Student Government

Research & Writing

Research with Faculty

Students should always feel free to meet with faculty during their office hours to discuss the research interests of either the student or the faculty member.  Regardless of how busy they might appear, faculty always welcome student collaboration.  It is a mutually beneficial process because faculty want and need to conduct and publish research, and students need to be mentored in the research process.  Students who join with faculty in research projects consistently report benefits, particularly in completing their qualifying document and doctoral dissertation.

Guidelines for Authorship 

Guidelines for authorship of publications that may result from research collaboration are provided by the American Psychological Association’s, Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.  These guidelines are also elaborated in the APA Publication Manual.  

Specifically these rules state:

• Psychologists take authorship credit only for work they have actually performed or to which they have contributed.
• Principal authorship and other publication credits accurately reflect the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their relative status.  Minor contributions to the writing for publications are appropriately acknowledged, such as in footnotes or in an introductory statement. 
• Authorship encompasses not only those who do the actual writing but also those who have made substantial scientific contributions to a study, such as formulating hypotheses, structuring the experimental design, conducting the statistical analysis, interpreting results, or writing a major portion of the paper.
• A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored article that is substantially based on the student’s dissertation or thesis.
• If the student’s dissertation or thesis is based on data collected as part of a larger research project under the supervision of one or more faculty members, it is appropriate to include them as co-authors following the principal authorship of the student.
• Substantive revisions of planned publications may result in re-ordered authorship as appropriately reflects the changed responsibilities.

APA provides information on publication practices and responsible authorship.

Department of Statistics and Data Services

The Department of Statistics and Data Services provides a limited amount of free consulting on research design and data analysis issues through in-person and telephone appointments, e-mail consulting, documentation, training, and statistical and mathematical software support.  The consultants are not available to assist students with homework questions, but can provide assistance with qualifying document and dissertation projects.

Libraries

UT offers many different libraries throughout campus for the use of graduate students.  The Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL) offers most of the services that Educational Psychology graduate students use.  The library website also offers services that can be accessed by students on campus or off with the use of a UT EID.  A sampling of these resources includes Psych Info online, ERIC online, and Info-Track.  The library system provides research support to assist students in becoming more knowledgeable about library resources and the vast array of online research tools available to assist in their research.

Graduate Student Writing Service

The Sanger Learning Center offers a number of services for graduate students.  This service provides individualized, free writing assistance.  The staff of highly trained graduate-student consultants is qualified to offer help with writing in all disciplines and at all levels.  Students may bring in any writing project, ranging from a fellowship application or CV to an article for publication, a master’s thesis, or even a dissertation.

The Writing Service mission is to help graduate students become independent, confident writers.  Consultants do not proofread or edit papers, nor do they predict grades or guarantee better grades. Rather, they provide expert advice to help writers improve their skills and make the most of their work.

Career

Graduate Student Instructor Program

Graduate student instructors (TAs and AIs) contribute greatly to the level of teaching excellence at UT Austin.  Because GSIs work so closely with undergraduates, your effectiveness as a teacher is vital to their academic success.  As you become a more accomplished teacher, you will enrich your interactions with students and build valuable skills for your future professional life. 

The Center for Teaching and Learning's Graduate Student Instructor Program provides opportunities to advance your pedagogical, professional, and personal development. The program emphasizes collaboration with departments and graduate student support organizations. The program monitors its flexibility, relevance, and effectiveness through ongoing evaluation and feedback from members of The University community.  The program also provides assistance to graduate students in terms of writing their teaching philosophies, syllabi, course goals, assessments, and teaching portfolios.

Versatile PhD

The Versatile Ph.D. is a tool that helps graduate students interested in non-academic careers explore the extensive range of available options.

It contains free content available to anyone, and the University of Texas at Austin’s institutional subscription makes available premium content to all current students, faculty and staff with valid UT EIDs.

Parking & Transportation

Parking

Faculty, staff, and students may buy a parking permit from the Parking & Transportation Services Office. There are several permit options available, ranging from garage, surface lot, and general parking, some of which are dependent on employment or enrollment status. 

Students and visitors are welcome to park in parking garages offering hourly rates or at any parking meter on campus.  Many students park in the parking garage near the George F. Sánchez Building (behind the Blanton Art Museum), near the intersection of Brazos and Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.  Privately owned pay lots and garages also are available around the perimeter of campus for use if UT parking garages are full.  Faculty, staff, and students who prefer to ride motorcycles or mopeds to campus are required to buy a permit to park on campus.  Cyclists need to register their bicycles with the UT Police Dept.

There is a small amount of 30-minute parking available on the west side of the Sanchez Building.  

A State Disabled Parking Permit is honored on campus, and specific areas are set aside for disabled parking on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.  A University Disabled Permit is required in addition to the State Permit or license plates during these times.  Please be sure to read the signs and park in a space designated for disabled parking. 

Public Transportation

Many students opt to use public transportation instead of driving to and parking on campus. UT shuttle buses provide free transportation in certain residential areas to and from the UT campus, as well as transportation within the campus. Students may also ride the Capital Metro buses, MetroRail, and MetroRapid free of charge by using their UT ID card.

Technology

The University ITS Help and Service Desk provides students, faculty, and staff at The University of Texas at Austin with a centralized point of contact for computer help, questions concerning ITS services and navigating IT at The University.

The College of Education Information Technology Office offers a wide range of computer facilities and tech support services for College of Education students, faculty, and staff.  During open lab hours, students may sit down at a computer work-station and log in with their EID. The ITO is not typically open in between semesters. ITO services include computer facilities, equipment checkout and delivery to classrooms (including video camera checkout to use for interview/assessment recordings), computer/technical support, laptop and software assistance, a student study/collaboration area, laser printing, videoconferencing, and technical tutorials.

The Flawn Academic Center (FAC) is located west of the Tower, between the Main Building and the Texas Union. The FAC also houses the Campus Computer Store.  This store offers greatly reduced pricing on a wide variety of software packages for both Mac and PC users, as well as new computers and other technology. 

Some Educational Psychology classes require students to use one of a variety of statistical software packages. Check with your Program Area Chair and your instructor to see whether or not there are licenses available for students to utilize. If purchase is required, be sure to check the Campus Computer Store for software discounts (SPSS, for example, can be rented for a 1-year period or purchased for download at a reduced price for students).