Computer Technology Transfer

Program coordinator.
Bachelor Degree program in Computer Technology.
Prerequisites.
Deficiencies.
Transfer of credits to the upper division.
Transcripts evaluation.
Upper division requirements.
Common problems and questions.
Holds.
Curriculum audit.
Registration difficulties.
Taking courses at another institution.
Calculus.
English.
Minors.
Graduate school.

Program coordinator: Dr. Marie-Thérèse Daulard
e-mail: daulard@adm.njit.edu
Office hours: see home page

Address:
Engineering Technology
New Jersey Institute of Technology
University Heights
Newark, NJ 07102-1982

Departmental Web site: www.njit.edu/ET

The bachelor degree program in Computer Technology consists of four years of studies. The first two years (freshman and sophomore) are called the lower division, and bring the student to an associate degree or its equivalent. They are generally completed in a community college. The last two years (junior and senior) are called the upper division and bring the student to the Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Technology, option Computer Technology. They are completed at NJIT.

Lower division requirements.
In order to qualify for transfer to NJIT, you must have completed the following prerequisites as part of the lower division, with a grade of C or better.

General education:

Calculus I (4 credits)
Science such as biology, botany, chemistry, geology, physics. etc. (4 credits)
Communications / English composition (6 credits)
Humanities / Social Science / Psychology / Political Science (3 credits)
Economics / Accounting (recommended) (3 credits)
Physical Education (2 credits)

Computer technology: 24 credits including

Introduction to Programming (C++ or Java) (3 credits)
Data Structures / Advanced High Level Language Programming (3 credits)
Operating Systems (DOS, Windows, Unix) (3 credits)
Database Concepts with SQL (Access, dBase, Oracle) (3 credits)

Up to 64 credits are transferred to NJIT from the lower division.

Deficiencies and other shortcomings.
If you are missing a small number of the prerequisites, you may still be accepted for transfer at NJIT. These missing courses are called deficiencies. You must complete the missing courses as soon as possible after you have started at NJIT. You may take the deficiency courses at NJIT or any college of your choice, with the approval of your advisor. Note that a course taken at another institution will be transferred to NJIT with a grade of C or better only.

The missing credits are deducted from the maximum of 64 credits, even if the student has more than 64 transferable credits:

For example, a student comes in with 67 transferable credits on his transcript, but is missing Calculus I (4 credits) and Science (4 credits); we then transfer 64-8=56 credits.
Another student comes in with 57 transferable credits on his transcript, and is also missing Calculus I (4 credits) and Science (4 credits); we then transfer 64-8=56 credits.
A third student comes in with 52 transferable credits on his transcript, and is also missing Calculus I (4 credits) and Science (4 credits); we then transfer 52 credits, and on top of the Calculus I and Science deficiencies that student has a credit deficiency.

If deficiencies are made up by courses taken at another institution, you must request that transcripts be sent to NJIT as soon as possible. Note that a fee is required for this service by most institutions, and not all institutions perform it reliably and in a timely manner. Also, if a transcript is sent to the registrar, your advisor will not be informed, while if it's sent directly to your advisor, it will be forwarded to the registrar after a copy is made for your file in the Engineering Technology department. So it will save you time to have these late transcripts sent directly to your advisor:
Dr. Daulard, Engineering Technology
New Jersey Institute of Technology
University Heights
Newark, NJ 07102-1982

Students frequently apply for transfer to NJIT before they have completed their last semester at the community college. Their transcripts are evaluated in anticipation, but they must have the college send a new set of transcripts to NJIT as soon as possible after completion of the last semester. See previous paragraph for having late transcripts sent to us.

Transfer of credits in the upper division.
Some courses taken at a community college will occasionally be considered transferable to the upper division. The most common are:
Calculus II. If you have taken Calculus II we will have this course evaluated by the Math department which will decide whether it's transferable. The Math department advisor will process the transfer credits.
Science. If you have 7 or more credits of science on your transcripts, 3 credits get transferred to the upper division (i.e. the science course is transferred).
Visual Basic. If you have taken Visual Basic, 3 credits get transferred to the upper division (i.e. CPT 341 is transferred).
Network Applications. If you have taken a large number of networking courses, 6 credits may get transferred to the upper division (i.e. CPT 335 and CPT 435 are transferred).
Note that when credits are transferred to the upper division they are not used for the lower division.

