The Major in International Relations is a structured program of university study requiring completion of thirty semester hours of course work. In addition, before declaring their international relations major, students must complete one common prerequisite course (INR 2001 Introduction to International Relations). The major offers courses in geography, area studies, strategic studies, international law and organization and in international relations theory, and includes courses on various substantive issues in international relations. Students are encouraged to focus some course work on a particular region (such as Latin America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia/Caucasus and Russia/New Independent States).

A minor in international relations is also available.. 

For further information on opportunities for international relations majors, or for the double-major option in Geography, call the Department of International Relations at 305-348-2556. You may also download the advising guide for both International Relations & Geography Majors (and minors!) here.
 

I. General Information

 The purpose of this document is to provide students in the Department of International Relations with the latest general information regarding University, College of Arts and Sciences, and Department requirements for graduation.  It is not an official document and cannot provide answers to all of your specific, individual questions

 The University's Undergraduate Catalog is the definitive source of information about FIU degree programs.  Majors are expected to have read all information on the INR major in the Undergraduate Catalog carefully before coming for advisement.   A student is governed by the requirements in the catalog for the year in which s/he declares an INR major. This document begins with a summary of the Catalog information. Note that the Department changed its curriculum in Fall 1996, and only this new curriculum is covered in this Guide.
 

Courses

Prior to the registration periods preceding each semester, the University will publish a Class Schedule book. The schedule, which you obtain from Registration and Records (PC 130), provides all information regarding courses offered by all Departments within the University for that term, and guides you through the registration process (including registration by telephone).  Importantly, the Class Schedule also provides you with all key dates and deadlines for that semester, such as the last day to drop a course, deadline for applying for graduation, University holidays, and final examination schedules.  The Department also prints its own schedule in a day/time matrix, allowing you to see at a glance when our courses are offered.  You may obtain these in the Department's offices (DM 499) or in Arts & Sciences on the North Campus.
 

Course Levels

In principle, the higher the first digit of a course, the more difficult you can expect it to be.  The numbers 1-4 that start all undergraduate courses correspond roughly to your year in college [Freshman (1000 level), Sophomore (2000 level), etc.], although you will take many courses with numbers that do not correspond to your "year" in college. Students with fewer than 30 credits should generally avoid taking advanced (4000 level) courses.
 

 Advising

The Catalog and Class Schedule are the basic planning tools for designing your course of study.  There is considerable flexibility in the requirements of the College and Department to allow you to organize a specific, focused course of study to meet your individual needs. After you have read this document and the Catalog, you should make an appointment to see an adviser, who try to answer any remaining questions that you have. Bring a copy of your SASS (Student Academic Support System) report to your advising appointment.  Your adviser may have to refer you to the Department Chairperson, Department Adviser, or Associate Dean to get definitive answers to some questions.  Although neither the Department nor University requires you to see an adviser, it is strongly recommended.  After declaring your major, the Department will initially assign you a permanent adviser, on the campus of your choice, with whom you should try to schedule advising appointments.

 All advisers are regular, full-time members of the Department's faculty.  All members of the faculty maintain regular office hours, during which you may schedule appointments.  They are rarely available on a walk-in basis.  Never take it for granted that you will be able to consult with your adviser or another member of the faculty without an appointment.  Please do not ask the Departmental secretaries for academic advice or to arrange appointments on the spot with members of the faculty who may happen to be in their offices at that moment.
 

Tracking your Progress

We urge you to keep track of your progress towards graduation, since you are ultimately responsible for fulfilling all requirements.  Keep all of your semester grade/credit reports, copies of your transcript, your latest SASS report and our Departmental graduation checklist in a folder. The SASS report is an audit of the classes you have taken and the remaining requirements for completion of your degree.  As of Fall 1996, the SASS report must reflect successful completion of all University, College and Departmental requirements.  If your SASS report does not match your understanding of what requirements you have fulfilled, bring this to the attention of your adviser.
 

Registration/Automatic Drops

After advisement, you should enroll in the recommended classes, either in person or by phone.  Instructions for registration are listed in the Class Schedule.  If a class is closed due to space limitations, you may ask to be put on a waiting list, which is kept by the Department secretary.  Those gaining admission to a class via the waiting list will need to obtain an override card, to be turned in with their add/drop card.  It is important that you attend the first class session for all courses, but it is imperative that you attend the first session of courses which carry the "Must Attend First Class" notation because of the automatic drop rule.  If you fail to attend the first class of such courses, you may be dropped (in order to allow more students to enroll) and will not be allowed to re-enroll.
 

