The decision of the Office of Freshman Admissions to admit an applicant to St. John Fisher College is based primarily on the following areas of consideration: the high school record, scores on standardized tests (SAT/ACT), extracurricular activities, personal statement/essay, and the high school evaluation of the candidate.

A candidate for admission to the freshman class must be a graduate of an approved secondary school and should present a minimum of 16 units of college preparatory coursework in English, foreign languages, mathematics, and natural and social sciences. An applicant should present a secondary school average of 85 percent or above in these academic subjects. Those students who do not meet this qualification may apply if they are above the college recommending level of the secondary school and can demonstrate the potential to successfully complete a bachelor’s degree.

St. John Fisher College subscribes to the “Candidates Reply Date Agreement” of May 1. Admitted students are expected to submit a $300 enrollment deposit by May 1. Early Decision candidates by March 15.

Required Forms

Seniors/high school graduates must submit the following items:

• Applicants seeking the Early-Decision Plan must submit these items by December 1.
• A high school transcript, a personal statement/essay, and counselor/teacher recommendation.
• Scores on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) of the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) or the American College Test (ACT).
• After acceptance, a final transcript must be submitted at the completion of graduation requirements.
• File the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) after January 1 but before our priority filing deadline of February 15.
• Students who apply to St. John Fisher College with a prior criminal conviction and/or disciplinary dismissal or suspension from another institution must provide additional information prior to having their application for admission reviewed. Please contact the Office of Freshman Admissions for details regarding this policy.
• Students must have proof of health insurance.

Note: St. John Fisher College subscribes to a single-choice Early-Decision Plan. This plan assumes that St. John Fisher College is a student’s first choice of college and, if accepted, will withdraw applications that have been initiated with any other colleges. Students may be released from this agreement if they find that a Fisher education is unaffordable after our offer of financial aid.

Juniors seeking early admission at the end of grade 11 submit the same credentials as the seniors/graduates and, in addition:

• Provide a statement of parental permission.
• Have an interview with a College admissions representative.

An application is considered complete when all of the steps listed above have been fulfilled. An admission decision is generally based on these factors.

Students who complete their senior year at the end of the junior year will be admitted as regular senior high school graduates.

St. John Fisher College welcomes qualified transfer applicants from other regionally accredited two- and four-year institutions.

Applicants are reviewed when the first two items listed below are on file. The Committee on Admissions makes decisions on a rolling basis. Notifications are mailed to applicants two to three weeks after an application is complete. Transfer Credit Evaluations are mailed to students upon or soon after being accepted to the College.

Procedures for admission are:

• Submit application and application fee of $30.
• Submit official transcripts of all previous college work, including official score reports from Advanced Placement, CLEP, International Baccalaureate, if relevant. Once St. John Fisher College receives these transcripts, they become part of the student’s official academic record and cannot be released and/or forwarded to any other individual, including the student.
• SAT or ACT scores are not required for students who have completed 24 or more college credits.
• Transfer students who have completed fewer than 24 hours of college credit are required to submit an official high school transcript and SAT/ACT scores.
• Every entering student is required to provide an acceptable health history as well as a record of current immunizations. These documents must be presented to the Health and Wellness Center prior to the start of the semester. Please see Immunization Requirements.

Admissions Requirements

Transfer candidates must have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.00 (4.00 scale) in order to be considered for admission, for some departments, a higher GPA may be required. Exceptions will be reviewed on an individual basis. Students transferring to St. John Fisher College from colleges operating under the quarter system will have their credits evaluated by taking two-thirds of the total number of acceptable hours taken at the other college(s). For example, if a student takes and passes 60 acceptable quarter hours at another college, a total of 40 hours will be transferred to Fisher’s semester-hour system.

Procedures applicable to the various types of transfer students/credits are listed below.

Students With Associate Degrees

The College guarantees acceptance of a minimum of 60 credits in transfer to applicants who hold A.S., A.A., or A.A.S. degrees from fully accredited* colleges at the time of transfer, provided the courses are in reasonable conformity with the St. John Fisher College curriculum and no Fisher credits were used to earn that degree. Normally, the College does not accept credit for courses with earned grades below “C;” however, in some cases this policy may be waived to ensure that associate degree holders receive the minimum 60 credits. In most cases, these associate degree holders will be able to complete their bachelor’s degree in four semesters of full-time study at St. John Fisher College.