Transcripts evaluation.
Very few students transfer to NJIT with exactly 64 credits and the exact prerequisites. So it is important that you obtain a copy of your transcripts evaluation from your advisor before you start taking courses, in order to make sure that you take the correct courses.

Upper division requirements.
Upon entrance to NJIT, you get two important documents from your advisor: a copy of your transcripts evaluation and a copy of the curriculum.
In order to graduate, you must have taken all courses with a passing grade, accumulated a minimum of 128 credits, and have a minimum GPA of 2.0.

The courses you must take are the courses listed as deficiencies in your transcripts evaluation, and the courses of the curriculum, unless they have been waived (see above Transfer of credits in the upper division). Any deviation from that list must first be approved by your advisor.
The number of credits is computed by adding the number of credits transferred to the number of credits taken at NJIT.
The GPA is computed solely from the courses taken at NJIT.

Note that when you think you are one semester away from graduation you should come see your advisor to make sure you are indeed close to graduation. Note also that an application for graduation must be filed with the registrar early in the previous semester (check the NJIT Web site at www.njit.edu, and click on Registrar to find the deadline).

Common problems and questions.

Holds: Holds may be placed on your account. They prevent you from registering. Most common reasons for the holds are "health" (if you have not brought satisfactory proof of required vaccinations), failure to pay your bill, and "advisory".
The Engineering Technology department can remove the advisory hold if this hold has been placed by the Engineering Technology department, or by the registrar. All the others must be handled with the registrar or other appropriate departments. Note that, every semester, advisory holds are placed on all students' accounts before registration starts for the following semester, and these holds can only be removed by the department of Engineering Technology a couple of days before registration starts.

Curriculum audit: You can obtain an audit on the Web, which tells you what courses you are missing in order to graduate. This audit is not accurate, as the computer system is unable to cope with transfer students and is usually working with an older, or newer, curriculum than the curriculum given to you when you started at NJIT. When in doubt, check with your advisor. Under no circumstances should you take a course just because the computer says so.

Registration difficulties: You may be unable to register for several reasons.

If there is a hold on your account you can't register for anything. See Holds above.

The computer system has determined that a prerequisite is missing. Since often the prerequisite has been taken at another school, it becomes a real nuisance. When this happens, send an e-mail to Mrs. Randolph (engineeringtechnology@njit.edu) in Engineering Technology requesting that she registers you. She has computer privileges and can do it. In this e-mail you must give your name and social security number, and the name, number and section of the class you want (e.g. ENG 352-102 Technical Writing). Note however that some prerequisites are legitimate, and before you ask Mrs. Randolph to register you, be sure you indeed have the prerequisite; otherwise you'll get a bad grade and a miserable semester.
The class is already full. The only person who can decide to accept an extra student is the professor who teaches the course, or, in some cases, the chairman of the department which offers the course. Go talk to the professor.
There is a schedule conflict. That's for you to fix.

Taking courses at another institution. Deficiencies can be taken at any school of your choice. Once you have been admitted, courses in the curriculum must be taken at NJIT.

Calculus Not only are you missing Calculus I, but you are not ready for it. Talk to the Math department at the college you come from and follow their advice.
Calculus I is a freshman subject and in all upper division courses professors will expect you to have some of the knowledge acquired in that course. In the same way that no course lists the knowledge of English as a prerequisite, upper division courses won't list Calculus I. So, if you have a Calculus deficiency, take care of it as fast as possible.

English: The Humanities and Social Science department decides that you may be missing some basic English skills and asks you to take a placement test or a remedial class. This happens mostly to students of foreign origin. Before you do any such thing come talk to your advisor.

Minors.
NJIT offers several minors. The Management minor is almost built into the Computer Technology curriculum. The only thing missing is 6 credits of Accounting. Note however that in order to get this minor you must be careful of which courses you take; when you have a choice of two courses in the curriculum, one of the courses often is required by the minor but the other is not. You must declare the minor with the registrar before you graduate (there is a form which must be signed by an advisor in the Management school).

Graduate school.
Some students are planning to go on to graduate school after graduating from Computer Technology. The most popular subjects are Management (Engineering Management, Internet Management, MIS, . . .) and Computer Science. If you are thinking about it, and would like to do it at NJIT, go check with the appropriate department and find out what the requirements are. Often all it takes to be admissible is a few "bridge" courses. Then come discuss it with your advisor to see if, and how, some of the bridge courses can be worked into your curriculum.