Vicks Advising Center

A Hidden Gem

Writer Aalia Qazi Designer Emma Bittner

Stressed about what you’re doing with your life? Need tips on how to navigate academic life at UT?

The Vicks Center for Strategic Advising and Career Counseling (Vick) is here to help. Located in JES A115, you can get help on the weekdays by meeting with advisors for different purposes. The center offers in-person and online appointments for students who are exploring majors, careers and are undecided on what path they want to take. Not only can you meet with advisors one on one, but you can attend workshops that can help you plan your future as well. For example, they hold events to help with graduate school planning, internships, and resumes. For more information, you can visit their easy to access and navigable website: https://ugs.utexas.edu/vick.

The four main areas of expertise for Vick are major exploration, registration, academic planning, and academic difficulty/scholastic probation. Registration is a rough time for everyone because no one really knows what classes they want to take, and while all colleges have advising centers, the appointments seem quick and unbeneficial sometimes because some questions are left hanging after the twenty to thirty-minute time slots allotted to students. There are over 50,000 students on campus, and the advisors allocated to each student has a poor ratio that can sometimes be hard to manage. Vick helps students with bars, dropping classes, making a class pass/fail, taking courses outside of UT, and picking courses. Moreover, Vick helps find methods to get involved in research, internal transfers, volunteering, and studying abroad, which is an opportunity many students want to embark upon but are unable to find the right program that enables them to do so.

Personally, visiting the Vick center helped me plan what career path I want to follow. While the resources available to students are wonderful, such as the flyers and handouts located in the entrance that give guidelines for cover letters, resumes, essays, etc., meeting with an advisor would be more beneficial for students because they can receive advice unique to their circumstance. I met with an academic advisor to talk about when I should start thinking about adding a minor and what the process of that would look like. I also met with a career counselor to help me plan out intern

ships over the summer and what I can do to boost my resume and stand out when I apply for a job. Not only were they helpful, but they actually spent time to answer my questions in detail. Nonetheless, I recommend whoever goes to the Vicks center to have premade questions to make the process go smoother because sometimes they are busy, and that can negatively impact the experience by making it seem rushed.

Sometimes students are unaware of what their tuition pays for, and I wanted to shed light and bring attention to this facility in Jester. Most people I talk to, whether in my college or in general, do not actually know about Vick. Similar to the One-Stop-Shop where you can get your questions answered online, Vick can be a more customized and personal experience. To clear up another misconception because it is located as a UGS , it is not just for people who are new to UT, anyone can go in to get ahead in planning their future.

I went to the center to meet with advisors for more information, but since they prioritize appointments for students seeking help, I reached out via email. Here are some more details and an inside look on the resources and tools available and offered for students at Vick:

Q: What can students expect when they come here?

A: Academic Advising Services - Appointments to review internal transfer, core curriculum requirements, major exploration, academic concerns, registration advising, and academic standing.

Career Counseling Services - Appointments to review career and major exploration, career assessments, graduate school planning, internship planning, mock interviews, and resume/ personal statement review.

Q: Who is allowed to come in for help?

A: Undergraduate students at UT Austin.

Q: How is career advising different from academic advising?

A: We offer different services. Academic advising appointments are 30 minutes while career counseling appointments are 45 minutes-1 hour. Academic advisors speak to students about the specific internal transfer requirements for colleges/schools across campus.

Q: How does major exploration work?

A: We speak to students about the 111 majors at UT. Review resources like Wayfinder, degree plans, and course descriptions. We work to identify students values, interests, personalities, and skills and how this can align with a major.

Q: How does Vick help with registration and academic difficulties?

A: Academic advisors meet with students every semester for a mandatory registration advising appointment. During this appointment, advisors review all course recommendations and logistical registration details. The Vick Center speaks to students about their options if they have academic concerns. The office processes all q-drops, P/F, and withdrawals.

Q: Does Vick help with scholarships? For example, some that pertain to studying abroad?

A: We refer students to internal UGS scholarships and refer them to different UT scholarships based on eligibility and need.