Advising Services

The advising staff provides assistance to enrolled and prospective students in making educational and career decisions.
Academic Advisors are available in Student Services at both campuses during regular operating hours:

Monday - Thursday 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Students pursuing an Associate of Arts degree, an Associate of Science degree, and certain one-year certificate programs must see an Academic Advisor prior to registering for classes.

Services for Students With Disabilities
Polk Community College adheres to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. All services, degree programs, and classes are open to eligible disabled students and reasonable accommodations are provided based on individual needs. Students with documented disabilities may be eligible for extended testing time, special computer equipment, tutoring, recorded texts, note taker services, interpreters, or any other necessary reasonable accommodation to insure equal access.
The Coordinator of Academic Advising on each campus works with any rehabilitation agency, such as Division of Vocational Rehabilitation or the Division of Blind Services, to coordinate student services. Disabled parking spaces are available on campus with state-approved permits; additional parking permits are not required.
We encourage you to contact one of the Coordinators of Academic Advising in Student Services to request special accommodations or auxiliary aids. All information you provide is voluntary in nature and is kept strictly confidential.

Registration

PCC Course Schedule booklets are published for each semester and are available in Student Services several weeks before each semester begins.

1. Six weeks prior to registration we strongly recommend students complete the admission process, take placement test, provide transcripts, and meet with an academic advisor.
2. Consult the PCC Course Schedule booklet for registration dates, fees and payment deadlines. Students may register for specific courses as instructed in the Course Schedule booklet.
3. Be prepared to pay before the deadline. Otherwise the registration reservation is canceled and you will not be permitted into class.

Students with obligations, such as overdue library books, financial obligations, or requirements to provide student record documents may be "blocked" from registration for subsequent terms. Students may also be restricted from registering for certain courses for which they have not met the pre-requisite. Students who pre-registered for the next term, and fail a pre-requisite course, must drop that course and may add another appropriate course.
Once the Late Registration Drop/Add period has ended Registrar Staff and Academic Advisors are no longer permitted to handle student requests for changes to the student schedule.

Continuous Enrollment
Degree program students are considered to be continuously enrolled provided a break in enrollment does not exceed a year. Students failing to maintain continuous enrollment must apply for Readmission (no fee required) under the catalog in effect at the time of their next enrollment. This must be done before registration can take place.

Registration Fees

• Registration fees are due by the fee payment deadline as published in the Course Schedule booklet. All in-person payments are made to the PCC Business Office Cashier on either campus.
• Students paying by credit card during telephone registration will be mailed a fee sheet that includes the student's class schedule and I.D. card.
• Failure to pay fees by the published deadline results in the cancellation of the student's registration and the student is not admitted to the classes selected.
• Registration is not complete until the student has received a printed fee sheet.
• Financial aid recipients who do not receive a printed paid fee sheet at the time of registration, must see financial aid for verification of award coverage.

Florida Residents For Fee Puposes
Section 240.1201, Florida State Statutes, defines a Florida resident for tuition purposes:

"...a person or, if that person is a dependent child, his parent or parents must have established legal residence in this State and must have maintained legal residence in this State for a least 12 months immediately prior to this qualification."

Furthermore, the statute classifies the following individuals as Florida residents for tuition purposes:

Active duty members of the Armed Services of the United States stationed in the State of Florida, their spouses, and dependent children Full-time instructional and administrative personnel employed by state public schools, community colleges, and institutions of higher education as defined in F.S.228.041, their spouses, and dependent children Students from Latin America and the Caribbean who receive scholarships from the Federal and State Governments.

For additional residency classifications, please refer to the Polk Community College Application for Admission. Persons not meeting the definition of a Florida resident are charged a non-resident fee in addition to the registration fee.

Book and Supplies
The cost of books and supplies varies with the program and courses you select. Books and other school supplies are sold in the college bookstores located at each of our campuses. PCC contracts with Follet, Inc. to provide bookstore services. Follet accepts most major credit cards, Honor debit cards, and local checks with proper identification.

Fee Refunds

• To be eligible for a fee refund for a dropped course, complete the drop action no later than the "Last Day for Refund" deadline published in the Course Schedule booklet.
• Full fee refunds are made for courses canceled by the College.
• Late Registration fees are refunded only in cases of canceled classes.
• Information on drops and fee refunds for non-credit courses is available at registration.

