T M SEATTLE FILM INSTITUTE STUDENT HANDBOOK 2020 – 2021 SFI STUDENT HANDBOOK TABLE OF CONTENTS Message from the President ____________________________________________________________________________________ 3 Seattle Film Institute Catalog _____________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Tuition ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Articulation Agreements __________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Equipment Use Policy ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 Hours of Operation _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6 Class Times __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6 School Closure Due to Snow or Other Emergency Situations ________________________________________________ 6 Safety and Security _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6 Facilities and Parking ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 8 Seattle Film Institute Library and Learning Resource Center _______________________________________________ 9 Academic Credit and Definition of a Credit Hour ____________________________________________________________ 11 Class Size and Ratio _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 11 Course Prerequisites _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11 Course Challenge __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11 Program Revisions and Course Substitutions ________________________________________________________________ 11 Course or Program Cancellation _______________________________________________________________________________ 12 Grading System ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12 Withdrawals _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 13 Course Incompletes _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 13 Course Repetitions _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 14 Course Numbering System ______________________________________________________________________________________ 14 Grade Reports _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14 Statute of Limitation on Grade Changes _______________________________________________________________________ 14 Grade Appeal Procedure _________________________________________________________________________________________ 14 Student Complaint and Academic Appeals Procedure ______________________________________________________ 14 Leave of Absence __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 15 Leave Of Absence For All Students: ____________________________________________________________________________ 16 Registration ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 16 Transcript Requests ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 16 Withdrawal from Seattle Film Institute _______________________________________________________________________ 16 Academic Advising ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 17 Career Services ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 17 1 Internships & Career Opportunities ___________________________________________________________________________ 17 Student Support Services ________________________________________________________________________________________ 17 Notice of Annual Notification of Policies ______________________________________________________________________ 18 Student Conduct and Suspensions Policy _____________________________________________________________________ 19 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) ________________________________________________________ 21 Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action & Nondiscrimination Policy _____________________________________ 23 Americans With Disabilities Act Policy ________________________________________________________________________ 23 Unlawful Harassment Policy ____________________________________________________________________________________ 23 Sexual Misconduct Policy ________________________________________________________________________________________ 23 Title IX and the Role of the Title IX Coordinator _____________________________________________________________ 26 Copyright Policy ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 30 Copyright of Productions ________________________________________________________________________________________ 30 Undergraduate Programs ____________________________________________________________________________________ 31 Satisfactory Academic Progress ________________________________________________________________________________ 31 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) Requirements (Qualitative) ___________________________________ 31 Rate of Progress Toward Completion Requirements (Quantatative) ____________________________________ 31 Maximum Time in Which to Complete _________________________________________________________________________ 32 Annual Credit Requirement _____________________________________________________________________________________ 32 Academic Probation and SAP Warning Status ________________________________________________________________ 32 Grade Appeal Procedure _________________________________________________________________________________________ 32 Student Complaint and Academic Appeals Procedure ______________________________________________________ 32 Application and Appeal of Standards __________________________________________________________________________ 33 Class Attendance __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 33 Transfer of Credit _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 34 Graduation Requirements _______________________________________________________________________________________ 34 Master Programs _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 35 Satisfactory Academic Progress ________________________________________________________________________________ 35 CGPA Requirements ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 35 Rate of Progress Toward Completion Requirements _______________________________________________________ 35 Maximum Time in Which to Complete _________________________________________________________________________ 35 Annual Credit Requirement _____________________________________________________________________________________ 36 Academic Warning and Academic Probation _________________________________________________________________ 36 Application and Appeal of Standards __________________________________________________________________________ 36 Transfer of Credit _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 37 Graduation Requirements _______________________________________________________________________________________ 37 2 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Just as a film grows from an initial idea and then to a script, storyboards, production, and editing in incremental steps, Seattle Film Institute has developed in a similar fashion. From its very beginnings, SFI has offered a comprehensive curriculum in all aspects of filmmaking. What has changed—step-by-step—is the robust nature and complexity of that curriculum. Seattle Film Institute offers programs in filmmaking, sound design & recording arts, motion graphics & visual effects, acting for film, producing, and composing for film. It offers certificate programs, a BA degree, and graduate degrees. Yet, what makes SFI so unusual is not this list in itself but the way these offerings form the core essence of Seattle Film Institute. That essence is the “secret ingredient” of SFI. That “secret ingredient” can really be best understood by zooming out and taking a look at the establishing shot that represents Seattle Film Institute. Seattle Film Institute is housed in a wonderful, 10,000 sq. ft. purpose-built building. What does that mean? It means the entire institution with all of its diverse programs and its robust curriculum lives together in one space. The filmmaking students do not have to run across campus to find the acting students in the drama department. The film composing students do not have to leave their comfortable turf in the music building to work with film directors. The motion graphics students are not holed-up on their own in a media- arts building. Rather, everyone at Seattle Film Institute is not only learning the specifics of their individual craft, they are also learning and collaborating together—literally