university college - Department of Extended Studies - Florida ...

Students must reapply each year and maintain satisfactory academic progress as defined by
the Office of Financial Aid to continue receiving federal assistance. The Federal Stafford
Student Loan program is available to all graduate students who apply for federal assistance
and who maintain at least half time (five credit hours) enrollment in graduate-level courses.
Stafford loans are either subsidized or unsubsidized. A subsidized loan is awarded on the
basis of financial need. The federal government pays the interest on a subsidized Stafford
loan until repayment begins and during authorized deferment periods. A student may borrow
up to $18,500 each year in Stafford loans. At least $10,000 of this amount must be in an
unsubsidized Stafford loan. Cumulatively, a graduate student may borrow up to $138,500 in
Stafford loans with no more than $65,000 in subsidized Stafford loans. The graduate debt
limits include any Stafford loans received for undergraduate study.
Academic Policies
GENERAL ACADEMIC POLICIES
Academic policies are published in the Graduate Policy Manual, which is available for refer-
ence and photocopying in Evans Library, in each academic unit office, and at each off-campus
site. It is also available on the Florida Tech Web site (www.fit.edu), under quick links/graduate
studies. All graduate students are advised to review the manual early in their graduate careers
and to refer to it if in doubt about any aspect of graduate degree program policy.
THE ACADEMIC YEAR
The university operates on the semester basis. Each semester is normally 15 weeks in length,
but may vary slightly, without loss of academic time, to meet conditions at off-campus sites.
The semesters are designated fall, spring and summer; however, a site may have to conduct
more than one session during a given semester to accommodate students in scheduled mili-
tary courses and degree completion programs.
CREDIT HOURS
The credit-hour value of each course normally represents the number of class meeting hours
per week. Because there may be exceptions to this general rule, the course descriptions should
be consulted for the credit hours of specific courses.
COURSE CANCELLATION/SCHEDULE CHANGES
The university reserves the right to cancel classes for which there is insufficient enrollment, to
close a class when the enrollment limit in that class is reached and to make schedule changes
as necessary, including a change in time, days, credit or instructor. The university does take
the needs of students into account and schedule changes are made only when unavoidable.
FACULTY ADVISER SYSTEM
Each student is assigned a faculty adviser in his or her major academic unit at the beginning
of the first semester of attendance. The adviser monitors the student’s academic progress
toward a degree. A conference is held with each student prior to registration to ensure that
courses are scheduled in proper succession, that all relevant academic policies are adhered
to, and that the schedule best serves the academic needs of the student. Once arranged, the
schedule cannot be changed without the adviser’s written permission. The faculty adviser
is available throughout the academic year for consultation by appointment, and students are
strongly encouraged to seek the counsel of their faculty advisers in other matters beyond
registration and schedule changes.
14 Florida Institute of Technology