Registrar Office

Graduation Requirements

1. Pass all courses comprising the curriculum for the degree of Doctor of Optometry, as specified in the Catalog for the year in which the student entered the school, with an overall grade point of 2.00 or better.
2. Submit to the faculty advisor a publishable research manuscript that needs to be approved by the Director of the Thesis Department and Dean for Academic Affairs.
   
   3. Students must complete at least two years in residence at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, School of Optometry all rotations must be completed.
   
   4. Receive all passing grades in the fourth year, completed an externship and in-house rotations, and submit complete patient encounter logs before the graduation date.
   
   5. Receive the recommendation of the faculty of the School after a motion to that effect is passed by the faculty.
   
   6. Signed clearance form and graduation documents. Need to complete the clearance  and get all the signatures from the following:
   
   • Bursar’s Office
   • Center for Access to Information Office
   • Financial Aid Office
   • Dr. John Mordi, Publishable Manuscript Submission
   • Dean of Clinic Affairs
   • Center for Informatics and Telecommunications Office
   • Registrar’s Office
     If awarded financial aid in any academic period an exit interview is required by the Financial Aid Office. You will find all information at www.optonet.inter.edu, linking the Financial Aid process.

7. Pay the graduation fee before the deadline applicable to the graduation date. All students are required to pay the graduation fee, even if they do not attend the graduation ceremony.
   
   8. Pass National Board Part I. Submit print-out evidence to Registrar Office. 

Important: all candidates have 90 days after graduation day to complete all requirements in order to receive the Degree and Diploma. If by the end of the 90 days any requirements are still pending or not completed the candidate will graduate and the degree will be certified with the next graduating class.

Note: Graduation requirements, as well as academic curricula and programs, may change while students are registered at the University. Normally, these changes will not be applied retroactively, but students have the option of completing the new requirements. Nonetheless, when professional certifying or licensing agencies make required changes for the corresponding certification or license, the necessary changes to the curricula or programs will be applicable immediately. Students will be solely responsible for deciding if they wish to take the new courses.

If you have any questions please call Mrs. Luz M. Ocasio at (787) 765-1915 extension 1023.

Application For Graduation

Applications are obtainable at the Office of the Registrar and should be returned to that office after they have been filled out and stamped by the Bursar’s Office showing that the non-refundable fee of $200.00 has been paid for the doctoral degree. Failure to comply with this procedure may result in the postponement of the granting of the degree.

The payment of graduation fees of any kind, the listing of the student as a candidate for graduation in any document and/or invitation either to the graduation ceremonies or to any other activity related to graduation exercises shall not be interpreted as an offer to graduate nor a covenant to that effect. Only the completion of all requirements listed in the or in any other official University directive entitles a student to graduation irrespective of any representation of any kind made by any official o this University.

Candidacy for graduation will be attained by the student after the faculty has determined that the requirements for graduation have been fulfilled. Subsequently, the faculty will present the degree candidates to the President of the University and to the Board of Trustees.

Students that have completed the graduation requirements and paid the graduation fee, but interrupt their studies, have the right that their payment is considered effective for four regular semesters or two academic years from the date of the last semester in which they studied.

Clearance for Graduation on June 2023

Graduation Gown Request 

Grading System Policy

Grading System

Course grades indicate the degree of student achievement in any given course. The School has established a quality point system to be used in accumulating and summarizing these grades. This quality point system is used to determine the minimum degree of general competence for graduation and for continuing the program at any level. The point system is also used to assign special honors to students who excel. Grades are reported in accordance with the following grading system:

A – superior attainment; 4 honor points per credit hour.

B – above average attainment; 3 honor points per credit hour.

C – average attainment; 2 honor points per credit hour.

D – lowest passing grade; 1 honor point per credit hour.

F – Failure: no honor point per credit hour.

P – Passing: this grade is assigned to students satisfying the requirements in courses taken by proficiency examinations and for courses in which such a grade is required. This grade is not included in the computation of the grade point index.

NP – Not Passing: this grade is assigned to students who fail in the courses indicated under the grade “P”. This grade is not included in the computation of the grade point index.

Administrative Action Symbols

The following symbols are used to indicate the administrative action taken in regard to student status in courses for which they registered.

W – Course Withdrawal: Assigned when the student withdraws from a course after the end of the period for class changes and no later than the date established on the academic calendar for withdrawals with “W”.

A student who cannot continue his/her studies for personal reasons may request and receive a certificate of withdrawal. The certificates will indicate the date of withdrawal and the courses that the students were taking at the time of withdrawing. Students who discontinue class attendance without officially withdrawing or who are not administratively dropped will receive grades of “F” (failure) or “NP” (Not Pass) in all their courses.

AD – Administrative Withdrawal: Assigned when the School drops the student for reasons such as failure to meet payments or other situations warranting a drop.

I – Incomplete: When, in the judgment of the instructor, a student has justifiable reasons for not completing the requirements of a course, the instructor may assign an “Incomplete”. When the instructor assigns an “Incomplete”, he/she shall report in writing to his/her immediate supervisor the grade which the student has earned up to that time and a description of the unfinished work which the student must complete. If the “Incomplete” is not removed within the time specified, the student will receive a grade of “F” or “NP” in the course. This policy will apply whether or not the student is enrolled at the School for the following semester. The responsibility for removing the “Incomplete” rests on the student. To remove an “Incomplete” students should pay $19.00 at the Bursar’s Office.

R – Symbol used to indicate the course was repeated.

