1. Zachry Department of Civil Engineering
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas

2. Pre-registration Briefing for Fall 2009
Zachry Department of Civil Engineering

3. Which Color Do I Use? Catalog 131 (purple) for freshmen
Catalog 130 (green) for sophomores
Catalog 128 (white) for juniors
Catalog 129 (blue) for seniors
If you don’t know what catalog you are in, or who your advisor is, see the list at the front of the room, or see:
This presentation can be found at

4. Zachry Department of Civil Engineering
Zachry Student Advising and Services Center, Undergraduate Office (Room 140 CE Bldg)
Dr. Terry Kohutek, Head
Mr. Richard Bartoskewitz, Senior Advisor
Dr. Lee Lowery, Advisor
Ms. D’Anne Crain, Administrative Assistant
Ms. Crystal Faust, Administrative Assistant
OCEN Senior Undergraduate Advisor
Dr. Pat Lynnett
Ms. Pam Fambro, Administrative Assistant

5. The pre-registration process
Attend this meeting. Good job!
Pick up a Curriculum Planning Worksheet and Flowchart from the front of the room.
See for a complete list of courses offered.
Use the Curriculum Flowchart to plan your courses for the next 2 semesters.

8. The pre-registration process (continuing)
Verify that you have all course prerequisites from the current catalog, and take your courses in proper sequence.
Make an appointment with your faculty advisor (check for a sign-up sheet on their office door?)
Show up at your advisor’s office on time with a completed flowchart, curriculum planning worksheet, and degree audit (print one from myrecord.tamu.edu if you are upper level.)
Get your advisor's approval and signature on your curriculum planning sheet.
Take the signed sheet to D’Anne or Crystal in CE 140 to be unblocked.

9. The pre-registration process (continuing)
They will check for blocks and verify your correct local address and address on SIMS.
Your TAMU account is your official contact point with the University. Forward any mail sent there to your preferred account!
Pre-register as approved by your advisor. Your registration start date and time will be sent to your TAMU ACCOUNT: April 16 – May 1, Open registration: May 4 – May 29.

10. Registration Issues
After registration, at the end of the semester, should you get a D or F in one of your classes where a C or better is required, you must re-evaluate your plans. Don’t just go ahead and take classes for which you don’t have the pre-requisites.
Take your 3xx classes EARLY! If you wait until your senior year you may find that they are not scheduled to avoid conflicts with 4xx classes and you find it difficult to take the classes you need to graduate.

11. Registration Issues
All upper level students should get an audit from It will tell you exactly which courses you should be taking to get a degree in Civil Engineering.
All students should check myrecord REGULARLY – at least twice a semester, and especially at critical times, such as after dropping classes, before and after registration, etc.

12. Tips on interpreting your degree audit:
Myrecord.tamu.edu shows (1) what courses you still need to graduate, (2) coursework which you have completed towards your degree, and (3) courses which you have taken but which are not part of your degree plan. Sometimes a course which you have completed is shown in (3) in error. Don't panic. Check with D’Anne who will submit a substitution request form for you.

13. Requirements Remaining
SECTION 1 - Academic Requirements Remaining **************************
This analysis assumes successful completion of all course work currently in progress
COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING.
29 hours REQUIRED. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING:
Breadth: 9 hours REQUIRED. SELECT CVEN 363; CVEN 365; CVEN 400.
Focus: 20 hours REQUIRED. Complete the following:

14. Requirements Completed
SECTION 2 - Academic Requirements Completed or in Progress
*************************************
ENGR CBK - -
CHEM 107 GEN CHEM FOR ENGINEERS 05A B
ENGL 104 COMPOSITION & RHETORIC 03C A
ENGR 111 FOUNDATIONS OF ENGR I C B
MATH 151 ENGINEERING MATH I C A
MATH 152 ENGINEERING MATH II A A
MAJOR COURSEWORK
CVEN 302 COMP APPL ENGR & CONST 06A A
CVEN 345 THEORY OF STRUCTURES C (3.0) Registered
CVEN 422 CIVIL ENGR SYSTEMS II C (3.0) Registered