*Fully accredited means that a college is accredited by both the State Department of Education and the appropriate regional accrediting association.

Students transferring to the College with an associate degree may require more than an additional 60 credits (or more than two academic years) to complete the requirements for a bachelor’s degree.

• In certain majors/programs, state regulations require that a specific number or level of courses be completed either at the upper-division level or at the college conferring the bachelor’s degree.
• Transfers from an associate degree program to one at the bachelor’s degree level may involve a significant change in academic orientation similar to a change in major within the same college (for example, from history to chemistry). Therefore, it may be necessary for the student to enroll in certain prerequisite courses at St. John Fisher College before completing the major requirements.
• In certain programs (for example, Education), some courses require a minimum grade of “C” for successful completion. If a course transferred as part of an associate’s degree carried a grade lower than “C,” that particular course must be repeated at St. John Fisher College to satisfy the major requirement. Since credit cannot be awarded twice for the same course, the transfer credit will be lost when the course is repeated at the College. If extra credit exists on the associate degree transcript, the lost credit will be replaced with other credit. If no additional credit is available, the student’s transfer total will be reduced.

Students From Two-Year Colleges Without Associate Degrees

Students who transfer to the College without an associate degree but with coursework from programs which grant A.S., A.A., or A.A.S. degrees will not be able to transfer credit for courses in which grades below “C” are obtained. Regardless of whether the student has an associate degree or not, the maximum amount of credit that can be applied to a degree from St. John Fisher College from a two-year college or a combination of two-year colleges will be 66 credits or their equivalent. This limit includes courses taken in the summer, in the evening, or through interinstitutional registration before the student has enrolled at the College, as well as courses the student may take at any two-year college after enrolling at St. John Fisher College. This limit also applies to credits a student may have obtained through sources such as CLEP, IB, and AP.

St. John Fisher College 2+2/Dual Admissions Transfer Agreement

This agreement establishes cooperative degree programs between select community colleges and St. John Fisher College. Students currently enrolled at a participating community college are eligible to be considered for this cooperative degree program. In most cases, students selected for this program will, upon completion of a prescribed sequence of courses leading to an associate’s degree from the participating community college, be able to complete the appropriate bachelor’s degree in two years of full-time study at St. John Fisher College. All coursework must be completed in conformity with St. John Fisher College’s Standards of Academic Progress.

Student Selection

Candidates must present strong records of academic achievement and preparation. Candidates selected for the program will receive confirmation from the participating community college.

Participants in the 2+2/Dual Admission cooperative degree program must complete their associate’s degree with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.00. Some agreements may require a higher GPA. In addition, they must complete the prescribed sequence of courses for their designated academic program.

Program Selection

2 + 2/Dual Admission agreements are available in all undergraduate majors at Fisher.

A complete list of 2 + 2/Dual Admission agreements and the participating community colleges is available by contacting the Office of Transfer Admissions at (585) 385-8064.

Application Procedures

Students who are applying for admission into a 2 + 2/Dual Admission agreement are initially required to file only the community college application for admission. Formal application to Fisher is necessary for students participating in the 2 + 2/Dual Admission program. Participants are required to submit the St. John Fisher College Application for Transfer Admission the semester prior to enrolling at St. John Fisher College. The application fee will be waived for 2+2/Dual Admission students.

Transfer Students From Four-Year Colleges

For transfer of credit, courses must be in reasonable conformity with the curriculum of St. John Fisher College and a grade of at least “C” must have been earned in these courses. There is no limit to the number of credits that can be transferred from four-year institutions; however, students must be aware of the St. John Fisher College residency requirements.

Credit From Non-Collegiate Institutions

The American Council on Education (ACE) and the New York State Education Department (NYSED) evaluate selected educational programs in non-collegiate institutions, such as the armed forces, industries, the Chartered Life Underwriters (CLU), and American Institute of Banking (AIB) programs. ACE and NYSED recommend appropriate baccalaureate credit; St. John Fisher College accepts these recommendations in awarding transfer credit, provided that the courses are compatible with the character of the College.

Credit Through Correspondence Courses

Credit for correspondence courses will only be given when it is obtained through accredited institutions. The maximum number of correspondence course credits is nine, and credit will not be accepted for correspondence courses taken in a student’s major.

