Major Course Substitutions

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Updated 3/30/2015

There are a number of situations which necessitate submitting paperwork to substitute one course for another in your degree plan. If DegreeWorks is showing that you have not fulfilled the requirement to take a certain course, it may be that another course you've taken (or will take) can account for that.

If you think you need substitutions, see the notes below and email the details to Dr. Tomai (emmett.tomai at utrgv).

The Simple Ones

Approving these is just a rubber stamp.

  • UTRGV course number changes: These should be handled by DegreeWorks, but if a course number changed and it isn't properly crediting it in the major, that's clearly approved.
  • CSCI v. CMPE: Again, this should be handled by DegreeWorks. All CSCI and CMPE courses with the same course number/name are equivalent to each other.
  • CSCI Advanced Electives: All 3000 and 4000-level CSCI courses that are not otherwise used in your degree plan can be used for your 2 CSCI Advanced Electives. The only exception is the second programming language courses (Java, C#, Python).
  • Professional Ethics: If you are on the Legacy UTPA plan and need PHIL 2393/2326 Professional Ethics, that requirement can be fulfilled by the special CS/Eng sections of PHIL 1310 Ethics. Check the course description to be sure you're signing up for one of those specially designated sections, and we will substitute it.
  • Discrete Structures: If you are on the Legacy UTPA plan and need MATH 3373 Discrete Structures, that requirement can be fulfilled by CSCI 3310 Discrete Structures.

The Transfer Cases

These are standard approvals for STC courses, they most likely apply to courses from other Universities as well.

  • CSCI 1101, 1370, 1170: If you took the equivalents of the old 1380 and 1381 at STC (COSC 1336 and 1337), we will substitute for 1101, 1370 and 1170. This was a degree plan change on our end.
  • CSCI 1101, 1170: If you transferred in 1370 but not 1101 and 1170, there are two options. If you are pre-2380, you need to take those courses. If you are post-2380, we will substitute an additional 3-hour advanced CSCI course for them. This is in addition to your 2 CSCI Advanced Electives, but for most students it's just one of the free advanced electives they would need to get to 51 or 48 total advanced hours.
  • COMM 1315 Public Speaking: If you took the equivalent of COMM 1302 at STC (SPCH 1311), we will substitute it for COMM 1315 for the Legacy UTPA degree plan only. New UTRGV degree plan students must take COMM 1315 in accordance with our accreditation requirements.

All other cases, including scheduling problems, you'll need to come in and request a substitution and we can discuss whether or not it merits approval.