Texas A&M University Graduate and Professional School

Overview


Administrative faculty and staff at Texas A&M University may be designated to submit and/or approve certain graduate-related documents or nominations, or serve as their academic unit’s points of contact. All colleges/schools, departments, and interdisciplinary degree programs must maintain Authorized Signers with the Graduate and Professional School.

The Authorized Signers Forms enables academic units across the university to submit administrative contact information and grant faculty and staff with the ability to access university platforms or approve graduate documents.

 

Designated Editors and Viewers 

 

All academic units' Authorized Signers Forms are platformed on Texas A&M University's shared Google Drive. To maintain an up-to-date Authorized Signers Form, academic units must designate an administrative staff or faculty member as the authorized form Editor . Only one individual may hold access as Editor of the academic unit's Authorized Signers Form. Other administrative faculty and staff should coordinate with that individual regarding any necessary updates to the academic unit's Authorized Signers Form.  
 
The college/school Deans, Department Heads, and interdisciplinary degree Program Chairs will automatically be designated as Viewer of the unit's Authorized Signers Form. Additional viewers are not permitted. 
 
Designated Editors and Viewers may access the academic unit's form at any time through TAMU's shared Google Drive by logging in using their TAMU NetID.  
 
If the academic unit needs to change the designated Editor of its form, please email a request to Grad-AuthSigners@tamu.edu, include the academic unit's Dean/Department Head/Program Chair and the currently designated Editor on the email, and the access will be updated. 

 

Contacts

The Authorized Signers Form’s Contacts section must be fully complete for all graduate faculty and staff in the academic unit with administrative roles listed on the form.

  • Please provide their Names, Titles, UINs, NetIDs, Email Addresses, and Phone Numbers.

For Departments and Interdisciplinary Degree Programs, – Please note: All names entered in the Contacts section will auto-populate in the Authorizations section (detailed below). 

Authorizations

Graduate Committee Faculty Portal (GradCom) Nominations for membership in, and records for the Graduate Committee Faculty (GCF) are facilitated and maintained through the Graduate Committee Faculty Portal (GradCom) managed by the Graduate Committee Faculty Office.
  • “Enter/View Nominations” enables the designated user to submit (but not approve) nominations in GradCom and view the academic unit's active and approved nominations. Please note: The Graduate and Professional School requires all units to designate at least one person to enter/view nominations. Both administrative faculty and staff members may enter/view nominations; if a staff member is marked to enter/view nominations, no faculty member is required to be designated for that role.
  • Administrative faculty designated as an “Approver” will receive notifications to approve new nominations in GradCom. Please note: The Graduate and Professional School recommends designating only one “Approver” for GCF nomination approvals.
  • Administrative faculty designated as a “Proxy Approver” will be able to approve nominations in GradCom when needed, but will not receive notifications to approve new nominations. Please note: The Graduate and Professional School recommends designating at least one “Proxy Approver” for GCF nominations.
  • For Colleges/Schools Only – Access as a “GIC-GOC Viewer” will enable the designated user to see the details and status of (but not submit or approve) in-progess and approved nominations in GradCom for all academic units within the given college/school. Please note: Both administrative faculty and staff members may have access to view nominations.
  • For Colleges/Schools Only – The Chair of the college or school’s Graduate Instruction Committee (GIC) must be designated as the "GIC Approver" and will receive notifications to approve GCF nominations (for Academic Professional Track faculty, Temporary or Part-Time Faculty and Professional Staff, and outside faculty and professional staff) after the Department, Program, or College/School Approver. Please note: Only the GIC Chair may be designated for this role.
  • For Colleges/Schools Only – The Dean of the college or school’s Graduate Operations Committee (GOC) must be designated as the "GOC Approver" and will receive notifications to approve GCF nominations after the college/school’s GIC Approver. Please note: Only the GOC Dean may be designated for this role.
  • For Colleges/Schools Only – Administrative faculty designated as a GIC or GOC "Proxy” will be able to approve nominations in GradCom when needed, but will not receive notifications to approve new nominations. Please note: When the GIC Chair and GOC Dean position are occupied by different individuals, the Graduate and Professional School recommends designating the GIC Approver as the GOC Proxy, and the GOC Approver as the GIC Proxy.
Document Processing Submission System (DPSS) Graduate examinations, thesis/dissertation/record of study, and certain other requirements are completed through the Academic Requirements Completion System (ARCS) in Howdy, managed by the Graduate Records Processing Team. Please note: The roles below are currently designated through the DPSS section on the Authorized Signers Form (described above).
  • Administrative staff or faculty designated as a "Pre-Committee Approver" are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of degree plans and petitions submitted by graduate students through DPSS before review by advisory committee member(s). Please note: Academic units must designate at least one Pre-Committee Approver. Both administrative staff and faculty members may approve in the Pre-Committee role.  
  • Administrative faculty designated as an "Approver" will receive notifications and have access to approve graduate student documents in DPSS following approval by the advisory committee member(s). Anyone marked as an "Approver" must approve all documents for all students in all designated majors/degrees. Please note: The Graduate and Professional School strongly recommends designating only one "Approver" for DPSS documents. All designated faculty Aapprovers must be members of the Graduate Committee Faculty.  
  • Administrative faculty designated as a "Proxy Approver" will not receive notifications but are able, not required, to approve student documents in DPSS – when needed – on behalf of the designated Approver and members of students' advisory committees. Please note: The Graduate and Professional School recommends designating at least one "Proxy Approver" for DPSS documents. All designated faculty Proxy Approvers must be members of the Graduate Committee Faculty.  

