About the doctoral program at LBJ: The program adopts an “apprenticeship” style. If admitted, you will be closely advised by two faculty members in the first two years, with one serves as your primary advisor. The primary advisor may or may not serve as your dissertation chair or in your dissertation committee
About application process: Our application process is centralized, so the first step is orienting yourself with the application requirements and deadlines. Information on our process is available here: https://lbj.utexas.edu/phd-public-policy-how-apply
The LBJ School’s doctoral admissions process does not include pre-acceptance by any individual faculty member. Once all applications have been submitted, an admissions committee reviews all files and refers specific files to “matched” faculty for further review. It is very important that you must identify at least two LBJ faculty members whose expertise overlaps with yours. The two faculty members will likely to advise you in your first two years at the program. I would most certainly be one of those faculty if the application advances from the committee review, if you identify me in your research or personal statements.
Faculty at the LBJ School cannot tell applicants in advance whether they will be able to accept them as a student. While you are welcome to contact faculty to inquire about their research programs and future work, contacting faculty is not necessary prior to applying for the PhD program, and typically does not affect admission decisions.