Maximum Transfer Credits

The maximum transfer credit awarded for any combination of associate’s degree, Advanced Placement (AP), Excelsior College Examinations (ECE), International Baccalaureate (IB), College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), and ACE and NYSED recommendations for credit based on study in non-collegiate institutions will be 66 credit hours or their equivalent. This limit includes courses and examinations taken through interinstitutional registration before the student has enrolled at St. John Fisher College, as well as courses or examinations taken after enrolling at the College.

Residency Requirement

Every student must complete a minimum of 30 credits in residence at the College and take a minimum of one-half of the major courses in residence. All students must complete 30 of their last 36 credits in residence at the College.

St. John Fisher College recognizes its role in maintaining a safe community for its students and College employees. As part of this effort, applicants for admission to the College (undergraduate or graduate) are required to disclose any prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges (felony or misdemeanor, with the exception of any proceedings involving “youthful offender adjudication” as defined in NYS Criminal procedure Law Section 720.35 or any conviction sealed pursuant to NYS Criminal procedure Law Sections 160.55 or 160.58) as well as any past disciplinary suspensions or dismissals from higher educational institutions. Additional review may be required for those applicants seeking admission to programs in the Wegmans School of Nursing, the Wegmans School of Pharmacy, or the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education.

Prior criminal or disciplinary actions are not an automatic bar to admission. The College recognizes that automatically depriving past offenders of an education may not be in the best interest of the individual, the educational mission of the College, or society at large. However, this recognition must be balanced against the College’s need to carefully evaluate and determine the possibility that admission or presence of the student on campus poses an undue risk to the safety, security or welfare of the College or the College community, or is otherwise, on balance, not in the College Community’s best interest. While the Committee will exercise its judgment in a thoughtful, rational manner, in the end, the decision of the Committee as to whether or not to recommend admission is in the Committee’s absolute and sole discretion.

In all cases in which an applicant to the College has a criminal conviction, pending criminal charges, or has been suspended or expelled from an institute of higher education, additional information will be requested and reviewed by the Admissions Special Review committee.

Continued Self-Disclosure

After being admitted and prior to matriculation, any pending charges in any state or country or the conviction of a crime (felony or misdemeanor, with the exception of any proceedings involving “youthful offender adjudication” as defined in NYS Criminal procedure Law Section 720.35 or any conviction sealed pursuant to NYS Criminal procedure Law Sections 160.55 or 160.58) must be reported to the College. This requirement continues throughout the period of enrollment at St. John Fisher College (including between semesters).

Penalty for Failure to Self Disclose

Failure of the applicant to self-disclose criminal convictions, pending charges or suspensions/dismissals from a higher educational institution on the admissions application or during any period of enrollment (including between semesters) is a falsification of the record. Upon discovery of such failure to report, the following actions will take place:

• If the applicant is not yet enrolled, the offer of admission to the College may be rescinded;
• If enrolled, the student will be subject to the student conduct process which may include an interim student conduct action and other penalties up to and including expulsion.

The Nursing Learning Resource Center has specialized learning centers to provide students with hands-on experiences to learn technical, assessment, and critical thinking skills that prepare them for the competencies required for patient care in clinical practice sites.

The School is home to the Glover-Crask Simulation Center, a 10,400-square foot space that mirrors a hospital unit. Center features include:

• Five individual simulation rooms, including an obstetrics and pediatric room, with specialized simulation medical equipment
• Community space used for home care visit role-play and scenarios
• Control room for faculty simulation facilitation
• Three debriefing rooms
• Additional classrooms
• Faculty offices

The Simulation Center provides enhanced training and experience through the use of a Pyxis MedStation system, the leading automated medication dispensing system supporting decentralized medication management.

The School’s Learning Resource Center is designed to provide guided instruction for junior and senior nursing students, as well as resources for graduate students.

The facility contains two major nursing laboratories. The nursing skills lab is an undergraduate skills laboratory with equipment, supplies, and medium fidelity simulation mannequins for practice of technical skills in simulated hospital or nursing home settings. The Health Assessment Lab includes examination tables and equipment found in ambulatory/primary care settings.

The full-time learning resources coordinator, learning resources director, and full-time simulation lab director coordinate learning activities and provide a safe, caring environment for students to learn skills and practice evidence-based patient care.

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) provides technical support for the College. This includes managing and maintaining the computer labs, Instructional Technology Enhanced Classrooms (ITEC), multimedia equipment, faculty and staff computers, printers, and software on campus. OIT also supports the College’s telephone and network infrastructure, servers, and administrative applications.

