Program Approval

A group of people watch as a small plane lifts off a runway

The aviation flight curriculum is approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure that your education meets the quality standards set by professional and technical societies in the profession. 

Visit the Russ College accreditation page to see enrollment and graduation data.

Student Outcomes

A student who graduates from the Department of Aviation is expected to have the following learning outcomes. The aviation student should be able to:

  1. Demonstrate critical thinking and communication skills in a variety of human-interaction situations as a Management and/or Flight option major.
  2. Display teamwork, leadership, and technical skills to solve aviation-related problems as a Management and/or Flight option major.
  3. Exhibit a demeanor of professionalism, a commitment to ethical values and behavior, and an interest in life-long learning for personal growth and development and for the betterment of the aviation profession as a Management and/or Flight option major.
  4. Plan and safely conduct a flight in single and multi-engine aircraft within the national airspace system in compliance with all applicable federal standards and regulations as a Flight option major. 

Assessment

  1. Our Flight curriculum is approved and compliant with the Federal Aviation Administration Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The curriculum includes mandated stage exams (ground and flight) and flight checks. In addition, our faculty and instructional staff that administer such exams also participate in mandated annual training compliant with FAA requirements for those positions.
  2. Our Management and Flight curriculums include internship requirements for all students. The Aviation faculty developed and implemented an internship application and assessment form which faculty and students use during an advising session to ensure the internship hour level correlates with the number of credit hours requested for the internship.
  3. Management and Flight students take our capstone course, Business in Aviation, AVN 4800, and Transition to the Aviation Industry, AVN 4890. Both courses entail experiential learning through direct contact, networking opportunities with industry professionals and senior projects. Through these departmental contacts students gain the opportunity to compete for internships and the Department Chair communicates directly with those organizations about intern performance and obtains feedback from their supervisor about quality of individual performance and how the intern was or was not prepared.

Program Improvement

  1. Management and Flight – In addition to our overall academic curriculum assessments, the internship form includes a performance section with questions where the intern supervisor assesses the student’s performance. Such an assessment tool directly correlates to what the student could expect to see in industry in its basic content and context. Faculty use the forms at the end of the internship for advising, grade application and to discuss at faculty meetings about areas to consider in enhancing program offerings.
  2. The Chair and faculty review the feedback from our industry partners and through dialogue and curriculum review the faculty assess and consider curriculum updates/ changes. Examples of such include incorporation of Minor courses into our curriculum focused on those areas such as soft-skills and finance both of which all students will immediately apply in their transition from academia to the industry.