General Information

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Academic Calendar

Academic calendars can be found here. The program of regular semesters is based on the 4 x 4 calendar with fall 2012 classes beginning September 4 and concluding (through final exams) December 19. Spring 2013 classes begin January 28 and conclude (through final exams) May 2018 The January Session, the period between semesters, can be used as a holiday, for independent or group study programs or for special educationally related projects. Credit courses are offered during this session. For information, consult the Office of Academic Records.

Change of Address

Students must report a change of their home or local address to the Office of Academic Records immediately. Change of address can also be processed through the Hofstra Online Information System.

Change of Major/Minor/Specialization/Concentration/Degree

In order to facilitate orientation and advisement of a student to his or her new major, students must report any change in their major, minor, specialization, concentration, or degree on the official Change of Study form to the Office of Academic Records. Any change requires a signature from the new department indicating that the student has notified the new department and has been made aware of all requirements. Students are not required to obtain a signature from the program or major they are leaving.

Class Schedules

Classes at Hofstra begin at 7 a.m., Monday through Friday. Classes are usually scheduled for meetings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with 55-minute periods, or on Tuesday and Thursday with 85-minute periods. Laboratory sessions are scheduled separately from the regular lecture hours for a course.

Evening classes are normally scheduled on Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday combinations. However, some 200-level and 2-semester hour courses meet once weekly as do courses scheduled on Saturday.

Common Hour

To facilitate student and faculty participation in extracurricular and cocurricular events, the schedule of undergraduate day classes leaves open a common hour on Wednesdays from 11:15 a.m. to 12:40 p.m.

Elective

An elective is a course students choose to take either because of their special interest in it, because it helps to satisfy their intellectual curiosity or because it complements their college degree requirements. An elective course may be outside of a student’s field or discipline, or it may have a direct relationship to his/her degree program. Limits are placed on the number of elective credits students can earn, and students must consult with a faculty adviser when planning a program of study.

Full-time Study

Hofstra University has a full-time undergraduate student body of approximately 8,000 students usually attending classes between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Friday. Some part-time undergraduates and graduates also attend during these hours. The regular day program is organized into two fifteen-week semesters. The average full-time student (registered for 12 to 17 semester hours) completes all course work for the degree in four academic years.

Full-time Undergraduate Status

Undergraduate students are considered full time if they are registered for a minimum of 12 semester hours per semester. Off-Campus Education courses and credits are counted in the 12 semester hours. Education students are considered as full-time students if they are enrolled in student teaching plus one additional required course, where appropriate. University Without Walls students are considered full time according to the criteria specified in the specific program guidelines.

Liberal Arts

A liberal arts course is designed to help students grasp the range of possibilities for shaping their lives with particular reference to the formulation of their thoughts, sensibilities and notions of meaning. Such courses concern themselves with questions of basic human values and with the ways of understanding the character and organization of reality. They focus upon the various approaches to self-examination and the inquiry into the outside world of nature and society.

It is an underlying assumption of all liberal arts courses that we must make ourselves aware of, and evaluate, the ends toward which we apply our intellectual efforts and develop our feelings. Liberal arts courses stress the development of clarity of expression, power of discovery and creative imagination. Techniques of communication and the applications of theory to practice are crucial objectives of education, but courses which emphasize skills as preprofessional training are not considered liberal arts courses.

All courses in the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, New College for Interdisciplinary Studies, Honors College and the School of Communication are liberal arts courses unless otherwise indicated. All courses in the Zarb School of Business and the School of Education are not for liberal arts credit unless otherwise noted. The following lists the courses that are exceptions to the general rules just stated:

Division of the Humanities
all are liberal arts courses except:
AH 168
DRAM 005, 013, 014, 015, 016, 017, 018, 019, 020, 021, 022, 023, 024, 031, 032, 033, 034, 054, 055, 056, 155, 156
ENGL 170, 174, 178, 178A, 178B, 178C, 178D
MUS 030, 031 through 038A, 039A, 051, 52, 107, 107A, 108, 109, 110, 172, 172A, 173, 174, 175, 190, 191, 101C-122C, 101D-120D, 122D

