Registrar Office

The Office of the Registrar is responsible for registration, maintenance of all official academic records of students, the issuance of transcripts and certification of studies and certification that students have met graduation requirements.  It also issues study certification upon student request.  There is an Office of the Registrar at each instructional unit of the University.

Registration and Program Changes

Students will register on the day and hour designated for this purpose.  After registration, students will be able to make changes to their class programs during the period specified in the Academic Calendar.

For total withdrawal from the School, students will be interviewed by the Dean of the School & by the Dean of Academic Affairs professional Guidance Counselor and the Financial Air Office in order to complete the withdrawal form, which they will present to the Business Office.

A student who drops a course or completely withdrawals from the University during the period designated on the academic calendar will receive a grade of W.  The last day for partial or total withdrawal from course will be: 

1. Semester:  The last day of classes.
2. Summer:  The last day of classes.

University Policy Regarding Students and Alumni Directory

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 thy 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 grater 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 indicated 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. 1. Disclosure of information to Institution officials.  Institutional official are taken to mean administrative or teaching employees, persons contacted by the University, members of the Board of Trustees and student members of special committees.  
   2. Disclosure of Directory information.  The University has designated the following data as Directory information:  student or alumni name, address, major and year of study.  

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 in or on September 1st of that year.

1. Information to other universities.  The University will release student or alumni information to those universities to which they request admission.
2. Exceptional circumstances.  The University will disclose student or alumni information if they are economically dependence 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 t 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 evident 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.
3. Emergency cases.  These are cases in which the health or security of a student, alumni or other person is in danger.
4. Immigration and Naturalization Service.  The University is obliged 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 for 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 not in agreement that these date be included in the Directory to contact the Dean of Studies.

Transcripts

Transcripts should be paid at the Bursars Office.  Each transcript has a cost of $3.00. 

Change of Address

When students register, they are required to file their mailing address with the Office of the Registrar.  Changes of address should be reported immediately to the Registrar.  If this address is not kept up-to-date, the University will not be responsible for notifications sent to the student.

Any notice, official or otherwise, mailed to a student's address as it appears on the records shall be deemed sufficient notice.

Class Attendance

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 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 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.

Admission of Veterans

All programs of the University are authorized by both the Veterans' Administration and the Department of Education of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.  Veterans intending to enroll and receive VA educational benefits should submit an application through the Office of the Registrar of the Campus in which they intend to pursue studies.

Admission of Foreign Students

Foreign students should direct their inquiries to the Campus they plan to attend.  As part of the admissions requirement,  Inter American University of Puerto Rico reserves the right to interview the applicants.  If the applicants are approved for admission, the Admissions Office fills out the I-20 Form A from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which enables them to obtain student visas.

Admission of Transfer Students

A candidate for admissions by transfer from another university or college must submit the application from, the medical examination from and the required nonrefundable application fee.  A copy of an official transcript of all university must be forwarded directly from the registrars of institution previously attend to the Admissions Office of the School of Optometry.  

Students will be considered candidates for admission by transfer if they meet the following requirements:

Readmission to the School

Students who discontinue studies for one semester or more or two trimesters or more should request readmission at the Office of the Registrar of the Campus to which they seek admission.  All requests should be made at least one month before the following enrollment period.

Students who have taken courses at another institution of higher learning should present official evidences of the credits taken.  This evidence will be submitted to the appropriate office for evaluation.

Students readmitted will follow the School Catalog and the rules and regulations in effect at the time of their readmission.