Undergraduate Studies Catalog (1997-1999)
Welcome to the SUNY College at Brockport Undergraduate Catalog,
your comprehensive guide to academic life on our campus.
In these pages, you'll quickly discover that SUNY Brockport has
a world of resources to offer you, including the excellent academic
programs, extensive facilities, co-curricular activities, and
most importantly, the outstanding faculty and staff who are committed
to ensuring that you receive a high quality education.
Your SUNY Brockport education will be the best possible preparation
you can have for a successful future. During your years at Brockport,
you'll learn to question the quality of life around us and that
awareness will challenge you to improve it where and when you
can. You'll also learn to focus your attention on humane values
that shape the world around you. And your Brockport experience
will give you the broad basic education you need for social and
political participation and leadership. In short, what you learn
at our College will be yours for a lifetime.
This catalog is a good place to start your journey at SUNY Brockport. May it prove fruitful.
The State University of New York at Brockport, a comprehensive
institution assisted by public funds, serves approximately 9,000
students each year and offers more than 50 undergraduate, graduate,
and postgraduate programs in the liberal arts and professions.
It is accredited by the Board of Regents of the State of New
York, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and
professional associations.
SUNY Brockport is the preeminent regional public university for
the greater Rochester area. Focusing on academic excellence
through teaching, research, and service to the broader community,
the College continues to have significant impact on the area's
educational, cultural, and economic development. The College
offers a comprehensive educational experience in and out of the
classroom and thereby prepares its graduates for a life of productive
work, continuing personal enrichment, and useful citizenship in
an increasingly interdependent world. The research, scholarship,
and creative activities of the faculty, staff, and students advance
knowledge, serve the public, and are an integral part of the educational
mission of the College.
SUNY Brockport
SUNY Brockport offers programs in the arts, humanities, social
sciences, natural sciences, and the professions at the baccalaureate,
master's, and post-master's levels. Close relationships between
the liberal arts disciplines and professional studies stimulate
all students to develop strengths in critical and creative thinking,
communication, applied skills, and in understanding global interdependence
and cultural diversity. A balanced combination of theoretical
and practical studies in each academic program prepares graduates
for the workplace, advanced education in a profession, informed
citizenship, and community leadership.
SUNY Brockport attracts well-motivated students and provides a
campus environment conducive to learning and responsive to individual
student needs. Each aspect of campus life is considered an integral
part of the educational process.
SUNY Brockport's students, varying widely in age, background,
and interests, represent the rich diversity of the citizens of
New York, other states, and other countries. Curricular and co-curricular
activities prepare students to live and work in an increasingly
global society. Many foreign study opportunities and special
programs add an international focus to education at Brockport,
reflecting the greater Rochester area's worldwide economic and
cultural connections.
SUNY Brockport's structure and curriculum provide flexible, high-quality
postsecondary education. Program offerings in downtown Rochester
and in other area locations, the use of interactive technology
to provide distance learning, and academic programs in non-traditional
formats, such as a weekend college and a time-shortened degree,
respond to changing student needs. The supervised field-based
placements and service-learning experiences of SUNY Brockport's
students are vital aspects of their education and serve to enrich
the greater Rochester area.
The faculty of SUNY Brockport is characterized by a dedication
to excellence in teaching, research and service. Three-quarters
of SUNY Brockport's more than 400 full-time faculty members hold
doctoral degrees, and more than 35 have received the prestigious
Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching since its inception
in 1973. Nine faculty and emeriti have been awarded the title
Distinguished Professor, SUNY's highest faculty rank and a statewide
recognition which places our best faculty among the top in New
York and nationwide. Five SUNY Brockport faculty members have
been Fulbright Scholars in the past five years. Also in the past
five years, our faculty and staff have received 417 research grants
totaling $16.5 million. In addition, Brockport's faculty and
staff are widely published scholars in disciplines ranging from
poetry and literature to history, sociology, the environment,
zoology, criminal justice, philosophy, etc.
