Senior Advising and Overlap Program

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Senior Advising and Overlap Program

Final Degree Plan
Two semesters before you intend to graduate, you need to apply for a Final Degree Plan. To begin this process, please visit the Rusk Building, Room 202. When you receive your Final Degree Plan, you must carefully examine this document to be sure that it is complete and correct. Now is the time to fix anything that does not seem right. It will list all of the courses remaining to be completed. Be sure to ask about anything you do not understand.

Be sure you are current with the latest Texas certification (TExES) information that might impact your program.

Overlap Program
Consider courses you might take in the Senior Overlap Program. The Overlap Program permits qualified undergraduates to pursue a limited amount of graduate study (usually 12 credit hours or less) concurrently with undergraduate study. You must apply for this program and you must also apply for Graduate School.

To obtain a Senior Overlap Program application please visit the Elementary Education Office (ED 304) or stop by the Graduate Office in the Liberal Arts North Building LAN-423, or go online to the Graduate School web site. There you will receive an application form to complete. The admission process takes up to one month, so it is important for you to start the procedures well in advance of the time you expect to register for these classes.

To be eligible for the Overlap Program, a student must be enrolled at SFASU and must have achieved at least ninety-five (95) earned hours of undergraduate credit with a 2.5 GPA overall and a 2.8 GPA in the major field. A student with fewer than one hundred fifteen (115) undergraduate earned hours must present a 3.0 GPA both overall and in the major field.

Overlap courses count only for graduate credit and will apply to a Master's Degree.

The Department of Elementary Education offers the following two Supplemental Certifications through the Overlap Program or at Graduate Level

ESL - English as a Second Language Supplemental Certification

In addition to any program that you may be following, you may wish to obtain a supplemental certificate for teaching children whose native language is not English. You are not required to learn a foreign language because you may have children in your class representing a dozen different languages! (Being able to speak another language is helpful when there is a large concentration of families in your area who speak that language. However, this is not a requirement by any means.)

Children with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) have special needs. The classes are designed to teach you how to increase English proficiency and to show you methods and techniques for teaching that will aid these children in the content areas. ESL classes provide the necessary modifications to the curriculum that ensure student success and provide a platform for developing a deep understanding of cultural realities that affect learning and everyday life.

ESL Certification - Overlap or Graduate Level Only
12-Hour Requirement

ENG	441	Linguistic Theory
The following must be taken in sequence:
ELE	505	(Online course) Foundations of ESL/Bilingual
ELE	506*	(Online course) ESL/Bilingual Assessment
ELE	507*	(Online course) ESL/Bilingual Teaching Methods
* Capstone course to be taken in last semester of coursework.
Must pass ESL TExES

Bilingual Supplemental Certification

If you are working on a graduate degree, you may elect to add a supplemental certificate to teach in a Bilingual setting. This certification requires fluent Spanish.

Bilingual Certification - Overlap or Graduate Level Only
13-Hour Requirement

SPA	475	Language Proficiency and MUST PASS the TOPT test
ENG	441	Linguistic Theory
The following must be taken in sequence:
ELE	505	(Online Course) Foundations of ESL/Bilingual
ELE	506*	(Online Course) ESL/Bilingual Assessment
ELE	507*	(Online Course) ESL/Bilingual Teaching Methods
* Capstone course to be taken in last semester of coursework
Must pass TOPT and Bilingual TExES

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Stephen F. Austin State University

Senior Advising and Overlap Program