University of North Texas 
Commencement: the ceremony to celebrate your completion of all your graduation requirements!
From here you are looking to the north, and you will find the Art Building on the right as you walk in front of Sage Hall.
The Milnes Advising Center is named after renowned ceramics artist Robert Milnes, a former CVAD dean.
Milnes Advising Center for Undergraduates
NOTE: The office will be closed May 2 and May 6 and will open on May 7 at 10 a.m.
Welcome to the Milnes Advising Center!
Helping you craft your CVAD experience — get advised!
Let's get started! Are you...
- Not yet admitted or enrolled? Visit the Future Student page.
- An admitted student starting in the summer or fall semester? Register for UNT Orientation, and CVAD advisors will see you there!
- A graduate student? Visit the Graduate Student Advising page.
- A former or returning student — you have not attended in 12 months? Re-apply; to get started, visit the UNT Former, Returning Undergraduate web page.
- A currently enrolled undergraduate CVAD student? This is your page!
About the Milnes Advising Center
Undergraduate Student Advising for Currently Enrolled CVAD Students: In support of student success, academic advising is a collaborative partnership between advisors and students. Academic advisors use a holistic and developmental approach to help students define, clarify, and achieve academic, personal, and career goals.
Academic advisors in CVAD provide the following for currently enrolled undergraduate students.
- Help with course selection
- Help with degree-progress planning
- Degree audits
- Graduation checks
- Referrals to campus resources, such as Financial Aid, Housing, Office of Disability Access, and faculty or departments. These areas are not academic advising, but we will help you get to them! And be sure to check out the CVAD and Campus Resources web pages.
When should I meet with my advisor?
New Student — an incoming freshman or transfer student who has not yet attended UNT Orientation
New students are advised only during their orientation sessions. Before attending their UNT Orientation appointment, new students — freshmen or transfer students — do not schedule or request advising appointments. New students have special sessions during their orientation.
In their first year, all new UNT students must meet with an advisor before each open enrollment/registration cycle.
Transfer Admissions
A word about transfer admissions — you do not need an associate degree, a two-year degree, to transfer. You can read more about coming to UNT as a transfer student on the Transfer Admissions website. Incoming transfer students do not have a separate admissions process, and no portfolio is required or accepted to begin in the College of Visual Arts and Design.
Continuing Student — a student who has completed UNT Orientation
Advising is available year-round for continuing students. After you complete orientation and have registered for your first semester, you are considered a continuing student. Students can schedule appointments with the CVAD advisor of their choice.
Changing Majors: All UNT students can change their major by meeting with an advisor for their new/intended major.
Here are the most common examples.
1. I want to change my major within CVAD. For example, maybe you started as “pre-Communication Design,” and now you want to change to “pre-Studio Art.”
• Do this: Make a CVAD Advising appointment!
2. I want to change my major to CVAD, but my current major is in another college. For example, maybe you started as “pre-Business,” and now you want to change to “Art History.”
• Do this: Make a CVAD Academic Advising appointment using the “Academic Advising:
Interested in Major Change” service option.
• Recommended: UNT Advising Services web page for “Exploring Majors.” and that you check out our CVAD Curriculum Guides in advance!
3. I want to change my major out of CVAD. For example, maybe you started as “pre-Fashion Design,” and now you want to change to “Merchandising.”
• Do this: Make a CMHT Advising appointment using the “Academic Advising: Interested
in Major Change” service option.
• Recommended: Visit the UNT Advising Services web page for “Exploring Majors” and
the UNT Advising website for more about advising in your new/intended college.
Academic Standing: Students with an advising hold due to academic probation or other standings should schedule an appointment with their advisor. This is how you will get the hold removed to register for future classes.
Advising Appointments and Options
How do I schedule an appointment?
Appointments are scheduled by accessing the Navigate app.
Login Assistance: Please email navigate@unt.edu with your name and student ID number for login assistance. Please note that this app is available only to current students at UNT. If you are newly admitted or a prospective student, you cannot log in until you are fully admitted, and it gets closer to your first semester.