Service Desk

The OIT Service Desk is available to assist you with your technology questions and is the primary contact for all support issues and service requests. Contact via:

Email: oitservicedesk@sjfc.edu
Web: www.sjfc.edu/services/oit/
Phone: (585) 385-8016

The Service Desk is located in the basement of Kearney Hall in K-053 with a Satellite Desk located in the Learning Commons on the first floor of Lavery Library. Both available for walk-up assistance during office hours. Current hours are posted on the OIT website. In-addition to walk-up assistance, the Service Desk provides 24/7 phone support for issues such as password resets and account access. The OIT website (www.sjfc.edu/services/oit/) is designed as a resource for the Fisher community with information about accessing technology resources at St. John Fisher College.

Computer Labs

Each computer lab offers access to a variety of software, including productivity and academic applications, and a variety of hardware, including PCs, printers, and scanners.

The Kearney Academic Computing Lab is available 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week via card-swipe access when the College is open. Lab assistants are on duty throughout the week. Hours will be posted in the open area of the lab.

To learn more about the College’s computer labs including up-to-date computer availability and policies, please visit the OIT Knowledge Base item at: https://sjfc.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/KB/?CategoryID=6509.

Media Services

OIT Media Services supports the St. John Fisher College Community, which includes current faculty, staff, and students.

OIT Media Services provides support for ITEC (Instructional Technology Enhanced Classroom) equipment, audio/visual support for on-campus events, media duplication and media transfer, assistance with using media equipment on campus, and media equipment loans.

To reserve equipment or learn more about the services that Media Services provides, please visit the OIT Knowledge Base item at: https://sjfc.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/KB/?CategoryID=6509

Web-Based Services

The College provides several high-quality web-based services designed to enhance student learning and improve the college experience. The most commonly and heavily used services are described below. Other services provided include admission applications, library catalog, and other databases.

mySJFC

my.sjfc.edu is the online community for students, faculty, and staff at the College and provides a single site for the most commonly accessed online resources at the College including Student Gmail, Blackboard, Fish ‘R’ Net, ResLife Online, Hoonuit, Qualtrics, and links to many other useful sites. For most services you only need to log in once.

Blackboard

Blackboard is a comprehensive and flexible web-based course management system that is used by many faculty members. It can be used to provide course materials in a variety of formats, allowing students to use the materials at their own pace and in their own time. For more information about Blackboard, visit the Education Technology page at: https://www.sjfc.edu/services/educational-technology/technologies/blackboard 

Student Gmail

Student Gmail is the College’s student email system. All students are assigned St. John Fisher College email accounts and are expected to monitor those accounts for important communications from College offices. Notifications sent by email include, but are not limited to, course cancellations, deadlines, registration and billing information, and changes in College policies.

Fish ‘R’ Net

Fish ‘R’ Net is the College’s web-based student information system where students register for and withdraw from classes, and view their class schedule, final grades, transcript, transfer credits, and other academic information. The site also allows students to view and pay their tuition and fee charges and access Atomic Learning, our technology training tool. Information on using Fish ‘R’ Net can be found at www.sjfc.edu/services/registrar.

Passwords

New and continuing students can change or reset their network password for Gmail, Blackboard, mySJFC online without visiting the OIT Service Desk in person. To reset your password please visit http://passwordreset.sjfc.edu/.

Computer Privacy

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) respects the privacy of all users. System administrators monitor systems and network activities to promote performance and integrity. OIT personnel do not routinely monitor an individual’s computer use, examine files, or read email in an individual’s account. Exceptions may be necessary if a use or activity is suspected of disrupting the computing network or facilities; violating local, state, or federal law; or being an inappropriate use of computing resources as described by College policy located in the Student Code of Conduct.

Writing Center consultants assist students with writing tasks from all disciplines and during all stages of the writing process. Individualized service and extensive writer participation during tutorials enable students to become more skillful writers.

Resources include a library of style manuals, handbooks, dictionaries, workbooks, and user-friendly handouts. Computers and printers are also available for student use during regular operating hours.

Hours vary by semester. Writing center services are free of charge to all Fisher students. To make an appointment, visit https://tutortrac.sjfc.edu, and choose “Writing” or “Graduate Writing.” “Walk-ins” are welcome but subject to tutor availability. The Writing Center is located on the top floor of the Academic Gateway. More information about the Writing Center is available at https://www.sjfc.edu/services/writing-center/.