Faculty-not graduate assistants-teach virtually all undergraduate
courses. Part-time faculty, drawn primarily from Rochester-area
practitioners in business, industry, and the professions, keep
Brockport students aware of current practices in rapidly changing
fields. Academic advisement is provided students by faculty within
their major fields.
Finally, our faculty and staff are dedicated to building a better
world community. They serve on the boards of national and international
scholarly organizations-and as volunteers right in our own neighborhoods.
SUNY Brockport draws undergraduate students from every county
in New York state, from 22 other states, and from 16 foreign countries.
Approximately 57 percent of our undergraduates come from the
cities, suburbs and villages of Western New York; one in ten comes
from the metropolitan New York City area and adjoining Long Island.
Nearly 2,000 graduate students seeking advanced degrees, pursuing
teacher certification, or otherwise upgrading their professional
skills, add a further dimension to campus life. Adult students
(25 and older) represent nearly 40 percent of the student body.
The regular admit first-year students entering SUNY Brockport
in the fall of 1995 earned a mean average of 84.4 in their high
school academic subjects. The entering class in fall 1995 earned
mean scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test comfortably above
the national average (Verbal SATs of 435 versus 428 nationally;
Math SATs of 492 versus 482 nationally); and an ACT composite
score of 22.1 (versus 21.4 nationally).
*EOP, Transition, Exceptional Talent
Students transferring from other colleges and universities continue
to present strong credentials, with a mean grade point average
of 2.86 (C=2.00, B=3.00). Over 56 percent of new students entering
SUNY Brockport in the fall of 1995 were transfer students.
The Faculty Senate of SUNY College at Brockport has adopted this
statement to promote academic excellence, to establish reasonable
expectations for both students and faculty, and to insure fairness
and equity throughout the College.
Education is a two-way process. Students have the right to expect
faculty members to be available during their published, regularly
scheduled office hours, to be concerned with each student's academic
problems, and to be ready to help students to the best of their
ability. Students have the right to expect faculty members to
be prepared for class and to present material reflecting the current
state of their discipline(s). Students have the right to expect
faculty members to indicate assignments clearly, to provide printed
syllabi or other materials indicating their expectations at the
beginning of the semester, and to offer timely feedback to each
student on his/her progress.
Faculty members have the right to expect students to attend class
regularly and to be prepared to engage in whatever discussion
or discourse is appropriate to the assignment. Faculty members
have the right to expect each hour of classroom time to be matched
by at least two hours of study outside class by each student including
activities such as reading, research, writing, and/or other forms
of creative activity. Both students and faculty have the right
to expect that the foregoing standards will be maintained on a
consistent basis throughout the College.
Students are admitted to SUNY Brockport with a variety of backgrounds
and achievement levels. Therefore, students have the right to
expect a broad range of programs at Brockport, each offering a
balanced blend of theoretical and practical knowledge. The College
and its faculty are committed to providing the instructional techniques
and academic support services needed to enable all students to
maximize their academic potential without compromising appropriate
standards.
Academically outstanding students have the right to expect standards
and programs that will encourage them to meet their full potential.
To assist in meeting this end, the faculty has established an
Honors Program as well as Honors Scholarships that are awarded
on the basis of merit alone. The faculty has the right and the
responsibility to establish an admissions policy that encourages
a continued and growing presence of academically outstanding students.
Education cannot exist in the absence of trust. Faculty members
have the right to expect that students will be familiar with and
abide by the Academic Honesty Code as published in the Brockport
Handbook. Students have the right to expect that the provisions
of this Code will be enforced uniformly by all faculty members.
SUNY Brockport recognizes that student rights extend beyond the
classroom. Students have the right to an atmosphere conducive
to learning, including a clean, quiet place to conduct their studies.
Students have the right to expect a variety of co-curricular
or extracurricular events to supplement and enrich their academic
and social lives with faculty participation and support for these
activities. Students have the right to expect appropriate academic,
personal, career, graduate school, and transfer advisement and/or
counseling.
Faculty rights also extend beyond the classroom. The faculty
has the right to expect that students have interests in the world
around them, that students are informed about current events,
and that students take seriously their responsibilities as citizens.