T – Symbol used to indicate the course was transferred from another institution.

Students wishing to enroll in courses for audit must do so during the official registration period of the semester. Such students must pay the course fee for auditing. Students who have not applied for admissions should do so before registering as audit students.

AU – Symbol used to indicate on student transcripts that the course was audited. No honor points or University credits are awarded.

Repeating Courses

Students will have the right to repeat courses when not satisfied with their grades. In case a course is no longer offered at the university, it will be substituted with the new course created in the curricular revision or with an equivalent course approved by the Vice-President for Academic and Student Affairs and Systemic Planning. The highest grade and its corresponding credits will remain on the student’s transcripts and lower grades will be changed to an R (repeated) course. When students repeat a course and obtain the same grade as in the previous term, the grade of the most recent term will appear on the transcripts. The administration action symbol “R” and its corresponding credits will not be considered in determining if a student has satisfied the graduation requirements. Courses repeated after graduations are not considered in the computation of the graduation grade point index.

Attendance Policy

Regular class attendance is considered by the University as an essential element of the educational process.  For this reason, class attendance is required of every student.  Student participation in institutional activities will be considered a valid excuse for not attending class.  Students are responsible for completing course requirements as stipulated in the course syllabus.

 Students, who have not attended any classes during the first two weeks of the academic semester or its equivalent, will be dropped administratively from the course.  The instructor, after receiving the class lists, will submit, in writing, the names of all such students to the Office of the Registrar through the Department Chairperson.  For administrative purposes, these administrative drops will be considered equal to withdrawals for which the student has applied, as established in the Adjustments and Reimbursements section.  Inter American University requires its faculty to report the last day of attendance or of any other course activity of students who drop a class in each academic term.  For this, the faculty must have a record of class attendance of the students, or of their participation in the other activities of the course.  The faculty will report on an official class list, the last day of attendance or of student participation in course activities of those students who dropped a class without having withdrawn officially from the University.  The administrative action symbol NA will be used to identify these students.

The last date of class attendance will be used to determine the applicable refund for students who stop attending class without officially withdrawing.  The arrangement is established in harmony with regulation “Normas de Asistencia a Clases A-AC-002-97 of September 1997.

Students and Alumni
Directory Policy

The University, in compliance with federal law “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), provides students and alumni access to their academic files, the right to request that the information contained in those files be amended, and certain control over the disclosure of academic information.

1. Students and alumni have the right to inspect and review their academic files.  They may request this in writing to the file custodian and indicate the file they wish to review.  The file custodian will make the necessary arrangements so that the student or alumni may review the files within a period of time no greater than 45 days from the date in which the student or alumni presented the written request.  If the person receiving the request from the student or alumni does not have the file, this person will indicate the correct place for the request to be presented.
2. Students and alumni have the right to request that incorrect information contained in their academic files be corrected,  Interested students or alumni must present a written request to the University official in charge of the file, indicate the part of the file to be corrected, and explain the mistake.  If the University decides not to correct the file, the student or alumni will be notified of this decision in writing and the person will be informed of the right to request an informal hearing.
3. Students or alumni have the right to prevent the university from disclosing personal information found in the academic files, except in those cases where FERPA authorizes this, these cases are:
   1. Disclosure of information to Institution officials.  The institutional official is taken to mean administrative or teaching employees, persons contracted by the University, members of the Board of Trustees, and student members of special committees.
   2. Disclosure of information to Institution officials.  The institutional official is taken to mean administrative or teaching employees, persons contracted by the University, members of the Board of Trustees, and student members of special committees.

Students and alumni have the right to prevent the University from disclosing Directory information to their parties.  The disclosure to third parties includes the release of information to the Armed Forces.  If students or alumni wish to prevent their information from being disclosed to the United States Armed Forces, it is necessary that they express their desire that no information be disclosed to third parties.

To prevent information from being disclosed to third parties, it is necessary that students or alumni submit their request to this effect, in writing, to the Office of the Registrar of their academic unit.  In order for the request to be effective for the academic year, it is important that students submit the request on or on September 1st of that year.

• Information to other universities.  The University will release student or alumni information to those universities to which they request admission.
• Exceptional circumstances.  The University will disclose student or alumni information if they are economically dependent upon their parents.  The University assumes undergraduate students and alumni are economically dependent upon their parents; therefore, in some cases, it may disclose information without the consent of the student or alumni to parents that request it.  Undergraduate students or alumni who are not economically dependent upon their parents must present this evidence to the Office of the Registrar to prevent information from being released to their parents.  Information on graduate students or alumni will not be given to parents without their consent.
• Emergency cases.  These are cases in which the health or security of a student, alumni or other person is in danger.
• Immigration and Naturalization Service.  The University is required to give information to Immigration Service regarding certain foreign students or alumni.

If students or alumni understand that the University has not complied with these obligations, they have the right to file a claim to:

Department of Federal Education
Family Policy Compliance Officer
400 Maryland Avenue SW
Washington, D.C.  20202-4605

Solomon-Pombo Act

Inter-American University established its institutional policy regarding the student and alumni directory since the academic year 1999-2000. This measure was adopted to incorporate the new changes in the federal laws known as the Solomon-Pombo Act. This federal law permits third parties to request from the Institution all personal data that is included by the University as Directory information:

Inter American University establishes the following data as Directory information:

The University exhorts all student who does NOT agree that these data are included in the Directory, to contact the Dean of Studies to notify the situation.