Faculty members are grouped by area of expertise into academic divisions and departments. Divisions typically have responsibility for coordinating programs leading to at least one registered degree. Departments typically have responsibility for coordinating a single major area of concentration. However, not all disciplines are represented by a separate department at Five Towns College. For example, the English faculty members are assigned to the Liberal Arts and Sciences/General Education Division.
For administrative convenience, the College is organized into seven academic divisions and one department to coordinate the effective delivery of educational programs and services. Divisions include Business, Film/Video, Liberal Arts and Sciences/General Education, Mass Communication, Music, Interactive Computer Graphics, and Theatre Arts. Departments include Audio Recording Technology and Music Education.
All undergraduate college-level courses offered by Five Towns College have a 100 – 400 course number designation. Undergraduate non-college level course have a 000 – 099 course number designation. Graduate courses have a 500 – 800 level designation. Courses adopted or revised by the faculty after January 1, 2017 may be expected to adhere to the protocol set forth below.
Undergraduate Courses
Remedial and Developmental Courses
000 level courses are remedial or developmental in nature, and are designed to provide a basic foundation for college-level work. Typically, students in 000 level courses are required to successfully complete these courses as a condition of continued matriculation. They are not, however, typically a basis for conditional admission. Students pursuing courses at this level are fully matriculated students. 000 level courses typically include those designed to remediate identified weaknesses in reading, writing, mathematics and English language arts. Special conditions apply when students seek financial aid in support of these classes. Students receiving financial aid should consult with the financial aid office, before registering for a 000 level course. 000 level courses typically carry equated credits – credits which apply for all purposes except graduation.
Lower Division
A student who has earned fewer than 60 credits are classified as a freshman or sophomore and typically enrolls in 100 and 200 level courses. Courses offered at this level are designated as lower-division. All coursework taken at a community or two-year college is considered to be lower-division and will not be transferred into Five Towns College for upper-division credit without the written approval of the College Provost.
100 level courses are generally foundation or survey in nature. The work presented presupposes no prior content knowledge base beyond which would typically be expected of a first-year student. 100 level courses typically have no prerequisites and require no independent research on the topics presented.
200 level courses explore a narrower field or topic within a broader discipline. Prior content knowledge of the broader discipline may be helpful, but is not a prerequisite for student understanding and success.
Research assignments and oral presentations may be included in 200 level courses with greater frequency than might be observed in 100 level courses; but if they are present, such tasks are generally characterized by greater faculty guidance than would be present in upper-level 300 and 400 level courses.
Upper Division
A student who has earned more than 59 credits is classified as a junior or senior as the case may be, and typically enrolls in 300 and 400 level courses. Courses offered at this level are designated as upper- division.
300 level courses explore narrower fields or topics within a broader discipline and presuppose the existence of a content knowledge base which may be prerequisite for student understanding and success. When prerequisites are not evident, students are typically expected to demonstrate sufficient base knowledge, skills, and competencies when seeking permission to register for these courses. 300 level courses typically have research, writing and oral presentation requirements which are characterized by less faculty guidance and greater student independence.
400 level courses generally focus upon advanced topics within a broader discipline and presuppose the existence of a well-developed content knowledge base, which is demonstrated by prerequisite coursework and program pursuit. Students should generally be ready to engage in independent research and learning activities with some faculty direction. Students without such prerequisite coursework and general education competencies would rarely be expected to enroll in such classes without special permission. 400 level courses may also include capstone classes where students are expected to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and competencies expected of program completers in the applicable content area and in general education. Research papers, final projects, directed study and other student work is generally faculty mentored, but rarely faculty led.
Graduate Courses
Students who have been accepted for matriculation into a graduate degree program, or who have special permission, may be classified as graduate students eligible to register for graduate level courses. Typically, graduate students must have first earned an undergraduate degree before enrolling in graduate level courses.
500, 600, and 700 level courses are graduate level courses, typically taken by students matriculated in a master’s degree program. These courses share many of the characteristics of 400-level courses, except that students in 500 – 700 level courses will always be expected to engage in independent research and learning activities with limited faculty direction. Resulting independent research projects, including presentations constitute a substantial portion of the final grade in these courses. 500 – 700 level graduate courses require a significant increase in student effort hours, in comparison to upper-division courses. This includes, but is not limited to, more rigorous, expansive and demanding research projects and papers.
Qualified seniors with prerequisite knowledge and a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher may be permitted to register for graduate level courses at the undergraduate tuition rate, to complete the requirements for a bachelor’s degree. A qualified student must have the approval of their academic advisor and the division chair at the time of registration. The credits earned by undergraduates in this context may not subsequently be applied toward fulfillment of a graduate degree requirement.
800 level courses are only open to doctoral degree candidates.
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