Arts
and Sciences Advising Center:
A Bit
About Requirements
SASS, Transfer Course Work and the HLM
The SASS Report (Student Automated Support System) is a computerized degree audit. It keeps track of all of your requirements: University, College and Major.
Your goal (think of it like a video game) is to make all the “NO”s turn into “OK”s. When that happens, and there are no more “NO”s left on your SASS report you get a happy little message (HLM) across the top which reads:
*****ALL REQUIREMENTS IDENTIFIED
BELOW HAVE BEEN MET*****
PENDING COMPLETION OF CURRENT REGISTRATION IP COURSES
When you get that message that’s a very good sign, though not a 100% guarantee, that you are ready to graduate at the end of the term.
Apply Transfer Course Work to University
Core Curriculum Requirements
Now SASS is programmed to automatically recognize FIU courses, but SASS is NOT programmed to automatically recognize many transfer courses. That’s why, if you are a transfer student and wish to have your transfer courses applied to FIU degree requirements, you may need to sit with your major advisor and identify relevant transfer course work.
To apply transfer course work to University Core Curriculum requirements (The UCC, The first 7 boxes on your SASS report) your Advisor will fill out a “University Core Curriculum Transfer Equivalency Request Form.”
Four Steps
Step One:
The University Core Curriculum Transfer Equivalency Request Form is a table; in one column your advisor will write the prefix and number of your appropriate transfer course, in the next the equivalent FIU course’s prefix and number. (Sometimes, the course fits a requirement even though there is no equivalent FIU course. In that case, the advisor would simply write the name of the UCC requirement you are hoping to satisfy with the transfer course.)
Step Two
Once your advisor identifies all the relevant courses, he or she will highlight them on a printed copy of your FIU unofficial transcript and give both the UCC Transfer Equivalency Form and the highlighted transcript to you.
Step Three:
You then must get catalog descriptions for each of the courses indicated. Most Colleges and Universities have an official institutional catalog listing all the courses offered by that institution along with a description of each. Sometimes these are available online. If you print the description from off the web, be sure to include the URL. Once you have the description for each course, return the entire package (Form, Transcript, Descriptions) to your advisor.
Step Four:
Your advisor will complete the form and forward the package to the Office of Undergraduate Studies. That office will either approve or deny the recommendations that you and your advisor have made. Once they do, they forward their decisions to the SASS Office to adjust your SASS report accordingly. They also send a copy to your student file in your major department so that you have a record of what was approved, etc.
Naturally, if your advisor has any question or difficulties, she or he can always call the College of Arts and Sciences Advising Center (305 348-2978). Additionally, because international transfer credits are particularly challenging, students with international transfer course work are encouraged to make an appointment to see Kenton Harris in the College of A&S Advising Center (305 348-2978).
Apply Transfer Course Work to Major Requirements
Your advisor in your major program has the discretion of using transfer course work in partial fulfillment of major requirements. Once he or she has determined what transfer courses will be used for what major requirements, your advisor will fill out a “SASS Substitution Form” (available at http://www.fiu.edu/~sass/) and then forward it to the College of Arts & Sciences Advising Center (ECS 411. (Remember that a College of Arts & Sciences rule states that at least half the course work counting towards the fulfillment of an FIU Major, Minor or Certificate program but be FIU courses.)