Student Records

Polk Community College maintains a permanent record of academic information and of supporting and relevant information for each student. The Registrar is designated as the custodian of student records and is responsible for maintaining accurate and readily available student academic records. The Registrar is also responsible for the use and release of information contained in those records. The College is committed to the protection of student rights and privacy of information. It complies with the provisions of the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), State of Florida law and State Department of Education rules. Polk Community College is a Directory College under FERPA and may release directory information to requesting parties. The next section outlines students' rights under FERPA.

Notification Of Student Rights Under FERPA
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. They are:
(1) The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 30 days of the day the College receives a request for access.
Students should submit to the Registrar written requests that identify the record(s) they wish to inspect. The Registrar will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the Registrar, the student will be advised of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.
(2) The right to request the amendment of the student's education records that the student believes are inaccurate or misleading.
Students may ask the College to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. They should write the Registrar, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading. If the College decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the College will notify the student of the decision and advise the student of his or her right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.
(3) The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student's education records, except the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.
One exception which permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom the College has contracted (such as an Attorney, Auditor, or Collection Agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks.
A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.
Upon request, the College discloses education records without consent to officials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.
(4) The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) authorizes the campus to release "Directory Information" concerning students. The campus may release this information at any time to any requesting party unless the campus has received notification from the student.
The following categories of student information are designated as "directory information".

Student name Address Telephone number Date and place of birth Dates of attendance Previous institutions attended Major field of study Degrees conferred (including dates) Honors and awards Participation in officially recognized activities and sports Physical factors of athletes (e.g. height, weight) Photographs

Students may refuse to permit disclosure of this information. To do so, a student must complete, sign and submit to the Office of the College Registrar a request to withhold directory information. The request may be made at anytime and will remain in effect unless and until the student submits to the Office of the College Registrar a request for it to be removed.
If the student does not complete and submit the appropriate form requesting the withholding of directory information, the College will assume he or she consents to the disclosure of such information.
(5) The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by Polk Community College to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is:

Family Policy Compliance Office U.S. Department of Education 600 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20202-4605

Accelerated Credits from Testing

AP, CLEP, Regents College AND IB
Florida law and State Board of Education rules provide for PCC to award credit for satisfactory scores on the nationally standardized College Level Examination Program (CLEP), College Board Advanced Placement Program (AP), the Regents' College Examination Program (Regents College), and International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations. Credit is awarded in accordance with the State Board Rule 6A-10.024, allowing students to proceed toward their educational goals as rapidly as possible.
Minimum satisfactory scores for CLEP, AP, Regents College, and IB are set by the State Board of Education and are subject to change (see Appendix C). Credit is not awarded in areas for which credit is already earned.
Examination scores must be submitted on an official score report from the organization administering the examination. CLEP, AP, Regents College, and IB credit is posted to the academic record along with the source of the credit. Students planning on transferring to schools outside of the Florida State University System (SUS) are responsible for determining the acceptability of this credit.
A maximum of 45 semester hours of combined CLEP, AP, Regents College, and IB credit maybe applied toward an associate degree.

Test Administration
CLEP examinations are administered at Polk Community College, Winter Haven Campus. Registration bulletins and the test dates and times are available from Student Services on both campuses. Contact the Coordinator of Testing at 863-297-1010, ext. 5201 for additional information. See Appendix C for exam names, minimum scores required for credit, and equivalent PCC courses.
AP examinations are taken prior to enrolling in college and are administered in high school following the completion of high school advanced placement classes (see Appendix C for subjects and minimum satisfactory scores).
Regents College examinations are administered at Florida Southern College, Testing Center, 142 Ordway Building, Lakeland. Contact the Testing Center at Florida Southern, (863) 680-4299, for more information and registration materials. See Appendix C for exam names, minimum scores required for credit, and equivalent PCC courses.
IB examinations are taken prior to enrolling in college and are administered in high school following the completion of high school IB classes. See Appendix C for additional information, exam names, minimum scores for credit and equivalent PCC courses.

Credit-By-Examination
Special arrangements may be made for Credit-by-Examination in certain occupational course areas by consulting the Dean's Office of the Division in which the course is offered.

• Students may be eligible to take an exam provided they have never enrolled in a college level course equivalent to the exam subject matter.
• A fee is assessed.
• Successful completion of the exam results in credit being posted to the academic record.
• Please note that until a student has successfully completed 12 PCC course credits in residence that do not include "credit-by-examination," the official PCC transcript will not have the "credit-by-examination" noted on transcripts sent from PCC. Courses transferred to PCC will not satisfy this requirement.
• Students planning on transferring to other institutions are responsible for determining the acceptability of this credit.
• Transcripts will not show Credit-by-Examination credit until the student earns 12 credits through PCC matriculation.

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