2006–2007 - Florida Institute of Technology

Continuing Education
Continuing Education Units
A continuing education (CE) student is defined as one who is
not seeking a degree from Florida Tech. Continuing education
students will customarily enroll for courses on the basis of receiving
continuing education units (CEUs) rather than graduate or
undergraduate credit. The CEU is a nationally recognized unit
that indicates successful participation in a qualified program of
continuing education. It is defined as 10 contact hours of participation
in an organized educational experience under responsible
sponsorship, capable direction and qualified instruction.
Students enrolled for CEUs in courses that are being offered for
academic credit are required to do all homework, outside reading
assignments, term papers or special assignments and to attend at
least 90 percent of the class sessions, but they are not required to
take midterm or final examinations.
In some situations, the continuing education student may want
or need to receive credit rather than CEUs, and this alternative
is allowable. Students enrolled for credit, whether degree-seeking
or not, must take all examinations in addition to completing all
course assignments. Students may switch from CEU to credit or
vice versa, any time before the end of the first week of classes.
Enrollment Restrictions
A continuing education student may not enroll in any course,
either for credit or for CEUs, without the written approval of
the head of the academic unit offering the course. This approval
will be based on a review of the student’s previous preparation
and qualifications and an assessment that the student is capable
of completing all course assignments (homework, reading, term
papers, etc.) and may take into consideration the effect of enrollment
of continuing education students on the course and/or
academic program. Such approval will be sought and given on
a course-by-course basis, and may be withheld at the academic
unit head’s discretion.
Admission to Degree Programs
A continuing education student may seek admission to a degree
program through the normal admission process. If a continuing
education student subsequently decides to pursue either an
undergraduate or graduate degree at Florida Tech and is accepted
into that degree program, a maximum of 12 semester credit
hours earned as a CE student may be applied toward the degree,
provided the course work is academically appropriate.
English as a Second Language
To enhance the academic performance of students whose native
language is not English, courses in English as a Second Language
are offered through the Division of Languages and Linguistics.
All nonnative English speaking Florida Tech students must demonstrate
English proficiency. Students with official Florida Tech
institutional TOEFL (paper-based) scores below 550, or scores
below a 213 on the computer-based TOEFL (CBT), or scores
below a 79 on the Internet-based TOEFL (iBT) will be required
to take English as a Second Language courses. Only Florida
Tech paper-based TOEFL scores are valid. No other paper-based
scores will be accepted.
14 Florida Tech
A description of English proficiency requirements and the ESL
program offered is given under “Languages and Linguistics” in
the College of Psychology and Liberal Arts section of this catalog.
Release of Student Information
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)
as Amended established a set of regulations governing access to
and the release of personal and academic information contained
in student education records. FERPA applies to the education
records of persons who are or have been in attendance in
postsecondary institutions, including students in cooperative
or correspondence study programs. FERPA does not apply
to records of applicants for admission who have been denied
acceptance or, if accepted, do not attend an institution.
Education records are all records that contain information
directly related to a student and are maintained by an educational
agency or institution, or a party acting for the institution.
Exceptions to education records include sole possession records,
law enforcement unit records, employment records, health
records and alumni records. Rights under FERPA are not given to
students enrolled in one component of an institution who seek to
be admitted in another component of the institution.
Under FERPA, the rights accorded to parents transfer to students
who have reached the age of 18 or who attend a postsecondary
institution. These rights are:
1. The right to inspect and review their education records within
45 days of the day the university receives a request for access.
Students should submit to the registrar, dean, head of the
academic unit or other appropriate official, written requests
that identify the record(s) they wish to inspect. The university
official will make arrangements for access and notify
the student of the time and place where the records may be
inspected. If the records are not maintained by the university
official to whom the request was submitted, that official shall
advise the student of the correct official to whom the request
should be made.
2. The right to request amendment of the student’s education
records the student believes are inaccurate or misleading. A
student should write the university official responsible for
the record, clearly identify the part of the record they want
changed and why it is felt to be inaccurate or misleading.
FERPA was not intended to provide a process to be used to
question substantive judgments that are correctly recorded.
The rights of challenge are not intended to allow students to
contest, for example, a grade in a course because they felt a
higher grade should have been assigned.
If the university decides not to amend the record as requested
by the student, the university will notify the student of the
decision and advise the student of his or her right to a hearing
regarding the request for amendment. Additional information
regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the
student when notified of the right to a hearing.
3. The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable
information contained in the student’s educational records,
except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without
consent. One exception that permits disclosure without