Dropping Courses

Students may drop a course, without academic penalty, up to a certain point in the semester and will receive a "DR" indication on their grade form.  The date by which students must drop a course without penalty is specified in the Catalog and Class Schedule.  If you drop a course after the official drop date, you will receive a "DF" notation on your grade form, which is the equivalent of an "F," and counts against your GPA.
 

Graduation

In the semester before the semester in which you plan to complete all graduation requirements, it is a good idea to spend some time with your adviser to do a final check on your progress towards completing all requirements.  During the semester that you will complete these requirements, you must file an Application for Graduation.  Consult the semester Course Schedule book for the deadline, which is earlier in the term than you might think.
 

Official Transcripts

The final academic transcript is the bridge between your education and your career.  As such, it is extremely important that you think about how others will see it.  Good grades, some specialization outside the Department (minors and certificates) and specialized courses (e.g., languages) are important in applying for graduate school, military service or other employment.
 

Letters of Recommendation

Faculty members will try to help you pursue your career goals through letters of recommendation.  In general, you should request letters only from those faculty members from whom you have taken at least one, and preferably two, courses.  Obviously, you will want to ask those faculty members in whose courses you performed particularly well.  Be sure to give the faculty member plenty of time (at least three weeks) to write such letters on your behalf.  It is helpful to provide anyone writing such letters with copies of your resume and transcripts.  Not planning ahead may prevent you from meeting deadlines.  Be sure to complete all requested information on application forms.  We recommend that you waive your right to see your letter, which lends it far more credibility than it would have otherwise; most letters of recommendation are written in confidence and are mailed directly by the faculty member to the institution or employer.
 

II.   Academic Learning Compacts (Mission Statement and Learning Outcomes)

Mission Statement

Student Learning Outcomes

III.  University and College Requirements

 The University and the College of Arts & Sciences both have requirements that students must fulfill before graduation.  They include:

• 120 credit hours of Coursework
• All Lower Division Core or General Education Requirements
• CLAST Exam
• Last 30 Credit Hours at FIU (Some exceptions w/Dean's approval)
• GPA of at least 2.00
• A total of 9 hours must be taken during summer

Credits

The University requires that you complete a total of at least 120 semester hours for graduation.  This figure includes transfer credits and credits taken at F.I.U.  The Admissions Office of FIU determines what prior credits can be transferred from other institutions, and how they count against FIU requirements.  These determinations are recorded on your admissions evaluation form, which is part of your permanent record.  If you believe that you should earn additional transfer credit at FIU for classes taken elsewhere, see the Departmental Chairperson or Departmental Adviser since the Department can occasionally award additional credits beyond those assigned by the admissions evaluator.
 

Core or General Education Requirements

The University requires that you complete a set of either Core Curriculum or General Education requirements.  If you entered the University with fewer than 37 credit hours, you are governed by the Core Curriculum; if you entered with 37 or more credits, you must fulfill the General Education Requirements.  A comprehensive listing of requirements is contained in the Catalog.  If you have completed an Associate's degree at a Florida junior or community college, you have by definition already fulfilled the General Education requirements.  In general, you should complete these requirements before beginning the upper division work for your major, minor or certificate.  INR majors should be aware that Introduction to International Relations (INR 2001) and World Regional Geography (GEA 2000) both count as Core Curriculum and General Education requirements, as well as Major requirements.
 

CLAST (College Level Academic Skills Test)

All students must demonstrate college level academic skills in communication and computation by either (a) passing the CLAST exam, or (b) by scoring at a certain level on the SAT or ACT, and achieving a 2.5 GPA (grade point average) in appropriate college courses.  Students may sit for the CLAST exam any time after having completed 18 semester hours, and should do so before reaching 90 credits.  A student MAY be able to waive the CLAST exam if s/he has earned over a 2.5 GPA in all Math and Language classes, AND earned the following SAT or ACT scores:
 

In such cases, students must complete a "CLAST Exemption Request Form," available from the Department secretary.  Note that you "register" for the CLAST exam as you do for a class, using the reference number in the Class Schedule book.
 

GPA and Minimum Credits

The University requires that students complete at least 30 credits at FIU, and that their overall GPA be at least 2.0.

College of Arts and Sciences Requirements include:

• At least 50 Credit Hours in Upper Division (3000 or 4000 level)
   (Including, in INR, the 27 Upper Division Major courses)
• At least a "C" (not "C-") in all courses required for major
• At least 9 Credit Hours (Upper Division) outside the major

Upper Division Credits, Grades, Breadth

The College requires that at least 50 (of the 120) credits of each student be at the Upper Division level (in Florida, 3000 or 4000 level).  The College further requires that students earn a grade of "C" or higher (not C-) in all courses to be applied to the major.  A minimum of D (not D-) is required for other courses.  While students may take more than the 33 credits required for an International Relations major, at least 9 credits must be taken from another Department.
 