Division of the Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Engineering and Computer Science
all are liberal arts courses except:
BCHM 173, 182, 183
CHEM 111, 173, 182, 183, 192
CSC 125, 163, 172, 173, 183, 184, 188, 197A, 197B
ENGG 001, 032B, 034, 062, 143A, 143D, 143E, 143F, 143G, 143J, 143K, 154, 160A, 163, 169, 170, 178, 180, 187, 192, 195, 199
FOR 120, 130, 140, 160, 165, 180, 181, 185, 192 A-Z, 195
GEOL 020, 104, 120, 131
PHA 001, 002, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 130, 131, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175, 180, 190

Division of the Social Sciences
all are liberal arts courses except:
PSY 088, 179
SPCH 138

Military Science
all are liberal arts courses except:
MS 001C, 001E, 002C, 002E and associated leadership laboratories

School of Communication
all are liberal arts courses except:
JRNL 010, 015, 016, 017, 025, 026, 027, 055, 056, 059, 074, 075, 076
PR 105, 107, 150, 151, 170, 171, 199
RTVF 014, 021, 023, 024, 026, 040, 041, 042, 043, 044, 061 A-Z, 064, 065, 066, 074, 084, 091, 094, 100, 104, 106, 107, 120, 134, 144, 145, 148, 152, 161, 164, 165, 167, 168A, 168B

School of Education
the only liberal arts courses are:
FDED 111, 112, 115, 127, 131
LYST 012
PESP 159

Hofstra University Honors College
all are liberal arts courses except:
HUHC 021 A-Z

Special Project Courses are not for liberal arts credit.

Matriculated Student

A student who has successfully satisfied all admission requirements and has been officially accepted into a degree program at the University.

Part-time Study

Hofstra University encourages the enrollment of undergraduate part-time students who vary greatly in age and educational objectives. Primarily, these students are older than the typical full-time day undergraduates, have major responsibilities outside the University, have gaps between their high school graduation and attending college, or between attending one college and another. They attend college on a part-time basis and attend in the evening. There are, however, many variations to these patterns, and individual needs-such as the needs of those who must attend during the day-can be accommodated. All regular degree requirements and academic standards of the University apply to part-time students.

Part-time students with no previous college credits generally require six to eight years to complete all requirements for bachelor’s degrees. They usually enroll in two or three courses, totaling six to nine semester hours of credit, each semester. Although part-time study is intended primarily for students who plan to earn degrees, enrollment is open to students who wish to further their education in specific areas if they meet admission and course requirements.

Requests for information or course schedules for evening programs should be directed to the Office of Admission. Semester schedules include pertinent information on admission and registration procedures. The Office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. throughout the year for assistance with academic questions.

Semester Hour

Semester hour is the term used to describe the number of credits received by the student for successfully completing a specific course. The definition of semester hour is “one one-hour period of participation in class per week, or a minimum of two hours of laboratory or studio work per week for one semester, or the equivalent.”

It should be noted that the semester-hour credit given a course is not necessarily equal to the actual number of hours spent in the class. This applies particularly to courses in the sciences and fine arts, where laboratory or studio sessions are scheduled in addition to regular class lectures.

Most courses are given credit of between two and four semester hours; a full-time student normally registers for 15 or 17 semester hours, consisting of five or six courses for each semester, chosen with the aid of a faculty adviser. No student may register for over 18 semester hours without special permission of the major adviser and the dean of the academic unit.

Part-time evening students are advised to limit their program to nine semester hours in the spring and fall semesters except by special permission. For Summer Session enrollment see that section in this Bulletin.

In the case of full-year courses both semesters of the course must be satisfactorily completed before semester hour credit can be received for either semester.

Since all courses are not offered every semester, students should consult the Semester Planning Guide for specific offerings before registering for their programs.

Senior Citizen Tuition Discount

To encourage their participation and extend the benefits of its community service program, Hofstra University provides for a 50 percent tuition discount for senior citizens registered in credit courses on campus.

To be eligible for this discount, a registrant must be at least 60 years of age. The age qualification is to be verified at time of registration.

Study Time

Each student should schedule study time for each week equal to at least twice the number of hours spent in class.

