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Interviews & Security Clearances

We at MES understand the importance of participating in the security clearance process for former students who are applying for employment in the government or private sectors. However, the University runs differently than a business or federal agency and can sometimes be confusing to interviewers.

If you are coming to conduct a security clearance interview, we have prepared the following suggestions and guidelines to help you get the most out of your visit to campus:

  • We discourage walk-in requests for interviews. On many occasions we have had to turn away officials conducting walk-in security clearance interviews because no one that they wished to speak with was actually present on campus at the time of their visit.
     
  • Consider phoning ahead to schedule an appointment with any member of the faculty or staff with whom you need to speak. Our faculty and staff understand the importance of this process and are willing to accommodate interview requests if we know that you are planning to visit.
     
  • Faculty are generally not in their offices forty hours per week unless they also hold an administrative position.  Faculty do post regular office hours each week, which can be found on our faculty directory.
     
  • While staff are generally present 8-5, Monday through Friday, depending on the time of year they may not be able to take time to meet with you. The first twelve days of classes, registration periods, and final exam times, in particular, are very busy because of short deadlines and high student volume. You can find UT's academic calendar on the Registrar Web site.
     
  • During the summer, intersession, holidays, or exam times faculty tend not to hold regular office hours, and both faculty and staff tend to take their vacation during these periods. Again, the academic calendar can help you identify these periods so that you can try to schedule around them.
     

If you have any questions, please call the MES main number, (512) 471-3881. We will be happy to help make your visit to campus as productive as we can.