IV.   Notes and Clarifications

IMPORTANT NOTE:  ALL COURSES FOR MAJORS AND MINORS MUST BE OFFERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (at either campus) ONLY.  Specifically, courses with an INR prefix offered by the Department of Political Science and courses with a GEO prefix offered by the Department of Geology DO NOT count for credits towards a major in International Relations.

 All Departmental courses except the core courses are marked in the Catalog with one of the abbreviations (FP, IL, etc.) used above after the various areas.  Completing a course marked with that abbreviation fulfills that area.  Note that each major must take four courses (12 credits) from courses in Group II, meaning that each student will take at least two courses in one area.  This curriculum is designed to ground students in the important concepts of International Relations and Geography, while allowing them to develop particular expertise in a region or specific topics.

 The fourth course under Group II might also be an Independent Study.  An Independent Study course allows students to do research in a specialized area of interest for them that is not covered by a course offered by the Department.  Students who wish to pursue an Independent Study course should develop a preliminary area of enquiry on their own before approaching a professor with whom they wish to enroll.  Please note that the professor must give approval for a student to enroll in an independent study under his or her direction, and that such enrollment is at the discretion of the professor.  In general, students should have previously taken a course from the independent study professor, and will work in that professor's area of expertise.  An Independent Study course normally earns 3 credits, but you may sign up for more or fewer credits, with an appropriate adjustment in the amount of work required, under special and compelling circumstances (e.g., you need 2 or 4 credits to graduate)
 

A.  Concerning University and College Policies

1.  Course Distribution:  You may take more than ten courses (30 credits) offered by the Department of International Relations towards your degree.  Of the 50 credits of upper level course work required by the College of Arts & Sciences, only 9 credits must be taken in other departments.

2.  Incomplete Grades:  Under certain severe circumstances, and with the approval of the professor, students may receive an "Incomplete" notation in lieu of a grade for a course in which they fail to complete all requirements.  (Incomplete work under most circumstances, however, will lead to a grade of "F.")  If you receive an "incomplete" in lieu of a letter grade, you must fill out a form, signed by you and the professor, indicating by what date you will complete the incomplete work.  In all cases, incompletes must be made up within two semesters, after which time they change to the grade of "F."

3.  Second Degrees:  A student may earn a second degree (not major) by earning 150 credit hours.  In this case the student receives two separate diplomas and degree notations on her official transcripts.

4.  Academic Misconduct:  Academic misconduct, which is explained in the Student Handbook, include cheating and plagiarism.  Students should review the categories of misconduct, the penalties for such, and their rights and responsibilities.  Students who are convicted of academic misconduct by a University panel will have the conviction noted on their academic transcripts (permanent record).
 

B.  Concerning Departmental Policies

1.  Courses for the Major:  Only courses taught by INR faculty will count towards your major in International Relations.  Except as provided in paragraph 4 below.  This means:

a. Courses taken in other Departments, including those with an INR prefix taught in Political   Science,  DO NOT count towards your major.
b. Only sections of World Prospects and Issues taken from an INR faculty member will fulfill the Issues and Problems requirement for the major.

3.  Minors, Certificates, Second Majors:Many students will want to earn minors, certificates or second majors, but these are not required.  Minors are a more limited course of study within a Department (usually 15-21 credits), while Certificates are given in inter-disciplinary fields (Latin American Studies, African-New World Studies, Women's Studies, etc.).  Though not required, minors or certifications may well help students to develop skills or fields of expertise that support career enhancement.

4.  Transfer Courses for the Major:  Upper Division courses taken at other colleges may sometimes be used to fulfill INR Department requirements.  If a student feels that s/he has taken a course that covers the same area of a required INR course, s/he should bring this to the attention of the Chairperson or Faculty Advisor for International Relations; either of these two Departmental Faculty can render a judgement about whether transfer credits can cover Departmental requirements.

5.  Course Repetition: You should not repeat courses taken elsewhere.  In fact, graduation auditors will disallow a course taken at FIU if it is a duplicate of a course which you completed at another college or university.

6.  Course Sequence:  You should generally start with our two 2000-level courses, INR 2001 and GEA 2000 before preceding to higher level courses.  GEA 2000 is recommended, but not required, preparation for Upper Division Geography courses.  It is required that you take INR 2001, and recommended that you take INR 3013, before taking INR 4603.  Only a few courses, including INR 4603, have formal prerequisites.