15. Work Not Yet Applied
SECTION 3 - Work Not Yet Applied - See Advisor for Substitutions
***************************************
HUMANITIES II A A Must be substituted to use
Transferred HUMA1302 from #2
HUMANITIES I C B Must be substituted to use
Transferred HUMA1301 from #2
ARTS 150 ART HISTORY SURVEY II 04C 3.0
Meets no requirements Transferred ARTS150 from #3
BIOL 111 GEN. BIOLOGY C A
Meets no requirements Transferred BIOL1406 from #2
CVEN 306 SP TP MAT ENGR CVEN ENGS 06A A
Meets no requirements (Note: GOOD CLASS)
THAR 145 – Basic Theatrical Design In progress Meets no requirements
Note! Bad class!

16. Registration Resources
Academic Information
Course Catalogs
TAMU Academic Calendar
TAMU Student Information System (My Record)
Course Registration
Q-Drop Form
Grade Exclusion Policy
Force Request for CVEN Courses
Curriculum Planning Worksheet
Common Degree Plan Flowcharts (Catalogs )
CVEN Degree Plan (Catalog 130)
Technical Elective Plans
CVEN Course Prerequisites (Catalog 130)
Dual Credit ICD Courses
Tutoring Services On Campus
Many more links have been added to this site lately. Check them out.
Advising
Undergraduate Student/Faculty Advisor List
Contact an Advisor
Catalog and Specialty Option by Student

17. Lower Division Students (CVEL)
CVEL students cannot take engineering courses (CVEN, MEEN, etc.) numbered 200 or higher (except CVEN 207) until they have advanced to upper division (CVEN.)
They can take upper level math courses, political science, history, social & behavioral science, visual & performing arts, ethics, technical writing, kine, technical writing, statistics, CVEN 207.
For automatic admission to upper level, students must complete all of eight of the CBK classes, with no grade less than “C”, and a minimum 2.75 GPR.

18. Lower Division Students (CVEL)
If you are listed as CVEL but should be moved to CVEN, go to
and fill in the request to be moved to CVEN (browse to “Other”)
CVEL STUDENTS WILL BE DROPPED FROM CVEN COURSES!

19. Lower Division Students (CVEL)
If you are listed as CVEL and expect to complete the requirements for CVEN status by transferring courses from other institutions, have them transfer your credit to A&M to prevent delays in being advanced to upper level.
If an instructor in an upper division engineering course identifies you as a lower division student and not eligible for their course, come to the Student Services Office for advice.
Unless special arrangements can be made, you must drop the course prior to the “drop” deadline. You can add replacement courses until the “add” deadline. See link to university calendar at

20. Other Policies:
All math, science and engineering prefix courses require a C or better or you will not pass degree audit. D is passing in Ethics, POLS, HIST, SBS, VPA, KINE, technical writing.
University policy prevents taking a class more than 3 times – including q-drops, etc. On the third attempt you will pay an additional $100/credit hour and after 3 times will probably be dropped from CE.
Don’t let these policies keep you from graduating!

21. Other Policies:
CVEN 385 (Coop) and CVEN 485 (Problems) generally cannot be substituted for technical electives.
You should take your courses in the order in which they appear on the flow charts. In particular take technical writing early, ethics late, and CVEN 400 or other capstone class your last semester.
ENGL 203, , 301, Composition II, or equivalent, either by AP, Dual Credit, CLEP, or for any other reason will substitute for your technical writing requirement. Do not take technical writing until you run a degree audit and see if you already have credit for it! Many of you are taking this class twice.

22. Other Policies:
ENGR 482 is an in-major writing intensive class. If you are in Catalog 127 or later, your degree requirements include taking one in-major writing class. Catalog 130 or later requires two in-major writing classes. The Texas Tech version of ethics does not include an approved writing component so you will have to take an additional writing class if you don’t take ethics at A&M.
15 hour rule, see information at
If you have taken a class from another university have them send your transcript to:
TAMU Department of Admissions
PO Box 40003
College Station, TX