Scheduling Tips
Navigate uses a rolling calendar, and new appointments become available almost daily. Check back!
CVAD Students: In most cases, the best way to see all available appointments is to select “Academic Advising” from the appointment type options, then any of the “service” options, and do not change the default date — just click on the “Find Available Time” — it's a blue button.
Navigate > Appointment type options > Academic Advising > Service > Find Available Time
Non-CVAD Student Changing Major to a CVAD Program: If you are not currently majoring in a CVAD program, select “Academic Advising-Interested in Major Change” and look for the service options starting with “CVAD.”
Navigate > Appointment type options > Academic Advising Interested in Major Change
Consider the date and your schedule.
- The “Pick a Date” field will auto-populate — we recommend not changing this and just clicking “Find Available Time.” This is how you'll see the most available days and times.
- Appointments are shown only for dates up to three weeks in advance.
- Navigate won't show you appointments that occur during times of your current class meeting times.
- Did you check all the options available? You can search only one option at a time.
Looking for where and how to meet options?
- In Navigate, you can see up to three options: In-Person, Online, and Phone.
- Not all options are always available; you can try another day or time.
- For help with Zoom, the online option, visit the UNT Online web page.
The advising team in the advising center is also available to help; see hours and the Milnes Advising Center Contact information on this page.
Are you new to the Navigate app or need help scheduling?
- Visit the UNT Navigate Student FAQ web page.
- Download or view these step-by-step scheduling instructions.
- You can still find information through the UNT Appointments Scheduler website.
Drop-in Advising • Same-day Advising
These 15-minute meetings are scheduled in Navigate but are unavailable until the “same day.” They are best for “quick questions” and immediate items such as the following.
- Adding a class
- Dropping/changing a class
- Finding a "backup option" since you are on a waitlist
Changing your major or creating a full graduation plan are good examples of things that cannot be covered in 15 minutes and require an appointment.
Weekly Drop-in Schedule and Registration Days
Weekly drop-ins occur during the long semesters — fall and spring — and are scheduled as follows. These are for all undergraduate CVAD students.
- Every Tuesday, 9-11:30 a.m., and
- Every Wednesday, 1:30-4 p.m.
Important: Drop-in advising is
- Available every day, Monday-Friday of the first week of each long semester
- Available Tuesday mornings and Wednesday afternoons during all regular weeks of the long semesters
- Not offered during holidays, such as Spring Break week or Finals week
- Not offered during summer semesters.
If you do not know your academic classification, we recommend that you review your online degree audit.
For more information on the upcoming semesters, visit the UNT Office of the Registrar's web page: Academic Calendars by Semester.
Drop-ins for Registration
- You can view the schedule of classes in advance of open registration.
- Open registration dates are determined by student group/class.
- Drop-in advising exclusively for each class occurs on the first day that the group's registration opens.
- Weekly drop-ins are still open to all students each week during registration.
When can I register?
Visit the UNT Registrar's information page about when you can register: Registration Information.
A student's registration date is determined by classification unless the student is in Honors College. Classification is determined by the number of completed credit hours. This means that classes in progress do not count toward this number. Regular weekly drop-ins will still happen and remain open to all students.
Milnes Advising Center Contact Information
940-565-2216 or 940-369-8591 | CVAD.Advising@unt.edu
Appointments: Log in to Navigate
Location: Art Building, Milnes Advising Center, Room 232
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. | Closed from noon to 1 p.m.
Milnes Advising Center Undergraduate Advisors
CVAD academic advisors are available for all currently enrolled undergraduate CVAD students. Students may schedule appointments with the CVAD advisor of their choice.
Note to students: Please escalate your request for an appointment when you have areas of concern about your advising by contacting Erin Donahoe-Rankin, director, CVAD Undergraduate Advising.
Advising procedures vary by college. Please contact the CVAD Milnes Advising Center for CVAD-specific information regarding your undergraduate academics. For additional information, visit the UNT Advising website.