Academics Policies and Procedures

To be eligible for admission at the junior year into the College of Design, Construction and Planning, students must have completed all requirements for the A.A. degree, passed the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) and completed two sequential foreign language courses in secondary school or 8-10 credits at the postsecondary level (or documented an equivalent level of proficiency). Admission at the junior/senior level is open to applicants who have completed all general education and preprofessional course work and qualify for enrollment into third-year professional course work.

Conditional admission is open to applicants who have accumulated 60 credits of college-level course work and met the admissions criteria, yet still need to complete first-year and second-year preprofessional courses. Generally, transfer students with an A.A. degree and CLAST or students from other universities that do not offer approved preprofessional programs or courses required at the University of Florida are considered for conditional admission into the junior year. These students may require as many as four semesters at the university to complete preprofessional requirements because of the sequential nature of the courses.

Each department/school may consider any or all of the following for admissions review:

• Quality of work completed, overall GPA and preprofessional GPA.
• Achievements in preprofessional courses and/or courses related to the chosen plan of study.
• Portfolio review or pin-up (design students).

Freshmen at the university are admitted directly to the college. The college will monitor the progress of all students. Students who fall below the critical tracking criteria for the degree program will have a hold placed on their records and they must see an adviser in the college/academic unit before they can advance register and continue in the program. They also may be referred to the Academic Advising Center to seek admission to another college.

Transfer students who will receive their Associate of Arts degree from a Florida public institution must meet or exceed the 60-hour admission protocols for admission to the college. The admission protocols for each department are as follows:

Architecture: Through an admissions committee, the School of Architecture annually selects students to enter third-year professional studies. All students who satisfactorily complete the two-year preprofessional programs at the University of Florida or Miami-Dade, Broward, St. Petersburg (Clearwater) and Hillsborough community colleges are eligible for consideration for third-year admission. Applications for transfer from one of the approved preprofessional programs must be filed by the deadline. Transfer students with conditional admission status (3AR or above) also must notify the department.

Interior Design: Transfer students must consult the program adviser. Students in the pre-design programs at Miami-Dade, Broward, St. Petersburg and Hillsborough community colleges must contact the department for the preprofessional courses not available at those colleges.

Students who need to complete preprofessional requirements should apply to the Summer A term to begin the architectural design sequences. The remaining preprofessional courses may be completed during the next academic year. Students accepted for the sequence are admitted conditionally, and their records will be reviewed during the next spring term for entry into the professional courses in the junior year.

Students are admitted selectively to the professional program on the basis of portfolio review, overall grade point average, interview and letter of application. Notification of the admission decision will be made before the end of the spring semester for the junior class that begins that fall. Contact the department for current information.

Landscape Architecture: Transfer students must contact the department to determine admission timing and eligibility. All students must complete the general education and preprofessional course work before admission to professional studies. Criteria for admission include review of design performance, transcript, letter and interview.

Building Construction: Refer to the M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction section of this catalog.

The programs in architecture, interior design and landscape architecture will admit students for third-year professional course work only in the fall. Students who need to complete some or all of the preprofessional requirements shall be reviewed for the fall and Summer A semesters only. The Office of the University Registrar (for transfer students) or the dean’s office (for UF students) must receive applications and all required credentials as follows:

• Architecture – February 18
• Interior Design – March 15
• Landscape Architecture – May 5

Application deadlines for Summer A are listed in the university calendar. Applicants unable to meet these deadlines may apply on a space-available basis.

The M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction will admit students for third-year professional course work in the fall and spring semesters. Refer to the Building Construction section for application deadlines.

Freshman and sophomore advising begins in the dean’s office. Transfer students and those students classified 3AR and above are to report to their school/department:

• Architecture, 231 ARCH
• Building Construction, FAC 106
• Interior Design, 336 ARCH
• Landscape Architecture, 336 ARCH
• Urban and Regional Planning, 431 ARCH

Maximum and Minimum Loads: A normal load is 14-16 credits per semester. A student may be permitted to register for more than 17 hours when the adviser feels the student’s record justifies it.

The minimum is 12 credit hours for full-time status; students who wish to take fewer credits should be aware that certain university privileges and benefits require full-time status. It is the student’s responsibility to verify the minimum academic load necessary.

Students who seek an adjustment to their academic load may petition the dean through the director of student services and the appropriate department chair.

While the preprofessional and professional course sequence must be maintained, variation of general education and elective course work may occur. The four-year plans shown require an average of more than 16 credits per term, which may not be appropriate for all students. Students should plan their curricula well in advance, so that course sequence and credit-hour loads will accommodate the most effective academic progress, regardless of the number of terms required.

Dean’s List: Undergraduate students who are enrolled full time in a semester and who earn a grade point average of 3.7 or better will be placed on the Dean’s List. Students with grades of I* or N* are not eligible.

Student Work: The college can retain student work for the purpose of record, exhibition or instruction. Work produced while the student is enrolled in the college is the property of the college.

Practical Experience: Before graduating, students should get experience in the employment of practicing professionals in their field or in some allied profession. Such employment provides an introduction to the methods of actual practice and enables the student to derive increased benefit from advanced work in school. Students should contact their adviser for recommended or required practical experience.

Field Trips: Each year there are field trips to give students an opportunity to broaden and expand their educational experience through study of planning, design and construction projects. Students frequently combine such studies with attendance at state and national professional meetings.

Students should plan to have adequate funds available for field trips, equipment and tools essential to their education as design, planning or construction professionals. These expenses also include a weeklong field trip that is required of all junior- and senior-level architecture, interior design and landscape architecture students.

Supplemental fees also are required for participation in off-campus programs, including the Vicenza Institute of Architecture (VIA). It may be necessary to assess studio fees to defray increasing costs of base maps and other materials.

Computer Requirement: Personal computer design, graphic and operational competence is an essential component of the contemporary professional environment. Appropriate computer skills are now required for all entry-level opportunities in each professional discipline within the college.

Course content increasingly relies on computer skills and personal access to computers with the proper software.

All students entering third-year professional programs and entering graduate programs within the college must purchase, lease or otherwise obtain continuing access to a personal computer. Each academic unit within the college will maintain information concerning computer hardware and software requirements, as appropriate to the discipline and curriculum.