2017-18 AcademicCatalog - 136

Student positions sometimes require up to 20 hours of
work per week. Job applications are available through the
Office of Student Services. (Students are paid at the current
minimum wage.)
Off Campus
Local companies call the College during the scholastic
year in search of evening and weekend workers. These
positions, some of which require specialized technical skills,
are advertised by the vice president for academic affairs. In
addition, calls are received from private individuals seeking
temporary help. Openings are posted on the bulletin board
outside the Office of Academic Affairs.

Computer Labs

Many computer labs are found on campus, most of which are
dedicated to a specific technical area. A general computer
lab, located in the lower level of the Learning Resources
Center, serves the campus for computer classes, general
assignments, e-mail functions, and internet research and
exploration. This lab is available to students at various times
during the day and in the evenings until 10 pm.

Classification of Students

Full-Time
A full-time student must maintain at least 12 credits during
a semester. Exceptions require the approval of the vice
president for academic affairs.
Part-Time
Part-time students are those who are registered for fewer
than 12 credits. The College will accept part-time, tuitionpaying, nonresident students into general education,
technical, and evening courses, provided that vacancies
exist in a particular area. The tuition rate is by contact hour.
Further information is available in the Office of Financial Aid
and Registration.

Credit Value and Course Numbers

The semester hour.
The credit value of courses is expressed in semester hours.
Lecture courses are designed to require approximately
the same number of hours of class time per week as the
semester hours of credits they are assigned. Laboratory
based courses are designed to require three times the
number of hours of lab time per week as the semester
hours of credits they are assigned. A course that combines
lecture and lab components requires a mix of the these
requirements based upon their distribution of semester
hours of credit between lecture and lab. In addition, students
are expected to complete a minimum of two hours of "outof-class" time for each week with every credit of instruction.
Course numbers.
Each course taught at the College is identified by a code
of letters and numbers. (e.g WELD 125) The letters are an
abbreviation for the program within which they are found.
The three digit numbers indicate the semester in which the
student would enroll during their studies. Courses numbered
100 through 149 are usually taken in the first semester;
courses numbered 150 through 199 are usually taken in the
second semester; courses numbered 200 through 249 are
usually taken in the third semester; and courses numbered
250 through 299 are usually taken in the fourth semester.
136 * Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology

General Education Requirements

General education courses are required of all majors at
Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology. These courses
support academic work within the major, enhance
employment skills, and help prepare students for full,
effective lives as citizens.
Students are required to successfully complete a total of 25
general education credits for graduation. General education
courses include the liberal arts and science core and general
education applied courses.
Liberal Arts and Science Core
These courses emphasize theoretical concepts, critical and
analytical thinking skills, and numerical and verbal literacy.
Students are required to successfully complete at least 18
credits from the liberal arts and science core.
These 18 credits must include 1 course from each of the
following 4 core areas:
* Mathematics (MATH)
* English (ENG)
* Science (includes PHYS, BIO, etc.)
* Humanities (includes all SOC, ECON, HIST)
General Education Applied Courses
These courses emphasize practical application of skills are
general in scope and content (non-major specific), support
student employability, academic achievement, and student
personal development.
Courses include:
* Business (BUSN)
* Computer Information Systems (CIS)
* Health (HEAL)
Students may apply up to 7 general education applied
course credits to graduation requirements.

Scheduling/Registration

Because of the number of students who normally register
for classes, on-time registration is encouraged. Specific
days/times are established for this process. The sophomore
class has priority in signing up for general education classes.
Students may obtain copies of the model schedule from
their academic advisors.

Course Selection and Graduation Requirements

Students are responsible for fulfilling their graduation
requirements, whether general education or technical.
Academic advisors assist students in planning course
selections, but the final responsibility for meeting graduation
requirements rests with each student.
With an academic advisor's help, students should schedule
and register for the required general education courses
listed on their model schedules. Departures from these
requirements are only acceptable if approved by the
academic advisor and the vice president for academic
affairs.

Academic Year/Semesters

The academic year is divided into two sessions of 16 weeks:
a fall and a spring semester. Summer sessions are held from
May through August for pre-major and program courses.

Finals Week

Although finals are administrated in most technical and
general education courses during the last week of the

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2017-18 AcademicCatalog