This statement is not intended to bind faculty members to any
single set of standards or mode of teaching or to express the
entire range of faculty and student rights, responsibilities,
and expectations. The statement has been designed only to make
clear a common attitude and a common assumption about the nature
of education at SUNY Brockport and to clarify and strengthen the
relationships that must exist between faculty and students if
the educational process is to take place in an effective manner.
As members of the State University of New York College at Brockport, we choose to be a part of an academic community that is dedicated to principles that foster integrity, civility and justice.
As citizens of a broad and pluralist society, we encourage those of all cultures, orientation and backgrounds to educate, understand and respect one another in a safe environment.
SUNY Brockport is engaged in several types of activity referred
to as "the assessment of student learning outcomes"
or simply, "assessment." The broad purpose of the College's
assessment project is to demonstrate that the goals of the College
Mission, of departments, programs, and student services with respect
to student learning outcomes are being met.
Students enrolled at SUNY Brockport may be asked to participate
in assessment by taking special tests, by allowing the College
access to scores on nationally standardized examinations, by completing
questionnaires and surveys, and by serving as members of focus
groups or other discussion groups designed to obtain information.
Some assessment work requires statistical sampling of the student
population so it is important that students be willing to help
with assessment when asked. The cost to the student is a small
amount of time but the benefits are improved instruction and services.
Students should feel no reluctance about participating in assessment
because any information obtained is used solely in the improvement
of college instruction at the curricular or programmatic level
and in ways that do not reflect personally on individual students.
Any questions on assessment can be directed to the Office of
the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, (716) 395-2504.
Brockport, a village of approximately 9,800 residents, is 16 miles
west of Rochester and 60 miles east of Buffalo. The village lies
along the banks of the New York State Barge Canal, and is a 15-minute
drive from Lake Ontario.
The campus is located at the village's edge; stores, shopping
plazas, churches, cinemas and restaurants are within easy walking
distance.
Nearby Rochester has been judged one of the best cities in the
United States for quality of life. Its myriad attractions include
a nationally known philharmonic orchestra, outstanding museums,
an ultramodern planetarium, and professional baseball and hockey
teams. Both Rochester and Buffalo are within an easy hour's flight
from New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia.
The campus is spacious and uncluttered, with 60 buildings and
athletic playing fields occupying about one-quarter of the 591-acre
campus. The remaining area is gently rolling open or wooded land.
The College mall, which stretches from traditional Hartwell Hall
to contemporary high-rise residence halls, is bordered by trees,
lawns and striking contemporary architecture. Near the midpoint
of the mall is Seymour College Union, the center of student activities.
In warm weather, the mall itself becomes the hub of activities
for students as they socialize and recreate.
The buildings along the mall house classrooms, lecture halls,
seminar rooms, faculty members' offices, science laboratories,
dining halls, a bookstore, the health center, counselors' offices
and residence halls, all conveniently located.
North of the mall is the Donald M. Tower Fine Arts Center, set
against the bank of the New York State Barge Canal. The site
of cultural activities and the home of the art, theatre and foreign
language departments, it houses a 400-seat theater, two art galleries,
studios, rehearsal halls, practice rooms, listening laboratories
and classrooms fully equipped for sculpture, ceramics, photography,
jewelry making, painting, scene designing and stagecraft.
South of the mall are the Gordon F. Allen Administration Building,
Drake Memorial Library and a large physical education complex
known as the Ernest H. Tuttle Building. Two monumental sculptures
by Soviet artist Zurab Tsereteli are situated in this area, one
of which is dedicated to the International Special Olympic Games,
held at SUNY Brockport in 1979.
(649)
(220)__
(Math & Verbal)
Below 700
700-99
800-99
900-99
1000-99
1100-99
1200+
A Better Community Statement
As members of this College community, we strive for academic and personal excellence that will enable us to achieve lives of productive work, personal enrichment and useful citizenship in an increasingly interdependent world.
As individuals who work, study or live in the College community, we affirm our rights to freedom of expression and association, and the belief that they must be exercised responsibly.
The spirit of building a better community is best served when the ideals of integrity, civility, and justice are expressed and debates with tolerance and good will.
