2011–2012 UNIVERSITY CATALOG - Florida Institute of Technology

communication skills. Florida Tech’s QEP is designed to accommodate
the various forms of scholarly inquiry including student design
projects, student research and investigations undertaken as part of
preprofessional internships.
All QEP projects are undertaken during the junior and/or senior
year (may be the third or fourth year for Florida Tech University
Online students). Courses within the QEP are designated ‘Q’ in the
Degree Programs and Course Descriptions sections. Consistent with
this, all undergraduate students are required to plan, undertake and
report on a scholarly project in an area of their own choosing that
is approved by the instructor of the Q-designated courses in their
program of study.
Cooperative Education Credits
Students participating in the university’s cooperative education program
(CWE 1001, CWE 2001, CWE 3001 and CWE 4001) receive
free elective credits and are considered full-time students when
working full time. Engineering students are enouraged to participate
in the engineering co-op program (EPE 1000, EPE 1100, EPE 2100
and EPE 3100).
The applicability of these credits toward degree requirements is
limited and dependent on the degree being sought and the nature
of the work experience.
Electives
The following definitions of electives pertain to all degree programs
at Florida Tech. The student should consult these definitions when
selecting appropriate courses to satisfy the electives listed under
program requirements. The counsel and consent of the student’s
academic program chair or adviser is important in the final
selection.
Engineering Design Elective
Engineering design is the process of devising a system, component
or process to meet desired needs. It is a decision-making process,
often iterative, in which the basic sciences, mathematics and
engineering sciences are applied to convert resources optimally to
meet a stated objective. Among the fundamental elements of the
design process are the establishment of objectives and criteria,
synthesis, analysis, construction, testing and evaluation. Central to
the process are the essential and complementary roles of synthesis
and analysis. Each engineering design course includes some of the
following features: development of student creativity, use of openended
problems, formulation of design-problem statements and
specifications, consideration of alternative solutions, feasibility considerations,
detailed system descriptions and a variety of realistic
constraints, such as economic factors, safety, reliability, aesthetics,
ethics and social impact. A list of approved engineering design electives
is normally available in each engineering department office.
Engineering Science Elective
Engineering sciences have their roots in mathematics and basic
sciences but carry knowledge further toward a creative application.
These studies provide bridges between mathematics, basic science
and engineering practice. Lists of approved engineering science
electives are included with the program listings.
Flight Training
Flight training is available to any Melbourne campus student and
may be used as elective credit in many degree programs with program
chair or adviser approval. FAA Private Pilot Certificate training
requires only two courses totaling five semester hours of credit.
Foreign Languages
Students who have had less than two years of foreign-language
study at the secondary level may enroll in elementary language
courses at Florida Tech. Students who have had two or more years
of foreign-language study at the secondary level and students who
transfer one year of foreign-language study to Florida Tech from
another college or university must enroll in intermediate courses.
Native or multilingual speakers of foreign languages may not
enroll in elementary or intermediate courses; they may, however,
enroll in advanced-level courses. The head of the department of
humanities and communication will make final decisions regarding
the placement of students in foreign-language courses.
Free Elective
Free electives may be any courses 1000-level or above taken
at Florida Tech, or courses taken elsewhere if transfer credit is
awarded by Florida Tech. Courses can be combined to satisfy the
specified free-elective credits (e.g., three one-credit courses can
satisfy a three-credit listing in a degree program) or vice versa (a
three-credit course for three one-credit listings). No more than a
total of four credit hours of free elective credits earned for physical
education activities and/or health education can be applied toward
meeting degree requirements.
Humanities Elective
Courses concerned with human culture including literature, history,
philosophy, religion, linguistics, professional ethics and foreign
languages other than a student’s home language meet the requirements
for humanities electives. Courses in art, music and drama,
other than performance courses, also meet these requirements.
These courses are designated as humanities (HU) or humanities/
social science (HU/SS) electives in the Course Descriptions section.
A foreign language is considered to be the student’s home language
if it is the formal or commonly used language of the student’s country
or community, or if it was the language used as the medium of
interaction in all or part of the student’s pre-university education.
Humanities elective credits may not be granted by equivalency
examinations.
Liberal Arts Elective
A liberal arts elective is any course offered by the department
of humanities and communication (HUM, COM, LNG) or any
psychology course (PSY). Certain BUS and EDS courses may also
be considered liberal arts electives as determined by the student’s
academic unit.
Restricted Elective
A restricted elective is an elective selected from a specified academic
discipline. The academic discipline is included in the
specification of the elective, e.g., Restricted Elective (Chemistry)
or Restricted Elective (CHM). The level of the elective may also be
specified by the academic unit.
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