Academic Information & Policies
ATTENDANCE
All new students are strongly encouraged to attend orientation, during which they will be informed about college facilities, student services, and general policies, including scheduling of classes, grading, transfer of coursework, finances, and job placement.
ORIENTATION
FINANCIAL CLEARANCE
INSTRUCTION
All instruction at FIDM is in English.
FIDM does not take attendance, and attendance does not have any direct effect on a student’s final grade. However, attending class regularly does have a positive effect on a student’s experience and overall perfor-mance. FIDM highly encourages students to attend classes regularly in order to be the most successful.
Financial clearance is the initial step in the process leading to registration for classes each quarter. All students must complete financial clearance through a Fiscal Counselor in the Student Financial Services Office. Typically, this process may include:
– Making all scheduled tuition and fee payments per their schedule of payments, including any adjustments
– Fulfilling other non-tuition financial obligations such as library fines and other book charges
– Requesting financial aid (if applicable), com-pleting and turning in all information or other documentation requested by the student’s Financial Aid Officer
– Resolving issues with other departments that are non-tuition related obligations such as I-20 status, or leave of absence paperwork
NEW STUDENT REGISTRATION
CHANGES TO DEGREE LOCATION / COMPLETION
New students register for classes before the beginning of their first quarter or on Orientation Day with assis-tance from Admissions and the Education Department. Students then submit their schedules to the Registrar for final approval.
CONTINUING STUDENT REGISTRATION
Registration for each upcoming quarter will take place during the latter part of the previous quarter. Any student who does not register for classes during this period will go through Late Registration during the first two weeks of classes.
SUCCESS SEMINAR PROGRAM
Success Seminar is a required program for all first-time college students; however, students with previous college experience are also encouraged to attend. Making a smooth transition into college life is an important step towards achieving success. The sem-inar teaches techniques to help improve study skills, time management, stress management, and online research skills; it provides a chance to get to know FIDM Students, Faculty, Staff, and other first-quarter participants.
FIRST WEEK OF CLASS
PREREQUISITES
ADVISEMENT SHEETS / PROGRAM COURSE SEQUENCE Each student is provided with an advisement sheet, which outlines the course of instruction in proper sequence. Students who follow the sequence precisely will meet all class requirements and will complete courses in the designated time period. Students who wish to make changes in the sequence of course requirements must have the approval of the Education Department and may have to purchase separate books or supplies. If students take courses out of sequence without approval, this may cause a delay in their gradu-ation date. Any student’s program that extends beyond one quarter from the scheduled completion date may be subject to a tuition increase.
FIDM schedules program starts and class sections to help students meet their education goals and graduate on time. In many majors, the first year of study is offered on both campuses (LA and OC). All students enrolling at the OC campus will be required to complete their second year in Los Angeles or in some majors, online. Occasionally, branch campus programs start at non-traditional times, which can cause a program to stretch beyond its published dates; these programs may also fail to maintain a minimum cohort size of five (5) students. In such a case, the program will continue but will be moved to the Los Angeles campus
(919 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90015).
FIDM also makes every effort to maintain stability in its scheduling of class days and times. Sufficient numbers of class sections to accommodate demand will always be available to students in the quarters in which they are scheduled to take those classes. Once a student has enrolled at FIDM and has received their schedule, the day and time a class meets will not be changed without consent from at least 90% of the stu-dents enrolled in the class. Very rarely, a course section may be cancelled due to low enrollment, and in such cases, students will be offered another section of that course or they can take another course requirement in its place for that quarter.
In order to hold an enrolled place in class, students must be present at the start of the first class session.
Prerequisites are preliminary courses covering infor-mation that is required prior to enrolling in another course.