08/21/2017
From the office of the administration: Dear Students,
***Below is a long but very important email. There are some very significant changes coming to SFBI this year, and we want you all to be aware. I would suggest that you not skim through this email, but take the time to read it in its entirety***
We are excited that in just a few weeks from beginning our 2017-18 academic year of South Florida Bible Institute!
Our President, Pastor Mark Hattabaugh, along with many of our instructors, Sis. Marie Guevara and myself have been in discussions about how we can improve the format of SFBI. These discussions have taken place periodically over the last two years. In our discussions we have heard from students and instructors alike, and we've discovered that there are several common concerns about SFBI:
For Students
-4 classes is too many for one night
-4 finals in one night is too difficult
-The academic year is too long (ending the 2nd week in June)
For Instructors
-A 45 minute session is not enough time to effectively teach
-12+ week trimesters is too long of a time commitment
As we've talked about these concerns, we agree that all of these are very valid. We have, several times over the last two years, discussed how we could best improve the format, and we believe that we have come up with the best option for you, the students, our instructors, and the SFBI program as a whole.
Format Change
The new format will be 3 classes, 55 minutes each, for 10 weeks. This means that you will be in one less class per evening, and the total time per evening would be reduced by 15 minutes (7:00pm-10:00pm vs. 7:00pm-10:15pm). The evenings will be shorter, but we will actually be adding 10 minutes to our total teaching time per class, per trimester (550 total minutes vs. 540 total minutes). This will give you one less class to focus on, while extending the time and effectiveness of the teaching, all the while getting you home a few minutes earlier.
We will also shorten the trimesters by two weeks. Not only will this lessen the strain on our instructor's schedules, but it will also result in the academic year being significantly shorter. Instead of the final trimester ending in mid-June, it will end in late-April. In addition, our graduation ceremony will go from taking place in late-June or early-July to now taking place in early-May.
We believe that this will be a definite improvement over our previous format!
Changes to Graduation Requirements
Although we will be offering one less class per trimester, and therefore 3 less classes per school year, SFBI will continue to be a 3-year program. Previously, when we offered 4 classes per trimester, we required students to have passed 32 out of the 36 courses offered to graduate. Another way we looked at it is having passed all 4 classes in 8 out of the 9 trimesters.
However, now that we will offer 3 classes per trimester, future students of South Florida Bible Institute will be required to complete 24 out of 27 courses to graduate. This will still require students to pass all of their classes in 8 out of 9 trimesters. The only difference is that there will be 3 courses offered, 3 times per year for 3 years (3x3x3), coming out to a total of 27 courses, as opposed to 4 courses offered, 3 times per year for 3 years (4x3x3) coming out to a total of 36 courses.
In spite of these changes to the number of total required classes to qualify for graduation, very little will actually change for our current students in regards to their requirement for graduation.
For Those Expecting to Graduate This Coming Year
For those of you who are expecting to graduate this year, which means you are coming into this school year having completed 20-28 classes, you will still need to complete the same amount of trimesters as you would have in our previous format. Essentially everything remains the same, the only difference is that you will end up taking one less class per trimester.
So for example, in our previous format if you have 20 credits/classes completed coming into 2017-18, you would have needed to pass all 12 courses offered, in all three trimesters to get to 32 credits which is the number needed to graduate from the program. If you have 24 credits/classes you would need to pass 8 out of the 12 courses offered to get to 32 credits, or two out of three trimesters.
However, in our new format if you have 20 credits/classes completed coming into 2017-18, you will need to pass all 9 courses offered in all three trimesters. This will get you to 29 courses finished. Although you would be over the 27 credit requirement, you would still be expected to pass all of the classes offered in all three trimesters, just like you would have in our previous format. If you are coming in with 24 credits, even though you are one trimester of passed classes away from 27 credits, you will still be expected to pass two trimesters worth of classes, just like you would have in our previous format.
To be clear: If you were expecting to graduate this year, our new format will not affect that at all. If you would have had to complete one, two, or all three trimesters in 2017-18 to graduate, that will NOT change with our new format. The ONLY difference is that there will be one less class per trimester (but, again, this will not affect your graduation status at all).
For Those Who Are NOT Planning to Graduate this Year
For those who currently have less than 20 credits, and are therefore not eligible to graduate, you will still need to have completed the same amount of trimesters in the new format as you would have in the old format.
AGAIN: THE ONLY THING THAT IS CHANGING IS THAT THERE WILL BE ONE LESS CLASS PER TRIMESTER.
Tuition and Fee Changes
Beginning this year we will be increasing our tuition fees from $100 per trimester to $125. However, we will no longer require a $20 yearly registration fee. So the total payment for the 1st Trimester - and every other trimester - will be $125.
Regardless of how detailed (and long, lol) this email is or could have been, I still expect that there will be questions. Feel free to click “reply” (not “reply all”) with any questions about the information in this email. My only request is that you do your best to read and understand the contents of this email on your own before clicking “reply”. If you have other SFBI related questions that do not directly pertain to the information in this email, please compose a separate email and send to [email protected] and/or [email protected] so that it does not get overlooked.
Expect more information about the new school year and trimester very soon!
God bless,
Steven Guttridge
Administrator
South Florida Bible Institute
