Freshman Welcome

86 Incoming Undergraduate Majors

• 45 Marine Biology (52%)
• 16 Ocean Engineering (19%)
• 8 Environmental Science (9%)
• 7 Meteorology (8%)
• 5 Oceanography (6%)
• 4 General Biology (5%)
• 1 Sustainability (1%)

Total, all years: 228 undergraduate majors

55 Graduate Students, all majors, all years

OEMS has full-time staff advisors to help you register for classes, fill out forms, etc.

View current advisors for OEMS.

In addition, you have been assigned a faculty member in OEMS to be your academic mentor.

Your academic mentor will reach out to you this semester to schedule a meeting.

Sometime this semester, talk to your faculty mentor about your interests and your program.

Your faculty mentor is here to give you advice: about your subject-areas of interest, career, paths you might want to take professionally.

Advisors will have office hours posted. Contact your advisor directly for an appointment.

Please wait at least two weeks, until the current semester’s programmatic issues are settled.

• Each is a 3-credit field course.
  • Reading assignments for discussions of journal articles
  • Field projects
  • Term papers, video assignments, and other course requirements 
• You can count it as an elective toward your major.
• Tuition is applied to field expenses. 
• Course-fee over and above tuition varies with location.

• Research and design projects as you move into and through your senior year.
• Ocean Engineering: summer session; option during academic year too.
• Environmental Science, Oceanography: academic year; option during summer.
• Oceanographic cruise in the summer for all students.
• MFP and field courses are highlights of a Florida Tech education!

Ocean Engineering, Oceanography Environmental Science, Marine Biology

Faculty have excellent contacts with local industry and NGOs.

 Chat with your advisor.

You may be able to receive credit.

Students get internships and part-time jobs at local tech companies and other organizations:

• Northrup Grumman
• L3Harris Corporation
• Rockwell Collins
• Larsen Motorsports
• Structural Composites
  • President is Florida Tech OE Alum
• Matrix Composites–
  • President is Florida Tech OE Alum
• Brevard Zoo
• Marine Resources Council
• Florida Fish & Wildlife

Develop your skills with a view to becoming

• A commissioned officer in the United States Coast Guard
• A commissioned officer in the NOAA Corps
• A professional in maritime and maritime-related industries 

Online classes, workshops, classroom instruction, patrol-cruises and other on-water activities.

Training in

• navigation
• SAR
• boat-handling
• communications
• seamanship
• mission planning
• FEMA incident management
• and more! 

The AUP is University-sponsored Student Activity 

https://www.cgauxedu.us/

Contact: Mr. Bill Cox, USCGAux; wcox@fit.edu

• AAUS:American Academy of Underwater Sciences Requires Advanced Scuba Cert.
  • Requires Advanced Scuba Cert.
  • Contacts: Tim Fletcher, DSO Dr. Stephen Wood, this Department
    
    
• SCUBA Club Anesti Vega, President avega2020@my.fit.edu

Your Rights

• A world-class education in a nurturing environment.
• Fair, unbiased treatment.
• Access to your faculty advisor and your committee.
  • Your First-Year Advisor OR 
  • Your Student Coordinator AND
    • Your Academic Advisor
• Instruction and facilities to complete your degree in a timely fashion.
• Career advice from your advisor and your graduate committee.

Your Responsibilities

• Academic excellence.
• Managing your schedule and taking charge of your life.
• Accessing your faculty advisor.
• Timely and satisfactory completion of your assignments.

• Compliance with Title IX
  • Our expectation is that you will not be victimized by Title IX violations.
  • You are expected to comply with Title IX.– Course Syllabi: there is a Title IX statement in every course syllabus.
  • TAs and Faculty: you are mandatory reporters.
• Personal integrity
• Academic honesty
  • Cheating
  • Plagiarism

Copying the work of others and presenting it as one’s own. Plagiarism includes but is not limited to:

• Copying text verbatim from other publications without quotation marks or attribution.
• Copying text from other publications and changing a few words without attribution.
• Copying images without attribution.
• Repeating another person’s concepts or ideas in a paper without attribution.
• Submitting papers purchased from websites or other sources, including use of AI to generate assignments.
• Copying anything from fellow students in written exams or papers (i.e., cheating).

More information is available on the Florida Tech website:
https://www.fit.edu/policies/student-handbook/standards-and-policies/academic-honesty/
The penalties for plagiarism are severe!
When in doubt, consult your instructor.

Everyone will be signed up for the main listserv: oems@lists.fit.edu

Subscribe to more specific listservs as appropriate.

oems@lists.fit.edu

ALL OEMS programs (the list for department wide posts, e.g. picnic).

• To subscribe send email:
  • to: sympa@lists.fit.edu 
  • subject: subscribe oems firstname lastname

marsci@lists.fit.edu

Marine and Conservation Bio, Ecology, Aquaculture.

• To subscribe send email to:
  • to: sympa@lists.fit.edu
  • subject: subscribe marsci firstname lastname

oes@lists.fit.edu

Meteorology, Oceanography, Enviro Sci, Ocean Engineering.

• To subscribe send email (no subject):
  • to: oes-subscribe@lists.fit.edu

floridatechams@lists.fit.edu

Meteorology only.

• To subscribe send email (no subject):
  • to: floridatechams-subscribe@lists.fit.edu

Lists owner: Dr. Lazarus

Beta Beta Beta
the National Biological Honor Society

• Open to all students with an interest in biology and reasonable grades
• Exciting activities: camping, deep-sea fishing,
  snorkeling local reefs, cookouts, behind-the-scenes
  zoo & research center tours
• Grants ($$$) to fund your research
• Quarterly journal (you can publish your research!)
• Regional and National conferences (with awards!)
• Honor cords and medallions for graduation
• Contact Dr. Glenn Miller (millerg@fit.edu)

Society of Ocean Engineers

• Open to all students with a passion for the ocean
• Discounts on memberships in SNAME (Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers) and MTS (Marine Technology Society)
• Attend national conferences
• Scholarships awarded, Internships, and career opportunities
• We host a round table every April with industry professionals attending
• Follow us on Instagram at soe_florida_tech and on Facebook at Society of Ocean Engineers_Florida Tech

Other Organizations

• Society for Women in Marine Science (SWMS)
  • Dr. Emily Ralston, Advisor
• American Meteorological Society
  
  • Dr. Steven Lazarus, advisor
• Florida Academy of Sciences
  
  • Dr. Richard Turner, advisor
• Astrobiology Research and Education Society (ARES)
  
  • Dr. Andrew Palmer, advisor
• Sailing Club
  
  • Dr. Ingrid Bradly, advisor
• Surfing Club
  
  • Dr. Robert Weaver, advisor
• Student Organization for Sustainability Action
  • Dr. Emily Ralston, advisor

• A fifth-year master’s program.
• Minimum GPA requirement of 3.4.
• Take some graduate courses in senior year.
• Most of our fast-track programs are non-thesis (professional) M.S.
• Plan with your advisor in your junior year.