University of Maryland Eastern Shore 2000-02 Catalog

The School of Business and Technology

DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING AND AVIATION SCIENCES

AVIATION SCIENCES PROGRAM

The mission of the Aviation Science program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is to educate future professional technical specialists, managers, and professional pilots for the field of aviation, both in the private and public sectors. The graduates will help strengthen the profession and the industry.

GOALS

The program goals include the following:

• To provide the State of Maryland and the region with an Aviation Science Program that will develop professionally qualified pilots, technical and management graduates to fulfill the critical aviation needs of government and industry.

• To offer students an Aviation Science major leading to a B.S. Degree that will provide a sound foundation in liberal education and the skills required to function efficiently in the field of aviation.

• To strengthen the UMES curriculum with a full four-year professional program that is in demand and is unique to UMES and the State of Maryland.

• To encourage, through recruitment, outreach and intervention programs, minorities and women to pursue careers in the aviation sciences.

• To provide opportunities for scholarship, work-study arrangements, summer employment for its students and ultimately, jobs in the work place.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the airlines and the aviation industry foresee the need for many highly qualified employees with professional aviation educational backgrounds to enter government service and industry at a consistent pace in the coming years. The curriculum has been designed under the guidance of the FAA and the standards of the Council of Aviation Accreditation (CAA). The program is FAA and UAA recognized and also satisfies university academic and Middle States accreditation agency requirements.

There are many career opportunities for graduates of Aviation Science programs, including Air Traffic Controllers, Airport Managers, Airline Managers, General Aviation Operation Managers, Navigation/Communication/ Flight Control System Designers and Programmers, and Professional Pilots.

FLIGHT TRAINING

The flight training course syllabus (certified by the Federal Aviation Administration under Part 141 of the Federal Air Regulations) is designed to .prepare students for their FAA pilot and flight instructor certificates in the most effective and efficient manner possible. UMES' ground instruction is thorough and provides a broad base for good pilot decision-making.

Our training aids provide a complete selection of visual aids, computer access, and the latest software support for pilots. We have an FAA-certified flight simulator on campus for instrument and procedures instruction at all levels from basic flight to advanced multi-engine operations.

To qualify for flight training, a student must be enrolled in a UMES degree program. Further flight training information is listed under the Flight Practicum Fee policy.

A flight medical is a physical exam given by an FAA approved physician. The medical is required before beginning flight training.

ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS

The Aviation Science Curricula consist of the following areas of study:

o General Educational Requirements

o Aviation Core Courses

o Supportive Courses

o Technical and Free Elective Courses

Each program consists of approximately 120 credit hours)

AREAS OF CONCENTRATION

In addition, the students select one area of concentration from the following:

• Professional Pilot: Academic and flight training in all areas of flight operations including safety, human factors, aerodynamics, aircraft systems, and aviation law, as well as completion of Commercial Pilot (Airplane Single/Multi-Engine Land, Instrument-Airplane) and Flight Instructor (Airplane Single Engine, Instrument-Airplane) designed to prepare the student for a career as a professional pilot in airlines, corporations, the military, or government.

• Aviation Management: A joint program between the Aviation Science and Business, Management, and Accounting Departments including a mix of aviation and business, economics, finance, accounting, and marketing courses designed to prepare students for managerial positions with airports, airlines, flight operations, and the FAA.

• Aviation Electronics: A joint program between the Aviation Science and Technology departments including a mix of aviation and electronics courses designed to prepare students for hardware design in the aviation industry

• Aviation Software Engineering: A joint program with the Mathematics and Computer Science department which includes a mix of aviation and computer science courses designed to prepare the student to develop software for the aviation industry, ranging from applications such as flight planning or crew scheduling systems to object-oriented programming such as flight control or on-board navigation systems.

Total Credit hour requirements for a B.S. Degree in Aviation Science depends on the selected Area of Concentration and varies from 120 to 121 credit hours.

GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

The General Educational Requirements described elsewhere in this catalog are built into the Aviation Science Course Sequences. Students transferring from Maryland public colleges may be able to transfer credits to UMES General Education Requirements, as discussed in the Appendix to this catalog.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

In order to maintain high quality, the Aviation Program limits enrollment through a selective admission procedure. SAT scores, high school or college grades, and preparation in mathematics and science required for admission to the Aviation Program are substantially higher than those required for admission to UMES. However, students admissible to UMES will be admitted to the Aviation Program with conditional status.

Flight Practicum Fee Policy

Introduction

In order to make the flight instruction affordable, the University of Maryland Eastern shore (UMES) has implemented the flight practicum fee. All flight students are charged an additional $2,400.00 per flight course. The flight course are AVSC: 121F (A,B), 122F (A,B), 221F, 222F, 321, 421, and 422F. UMES has taken into account the likelihood of poor flying conditions. The unused balance for flight instruction (not including simulator usage or time) of flight practicum fee rolls over or carries over to the next semester and/or flight course. Items included in the flight practicum fee, $2,400.00 per flight course, are an estimate based on current pricing. These funds provide only $21,600 over nine courses which (based current prices) cover the minimum flight hours under Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 141 (250 hours) required to get the FAA certificate and ratings necessary to graduate in the professional pilot concentration. This charge enables the student to apply for more financial aid than that student would receive if they had to pay for the flight instruction directly out of pocket.

Procedure

• The Aviation Sciences program coordinator identifies the students to be charged the flight practicum fee.

• The Aviation Sciences program coordinator initiates action for the bill to be paid to the contracted flight training organization.

• The student is responsible for the receipt of each flight bill from the contracted flight training organization.

• The student will provide the Aviation Sciences program coordinator with each flight's receipt to document the flight.

Allocation

The flight practicum fee includes payment for the flight simulator. The FAA allows up to 5.25 hours of the required minimum 35 hours in the flight simulator for Private Pilot Certificate under the FAR Par 141. The FAA allows up to 14 hours of the required minimum 35 hours in the flight simulator for the Instrument Rating under the FAR Part 141. The FAA allows up to 24 hours of the required minimum 120 hours in the flight simulator for the Commercial Pilot certificate under the FAR Part 141.

Since the FAA has allowed for equivalency,

• Student, Private, Instrument, and Commercial pilots pay $325.00 per semester. (This fee allows unlimited use of the simulator.)

• Multi-engine, Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), or CFI-I pilots pay $45.00 per hour.

This payment is either deducted from the flight practicum fee or a personal check from the student to the department to cover the simulator fees. Any pilot not mentioned above will be charged $45.00 per hour. This can be paid by personal check or out of flight practicum fee.

The remaining funds pay for the aircraft and/or instructor time as well as the contracted flight training organization, books, headset, charts, or flight training related material supplied by the contracted flight training organization. Since a personal check, money order, or credit card is required for check rides and FAA written examinations fees, the flight practicum fee cannot pay for either. The student is responsible for the FAA examiner checks rides or written examination fees.

Refund Policy

The refund policy follows the university's policy for any other fee. Aviation Sciences students who dropout of UMES before the end of the semester follow UMES policy for withdrawal and refund of fees as outlined in the school catalog. Flight practicum fee refunds follow the stated policy. The current policy is:

• Two weeks or less 80% refund,

• Between two to three weeks 60% refund,

• Between three and four weeks 40% refund, and

• After four weeks no refund.

Note: Flight instruction or flight simulator instruction and book debts incurred prior to leaving the program will be deducted from any refund due by the student. The University reserves the right to increase the flight practicum fee as the cost of flight instruction increases.

Department of Engineering and Aviation Sciences