1. Welcome to UNT and the College of Music
General Orientation
Monday, August 21, 2016

2. Introductions Graduate Studies Office Dr. Benjamin Brand (Director)
Devyn Dougherty(Assistant to the Director)
Dr. Colleen Conlon (Academic Advisor)
Other Important People
Linda Strube (Concert Programs)
Becky King (International Student Advisor)
Raymond Rowell (Asst. Dean Enrollment Management and External Affairs)
Warren Henry (Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs)
Dr. Victor Prybutok (Vice Provost, Toulouse Graduate School)
Joseph Oppong

3. Chilton Hall 211

4. 9:00am: General Orientation 10:00am: Degree Program Orientation 11:00am: Field Orientation N.b. Not required of music education majors.
The 10:00 meeting will be with the chair or advisor of the division for the degree you seek. You will get detailed information on degree requirements and division procedures.
The 11:00 meeting is with someone in your major area. You will be advised for registration at this meeting.

5. Degree Plan and Committee Form
A signed contract filed in consultation with your major professor during the first semester of study.
Identifies all of the courses that you will take to satisfy the relevant degree requirements.
You are bound to the catalog in effect when you file the degree plan, not when you began your degree.
Submitted with your Committee Form.
Degree plans and committee forms available at
Explain degree plans. By the time you have completed your first semester of study. You fill out this form yourself in consultation with your major professor. Degree plans cannot be filed in the same semester as you plan to graduate, so file early. You are bound to degree requirements in the catalog when you file the degree plan, not when you entered school. It can take 3 months or longer to complete the filing process, do not wait to fulfill this requirement.
Explain the Advisory Committee: Major professor (applied teacher on performance degrees), Related Field professor (in the area of related field), third committee member (any member of the graduate faculty, usually in your major field of study).

9. Other Websites You Need to Know
Graduate Catalog (
Degree programs
Course Descriptions
Blackboard Learn
GPE Grade Center
Graduate Studies Organization
Toulouse Graduate School Website (
Schedule of Classes (
Academic Calendar (
Over and above the orientation sessions and information packets…
READ THE GRADUATE CATALOG regarding their degree requirements. This includes the material in the front of the catalog pertaining to all masters or doctoral degrees across campus. The student is responsible for any regulation regarding calendar deadlines, procedure, etc. that is published in the catalog. Between the catalog, the academic calendar and orientation sessions, you are being informed of what you will need to know.

10. Leveling Courses Determined by the coordinator of your major area.
They may or may not be applied to your degree plan depending on your area and program.
They appear on Blackboard Learn.
learn.unt.edu
organizations
GPE Grade Center
Grade Center Tab

11. Review Courses
The exams you must take are listed at the top of your packet.
There are no retakes
Scores posted Thursday at noon on GPE Grade Center (Blackboard Learn). Please do not ask before then! In addition, students are responsible for checking their own results.
Your orientation packet provides a guide to interpreting your GPE scores.
You must take review courses the first semester they are available.
You must complete them before taking any other graduate courses in music history or theory
A grade of B or higher is required to satisfy all courses (except jazz).
Review courses cannot be applied to your degree plan
GPE
All entering graduate students must take the GPE the semester they enter UNT. Grades will be posted to BBL by Thursday by noon. Do not come before that time and ask if the results are ready. Results will be posted on the GPE prep course at learn.unt.edu. We understand that you may want to register for some of your deficiency courses, but they may already be full from students who registered during early registration. If there are no openings in any section of your deficiency class, you may wait until next semester to enroll.

12. Taking the GRE/GWE
Performance area requires an in-house Graduate Writing Exam (GWE).
An acceptable GRE Verbal Exam score can be substituted for the writing exam. If you had your GRE scores sent to UNT, we should have them and should have entered an “E” for “Exempt” from the GWE in the GPE Grade Center on Blackboard Learn.
Failure to fulfill the writing exam requirement (or GRE substitute) will affect registration, financial aid, scholarships and TA/TF positions.
Jazz Studies majors must take a Jazz Studies in house writing exam if they have not already taken the GRE Analytical Writing Exam.
For Performance majors: There is no GRE requirement for performance majors. In place of the GRE, the performance area requires an in-house English writing exam, which is administered during orientation. An acceptable GRE Verbal Exam score may be substituted for the writing exam. Failure to fulfill the writing exam requirement (or GRE substitute) WILL AFFECT registration, financial aid, scholarships and TA/TF positions.
For Jazz Studies majors: you have the option of submitting GRE Analytical Writing Exam scores or taking the Jazz Studies In-House Writing Exam.

13. Masters – 5 years Doctoral – 8 years
Degree Time Limits
Masters – 5 years Doctoral – 8 years
Time limits on graduate degrees: Currently 6 and 10; will change next year to FIVE years from the date you complete the first course on your degree plan for master’s students, EIGHT years for doctoral students. Extensions are hard to come by and are not granted on the basis that you “got a job.”

14. New(ish) Policies
Master’s and doctoral students take the same version of the GPE in music history.
No Retakes for the GPE in Music History and Theory.
GPE in Music Theory no longer includes sight singing and keyboard skills.
Students who fail the GPE in music theory must take a single, 2-credit course: MUTH 5010 (Graduate Theory Review).

15. Miscellaneous Procedures and Conventions
Use your full legal name on all official University paperwork.
You must use your EagleConnect address when communicating with UNT faculty and staff.
Always include your 8-digit student ID number in any correspondence with the Graduate Studies Office
Address faculty members by title (Dr. or Prof.) unless they invited you to do otherwise.
Please use your FULL LEGAL NAME, not your nickname, on all official school paperwork.
Please communicate with UNT faculty and staff using your UNT EagleConnect address. This address can be set up to automatically forward mail to your personal account. Using the UNT address is more professional.
Along the same lines, foster a professional atmosphere by addressing faculty members by title; don’t begin s with the salutation “Hey”.

16. Tips for Success Ignore rumors.
What applies to your friend’s situation may not apply to you. Policies may have changed.
Know published deadlines, e.g. for payments, dropping classes, filing for graduation, etc…
Use university resources - you paid for them!
Read the catalogs and handbooks we provide.
Stay up-to-date by checking the Graduate Studies organization and your EagleConnect for important announcements.
If you don’t know, ask.