23. Getting Bumped from a Current Class
The Civil Engineering Department maintains a course inventory taught on a regular basis which hopefully makes it possible for our students to graduate in a timely manner. However, the State has drastically reduced funding which makes it increasingly difficult to keep pace with the growing number of students seeking degrees. In the past we taught multiple duplicate classes with unused seats, making it easy for students to get into classes of their choice. That is no longer an option.
How it works – (discussion)
To force into a class:

24. Social & Behavioral Science, Humanities and Visual & Performing Arts
Social and Behavioral Science (SBS):
Catalog Only one SS required.
See pages 298 (cat 121), 316 (cat 122), 326 (cat 123), (cat ), 19 (cat ). If it is not listed on these pages, IT IS NOT A SBS CLASS.
Humanities:
All catalogs require you to take ENGR482 (cross listed as PHIL 482, same class.) For Catalogs 127 and above this will also serve as an in-major writing class, ONLY IF YOU TAKE IT AT A&M.
Visual and Performing Arts (VPA):
One required. See your Catalog Any Visual and Performing Arts listed around pages If it is not listed on these pages, IT IS NOT A VPA CLASS.

25. BE CAREFUL
When you take your schedule to your advisor, with THAR 155 on it, they will assume that it carries V&PA credit. If it is not actually a V&PA class, that’s your problem. There is no way they can check those details – it is your job to do so. (It is a V&PA.)
When you say you intend to take THAR 155 and find it full, and then take THAR 145, you will get no credit of any kind, since THAR 145 is NOT a V&PA class.

26. International & Cultural Diversity
International and Cultural Diversity (ICD) Requirements:
Catalog – Two courses are required as listed around pages This can be satisfied by a careful selection of HIST, VPA, SBS classes (dual credit classes.)
For a listing of Dual Credit Courses see:
SBS & ICD
VPA & ICD
HIST & ICD

27. Technical Electives Coastal and Ocean Environmental
CE students enter and remain in the “General” option unless they change to another specialty, taking a special set of technical electives approved for these areas:
Coastal and Ocean
Environmental
Construction Engineering and Management
Geotechnical
Structural
Transportation
Water Resources

28. Technical Electives
The set of “grayed out” boxes in the flow chart for each catalog are for your technical elective courses.
To see the required Technical Electives for your catalog and option, go to and browse to section IX-H.
Copies of the flow charts for various catalogs are also available for at:

30. Technical Electives
If you wish to change from the General Option plan, you will need to choose a technical elective plan around the beginning of your Junior year, and then take the technical elective courses approved for that plan.
Notify D’Anne or Crystal in 140 C.E. of your intentions.

31. Technical Electives
Your required Math/Science tech elective is dictated by your Technical Elective plan. Want to go structures? You must take MATH 311. Environmental? You must take CHEM 222, etc.
The coordinator for your technical plan must approve any exceptions to the pre-approved technical elective lists in advance, and in writing. See the option plan sheets for the name of the option plan coordinator.

32. CVEN 342 substitution
The Department is offering 4 sections of CVEN 342 (Materials of Construction) and 2 sections of CVEN 343 (Concrete Materials for CE’s).
All students can take either CVEN 342 OR CVEN 343 to satisfy their 342 requirement.

33. CVEN 302 – Computer Apps CVEN 302 previously taught (3-0) Fall 2009
Will be taught as CVEN 489 (2-2 hour lab)
Spring 2010
Will be taught as CVEN 489 (2-3 hour lab)
Fall 2010
Will be taught as CVEN 302 (2-3 hour lab)

34. CVEN 405/421 Mainly affects CEM option students
CVEN 405 is offered in 09C
CVEN 421 CANNOT be used to sub for CVEN 405

35. CVEN 403 (2 SCH) “Applied Civil Engineering Surveying”
(Summer Surveying Camp)
Offered in May mini-mester
Taught over two weeks in period between the end of the spring semester and start of the summer semester.
Limited enrollment (~30)
Students enroll during fall/summer pre-registration period.
Accepted as a technical elective in ALL specialty areas
GCE, CEM, COE, ENE, GEO, STR, TRA, WRN

36. What’s “new”? CVEN 422 is now CVEN 322 MEEN 227 is now MEEN 315
ELEN 215 is now ECEN 215
BAEN 320 (thermo) or MEEN 315 (thermo) or ECEN 215 (circuits) can be taken to satisfy your engineering science elective.
GEOL 320 now offered Fall and Spring
CVEN 424 is required by Cat. 130 and later.

