Dr. Miksa's Advisees   UPDATED June 8, 2022

 This page is for students who have been assigned Dr. Miksa as their Faculty Advisor for the duration of their courses here at Department of Information Science.

 Dr Miksa advises students who are in one of two Concentrations, whether you are pursing a MS in Library Science or a MS in Information Science:

• LS General Study or IS General Study
• LS Information Organization or IS Information Organization

 Philosophy

I am pretty easy going when it comes to the classes you are interested in taking but I do like to construct a degree plan that will be most beneficial for you earning your Masters degree.  Students should plan to create a degree plan that takes advantage of their time here at LIS and that gives them maximum exposure to the ideas, technology, history, and philosophy that make up the library and information science field. Degree plans are created for each student by CI-Advising. Students can create a degree plan worksheet to help them track their classes.

As an librarian who specializes in information organization I have my own views and opinions on what courses students should take, but I am more than willing to assist in constructing a strategy that works best for you. 

Advising Process

Each semester students should schedule an advising session with me so we can decide on what courses you will take and/or modify your degree plan.  My official advising hours take place on weekday afternoons, unless otherwise specified.  These can be on-campus appointments, by telephone or on Zoom. Students should email me to schedule the appointment. My office phone is 940-565-3560--if you leave a voicemail then I will receive via my email--however email is the best way to reach me.

It is best to plan out courses at least two semesters in advance.  For each advising session please make a list of the courses you are interested in taking, as well as alternatives should your preferred course be full for the semester.  We will discuss all options and plan to the best of our ability using the semester class schedules.

Students are encouraged to study the course descriptions of LIS courses from the Graduate Catalog in preparation for each advising session but do keep in mind these are brief descriptions.  I can usually give you more details about certain courses but you are always free to contact the course instructor for more information. 

After we decide on what courses you want to register for you must review the information found on the Course Registration Form webpage. This is linked from the COI Advising website.  You must pay for the course in order to secure the seat. 

• You must submit this form each semester you are planning to take courses. By submitting this form, your request will be sent to Ci-Advising for review and processing. Submitting this form early in the semester before you plan on taking courses is strongly encouraged. Please choose the semester and year for which you are seeking advising.

A word about email addresses: please use your official UNT email address for all school related correspondence.  If you have an alternate email address you can set up the UNT account to forward emails to that alternate.  Use the EagleConnect for instructions setting-up your account. However, as with many email services EagleConnect may sometimes trash emails that come from certain ISPs or email companies. This is mainly due to SPAM/junk mail blockers so be sure to check your Junk mail inbox often for important correspondence.

Half-time enrollment for all graduate students is defined as at least five (5) graduate credit hours per term. Based on guidance from the U.S. Department of Education for financial aid purposes, a graduate student must be enrolled at least half-time to establish eligibility for most financial aid programs and for in-school loan deferment. Full-time (9 hours) and three-quarter time (6-8 hours) enrollment for graduate students will not be affected by this change. Questions can be answered by staff in the UNT Student Financial Aid and Scholarships office. 

Please do check out the Dept. of IS Scholarships and Awards page. 

Changes to degree plan or POS:

If you find that you want to add or drop a course please send me an email so changes are made to your degree plan.  Keeping the degree plan up-to-date can be a bit of a chore but it pays in the end, especially when it comes time for you to apply for graduation. If you want to change to another Faculty Advisor be sure to use the Change of Advisor form found on the Forms page. It is perfectly fine to change advisors should your interests change; no feelings will be hurt.

End of Program Requirements

Students must complete and e-portfolio and a practicum. Please see the information at the End of Program requirements page.

If you have further questions please feel free to contact me at Shawne.Miksa@unt.edu (the most efficient way) or call me at 940-565-3560. We can also Zoom.