Visiting Students: Registration Procedures

Students enrolled at an accredited college or university wishing to attend Hofstra during any session are required to submit written documentation from their home institution confirming their academic good standing, their eligibility to continue classes at their home institution, that there are no pending disciplinary proceedings against them and that they have not been convicted of any felony or misdemeanor charges and there are currently no pending criminal charges against them. Students visiting Hofstra accept full responsibility for University tuition, fees and other applicable charges in effect at Hofstra for the session or semester of attendance. Visiting undergraduate students shall not be permitted to enroll in graduate courses at Hofstra. All visiting students shall be accepted through the Office of Admission.

This Bulletin lists all the undergraduate courses offered by the University in its programs.

Courses numbered from 1 to 199 are for undergraduates only. All courses below the 200 level do not carry graduate credit.

Courses numbered 200 and above are for graduate credit. Zarb School of Business courses numbered 200 and above are open only to matriculated graduate students in the School of Business and, where appropriate, in the School of Communication and the School of Education. In addition, Zarb School of Business undergraduate students enrolled in a B.B.A./M.B.A. or B.B.A./M.S. program may take up to two graduate-level courses (6 s.h.) under advisement as part of the undergraduate program. 2000-level courses are graduate courses offered in conjunction with 100-level courses, for which graduate students are expected to fulfill substantially enhanced requirements.

Course numbers with A through Z designations usually indicate that as individual subjects are selected, each is assigned a letter and added to the course number. The course may be taken any number of times as long as there is a different letter designation each time it is taken.

The University reserves the right to withdraw any scheduled course without notice.

The emphasis of this mini-semester (an intensive session starting the first week in January) is on diversity-there are beginning, advanced and courses of general interest; courses earning up to three credits; day, evening and weekend courses; on-campus and off-campus courses and courses that involve travel.

Students attending this session may not earn more than three semester hours of credit or four semester hours of credit if offered on that basis.

Students may attend the January Session on one of four bases:

1. as former or continuing students in good standing;
2. as students who are attending the University for the first time;
3. as visiting students from other accredited colleges or universities provided they are enrolled and are in good standing at those institutions (visiting students expecting to transfer credits earned during the January Session to another college should get advance official approval from that institution for course work to be taken);
4. high school graduates interested in taking a course. Information on registration, tuition and fees, course offerings, schedules, etc., can be found in the January Session Bulletin, which is available upon request from the Office of Admission.

The University offers a full program of day and evening undergraduate courses during two separate five-week academic sessions, and one three-week session each summer. Day and evening classes usually meet Monday through Thursday.

No undergraduate student may enroll in one summer session for more than six semester hours, or if three- and four-credit hour courses - seven semester hours. For the three-week session, no undergraduate student may take more than one three- or four-credit course. Exceptions to the above may be granted when special circumstances and the student’s special capacities for the work permit. Written approval is required of the dean of the academic unit of the major or proposed major field of study.

Once matriculated, current students may not take courses at other educational institutions. Only in rare cases and for exceptional and extenuating circumstances will a request to attend another educational institution be considered. To request a waiver from this policy, please contact the appropriate Dean’s Office who must approve any waiver in advance. Please note that documentation of the extenuating circumstance(s) may be required. Students with junior or senior standing (60 or more hours) are not permitted to enroll for courses at junior or community colleges offering two-year terminal programs. (See Transfer Credit Policy for complete requirements.) See also “Attending Other Colleges” in the Forms, Deadlines and Filing Instructions section of this Bulletin.

Study Abroad courses taken at other institutions are the exception. Students studying abroad either directly at foreign institutions or under the auspices of other U.S. institutions may still arrange to have their credits counted toward the completion of Hofstra degree requirements. It is important to remember, however, to get permission from the Office of Study Abroad Programs to transfer those credits BEFORE going abroad.

Visiting students are permitted to attend Hofstra University summer session(s) provided they are enrolled at another accredited college or university. Students expecting to transfer summer credits to another institution should get advance official approval of their selection of courses from that college. A special application form for visiting students can be found in the Summer Sessions Bulletin, which is available in the Office of Admission. On request, an official transcript of all credits earned is forwarded to each visiting student’s college after the summer sessions. There is no fee for an official transcript ordered online; for a student copy, the cost is $5 per transcript.

Details of the course offerings and schedules, as well as information about residence halls, may be obtained by inquiring at the Office of Admission.