37. Summer 2009 Study Abroad Spain Panama & Costa Rica Belgium
CVEN 339 & 423 (Olivera)
CVEN 444 & 483 (Barroso)
Panama & Costa Rica
CVEN 301 & 463 (Cahill)
Belgium
BAEN 460 (Munster) => CVEN 463
BAEN 465 (Munster) => CVEN 301
THIS SUBSITUTION IS ALLOWED FOR STUDENTS WHO TAKE THESE COURSES THIS SUMMER ONLY!

38. For Cadets only...
If you successfully complete the required 12 hours of upper-level ROTC courses, you will get credit for...
3 hr American History
3 hr Political Science
If you are contemplating an ROTC contract, don’t take these 6 hours until late in your career.

39. Pay on time! Don’t get dropped!
Make sure that you are enrolled for at least one hour before the first day of classes, or you will have to pay a $100 late registration fee. All adds and drops must be done by the 5th class day. See for links to the university calendar.

40. Other sources of information:
Myrecord.tamu.edu can be used by upper level students to check your schedule, correct your address, and verify your schedule at critical times. Also to see which classes you have completed, and which ones you still need to take. Were you successfully dropped? Added?
If you have not signed up for the Departmental List Server, go to and click on “CE Notes List Server” and sign up. Otherwise you are not getting critical information!
SIGN UP on this list server!

41. Other Announcements...
Q-drop deadline and last day to withdraw from classes is Monday April 6th 5:00 pm.
Study Abroad - many opportunities exist. See Dawna Rosenkranz, Room 326 Weisenbaker.
Coop - many opportunities exist. See Dr. Lee Lowery, 139C CE
Certificate Programs – Management, Business

42. Other Announcements...
Please remind students during the pre-advising meetings that scholarships totaling $470,000 are available. This semester we have over 185 scholarship recipients, of which about 60 were new awards (as opposed to a continuation of a winner from the previous year). That puts a student’s odds at about 50% of winning a scholarship. Average award is $1,000/academic year. Several of our scholarships are $4,000 or more (for example Bob Jones' 17 hour scholarships). Dr. Harry Jones, Head of Scholarship Committee
Apply at (when up.) Students are notified when the site is up through the CE list server.
Deadline for application: Friday, April 17, 2009

43. Web-based registration (cont’d)...
If you are employed, anywhere, you might be eligible to register early. See rules, restrictions, dates when they will accept your form, and fill out a "Student Employment Form" at Forms will be accepted NO EARLIER than 8 a.m., Monday, March 9, 2009 and NO LATER than 5 p.m., Friday, March 13, Makes no sense to me, at all.
Freshman Grade Exclusion for up to 3 classes. Stays on your record, but changes your official GPA. See

44. Miscellaneous
The 3-peat rule is being enforced. The third time you take a class you will pay something like $100/credit hour.
If you flunk a class a third time, you will probably have to find another major.
If you have 60+ hours, you cannot take ENGL 210. You will have to take ENGL 301, or one of the other courses listed. You can take 210 elsewhere and transfer it in.
If you don’t know who your advisor is, or your catalog number, or your technical option, see:

45. Questions…?

47. Print out and sign this waiver
Print out and sign this waiver. Bring to Crystal in CE Room 140 after you have met with your advisor.
To: Dr. Terry Kohutek, Director of Student Services:
I was absolutely unable to attend any of the 5 scheduled preregistration meetings this semester. I testify that I have thoroughly reviewed and fully understand all materials regarding any new University and Departmental requirements that apply to me. I also understand that by not coming to the meetings I take personal and full responsibility for any errors made in selecting appropriate classes, or satisfying other requirements that affect my continued enrollment and/or timely graduation in Civil Engineering.
I have obtained a curriculum planning worksheet from the CE website at
I have met with my advisor as directed in the web presentation, and am now submitting my signed Curriculum Planning Worksheet with this waiver.
Signed _____________________________
Name (printed)_______________________
UID # ______________________________
Date _____________