UNIV First Year Seminars

UTA's first year seminars are courses for undergraduate students who are entering their first semester of coursework at UTA.

The Seminars are required for both first time in college students and transfer students and are designed to orient students to life on the Maverick campus by providing you with essential resources for student success, instruction on critical thinking skills for academic success, and access to faculty and peer networks.

What to Expect from the UNIV Seminars

You are required to enroll in one of three major-specific courses: (UNIV 1000, UNIV 1131 or UNIV 1101) or a departmental equivalent course. The course you are required to take will depend upon your major. If you are undecided about your major, you will be placed in one of these courses. Listed below are what you can expect to experience and learn from the UNIV seminars:

What You Must Know

  • Make sure to take the advised UNIV seminar. Each section of UNIV 1131/1000 is tied to a specific program. You must take that class, in that section, at that day and time.
  • The UNIV 1131 is a graded one credit hour course; you will receive a letter grade that is factored into your GPA. If you earn an F, Z (no grade), or W (withdraw), you will be required to retake the course.
  • Students are allowed 3 attempts to pass a UNIV course.
  • If a student would like to drop a first year seminar, they will need to get permission to do so and work with their academic advisor on that process.
  • Students are unable to make changes to UNIV 1131/1000/1101 sections on their own.
  • To determine if a student has a transfer equivalency, they should work with their academic advisor and fill out the transfer equivalency form. (check to see if this form is still used)

UNIV Grade Policy

The procedure for pursuing grievances related to grades described in the undergraduate and graduate catalogs provide that it is the obligation of the student to first make a serious effort to resolve the grade dispute with the student’s instructor. The instructor has primary responsibility for assigning grades, and their judgment is final unless there is evidence of discrimination, preferential (differential) treatment or procedural irregularities. A mere disagreement with the judgment made by the instructor is not a valid basis for an appeal. No grade appeal will be considered one year after a grade is given. Appeals must be made through appropriate channels as described below.

  • All students must first discuss the grade or academic grievance with the instructor. If the instructor is unavailable, the student may proceed in the appeal process and discuss the matter with the department chairperson responsible for the course for which the grade is being appealed (for UNIV courses this is the Director of Academic Engagement). If unable to reach agreement with the instructor or department chairperson, the student may file a grievance.
  • The students’ appeal must be submitted in writing. The form is available below. The student must submit the form and any supporting documentation the student wishes to provide to the department chairperson for deliberation.
  • If the student is dissatisfied with the chairperson’s decision, they may appeal the case to the Vice Provost for Student Success. The Vice Provost’s decision is final.

Students have one year from the day grades are posted to initiate a grievance concerning a grade including presenting evidence of differential treatment and/or procedural irregularities.

Undergraduate and Graduate Grade Policies and Procedure are available in the university catalog.

Office Of Academic Engagement

UNIV Grade Appeal Form

UNIV courses do not offer D's, only A, B, C, F, P, W and Z. Anything 70 and above is considered a C or higher, and anything below a 70 is considered an F. Only the UNIV 1000 course is eligible for a P/F.

Other Questions?

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