Please note: If the college/school does not administer graduate programs on the college/school-level, no designations in the DPSS section must be made.  

Academic Requirements Completion System (ARCS) Graduate examinations, thesis/dissertation/record of study, and certain other requirements are completed through the Academic Requirements Completion System (ARCS) in Howdy, managed by the Graduate Records Processing Team. Please note: The roles below are currently designated through the DPSS section on the Authorized Signers Form (described above).
  • Administrative staff and faculty designated as a "Pre-Committee Approver" are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the contents and contacts on documents submitted through ARCS before review by the advisory committee members (when applicable). Please note: Academic units must designate at least one Pre-Committee Approver. Both administrative staff and faculty members may approve in the Pre-Committee role.
  • Administrative faculty designated as an "Approver" will receive notifications and have access to approve graduate student documents in ARCS. Anyone marked as an "Approver" must approve documents for all students in the designated majors/degrees. Please note: The Graduate and Professional School strongly recommends designating only one "Approver" for ARCS documents. All designated faculty Approvers must be members of the Graduate Committee Faculty.
  • Administrative faculty designated as a "Proxy Approver" will not receive notifications but are able, not required, to approve student documents in ARCS – when needed – on behalf of the designated Approver and members of students' advisory committees (for certain document types). Please note: The Graduate and Professional School recommends designating at least one "Proxy Approver" for ARCS documents. All designated faculty Proxy Approvers must be members of the Graduate Committee Faculty.
Please note: If the college/school does not administer graduate programs on the college/school-level, no designations in the DPSS/ARCS section must be made.
AdobeSign Certain graduate student documents are completed through AdobeSign.
  • Administrative staff and faculty designated as a "Pre-Approver" are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the contents and contacts on documents submitted through AdobeSign before approval.
  • Administrative faculty designated as an "Approver" will be able to approve all documents for the academic unit submitted through AdobeSign. Please note: When a form is initiated by a student, program staff, or the Graduate and Professional School, only one Approver may be included in the approval workflow.
ImageNow/TAMUDocs Graduate student records digitally stored in ImageNow (or TAMUDocs) managed by the Office of Admissions, Graduate Records Processing Team, and university IT.

Graduate student records digitally stored in ImageNow (or TAMUDocs) managed by the Office of Admissions, Graduate Records Processing Team, and university IT. 

Administrative faculty and staff may have access to student records uploaded to ImageNow/TAMUDocs. 

Graduate Document Correspondence Administrative graduate staff and faculty serving as points of contact for an academic unit.
  • An administrative staff and/or faculty member may be designated as the Primary Contact for a given academic unit or certain programs within a given academic unit. This individual will be the first person the Graduate and Professional School contacts should there be a question regarding a student or documents in the academic unit or program. Please note: If no one is specified, correspondence for the academic unit and/or program will automatically be sent to the listed college/school Dean, Department Head, or interdisciplinary degree Program Chair. 
  • Administrative faculty and/or staff members may be designated as Secondary Contact(s) for a given academic unit or certain programs within a given academic unit. The Graduate and Professional School will contact these designated individuals if the Primary Contact is unavailable. 
Fellowships and Awards Nominations for fellowships and awards are submitted through the InfoReady platform managed by the Student Development & Success and the Graduate Technology Management teams.

The submission system is used for the Dr. Dionel E. Avilés ’53 and Dr. James E. Johnson ’67 Graduate Fellowship Program, and the Association of Former Students Distinguished Graduate Student Award.  


  • Administrative staff and faculty designated to “Enter/View Nominations” (but not approve) in the InfoReady platform and view the academic unit’s active and approved nominations. Please note: Both administrative staff and faculty members may submit nominations. If an administrative staff member is designated Enter Nominations, no faculty member is required to be marked for that role.
  • Administrative faculty designated as an “Approver” will receive notifications to approve new nominations in the InfoReady platform.
  • The Dean of the college/school’s Graduate Operations Committee (GOC) will receive notifications to approve nominations.
English Language Proficiency Compliance Documents related to graduate English Language Proficiency are submitted to the English Language Proficiency Compliance Office.
  • Administrative faculty and staff members designated to "Submit/Contact" will be able to submit ELP documents to the Graduate and Professional School and serve as the designated contact person(s) for ELP-related questions. 
  • Administrative faculty members designated as an "Approver" will be able to approve ELP-related documents. 
Non-Resident Tuition Waivers Assistantship Non-Resident Tuition Waivers, which allow students employed as graduate assistants and their spouses/dependents to pay tuition at the in-state rate, are submitted through AdobeSign and processed by Graduate and Professional School.
  • Administrative staff and faculty designated to "Submit/Contact" will be able to submit non-resident tuition waivers to the Graduate and Professional School and serve as the designated contact person for the academic unit.
  • Administrative faculty designated as an "Approver" will be required to approve non-resident tuition waivers for the given academic unit.

Questions?

Any questions relating to the Authorized Signers Form should be directed to the Graduate and Professional School.
  • Grad-AuthSigners@tamu.edu
  • 979-845-3631