Statement of Educational Objective

The Statement of Educational Objectives (SEO) is a professional document created by each Integrative Studies student in their BIS 201 seminar. The SEO is composed of two important parts: course selection and rationale. The course select portion identifies the program of study the student has selected (i.e., concentrations, specific classes), while the rationale provides a written explanation of the student's personal and professional goals, and how those goals align with the program of study. In BIS 201, students are introduced to the SEO development process and, with the help of their instructor, develop and submit their SEO for review by the SEO Petition and Review Committee (SPRC). This committee reviews student SEOs at a monthly meeting and determines if the SEO should be accepted or returned for revision. The goal of the SPRC is to ensure that IS students are developing academically rigorous programs of study, selecting concentrations and courses that will benefit them personally and professionally, and to check that the program of study will meet Miami University graduation requirements.

Overlap rules

IS students have significant freedom when designing their SEO to fit their personal and professional goals. While no two SEOs are exactly the same, the Department of Integrative Studies does have several rules that apply to all students. These overlap rules are designed to ensure that students are meeting university graduation requirements and selecting courses from multiple disciplines. These overlap rules include:

• No specific course can overlap between Concentration I, Concentration II, or the Miami Plan Thematic Sequence
• Students may have one (1) departmental overlap between Concentration I and Concentration II. This overlap may not be the same course.
• Students may have one (1) departmental overlap between a single concentration and the Miami Plan Thematic Sequence. This overlap may not be the same course.

Instructions to submit an SEO:

1. Download the SEO form to your computer before you start to edit. 
2. Fill out the Statement of Educational Objectives form completely. Include your information (name, banner ID, etc.), which concentrations and thematic sequence you have selected, and individual courses for each portion of the SEO.
3. Do not violate any overlap rules (discussed in BIS 201). Violating overlap rules results in an automatic rejection of your SEO.
4. Include your rationale (space provided on following pages). Copy and paste your rationale into this section. The SEO and rationale should be contained in one document. If you have difficulty pasting it, save your rationale as a PDF file and combine both the completed SEO form and rationale into a single PDF (i.e., a PDF with multiple pages). The SEO form should always be the first document/page with the rationale following.
5. Create a copy of the single document and rename it using the following naming format (example, your unique Miami ID is grimesrr, rename your file grimesrr_seo.doc or grimesrr_seo.pdf)
   Word file, use: uniqueID_seo.doc
   PDF file, use: uniqueID_seo.pdf
6. Create a new email addressed to bis.seo@MiamiOH.edu (Using ONLY your university email account) The subject line of your email should indicate that it is a SEO submission. The email should include a brief message indicating the purpose of your email. Lastly, include your name in the body of the email and attach the file containing your combined SEO and rationale.

When you receive a confirmation email from the bis.seo@MiamiOH.edu email account, save the email. This serves as confirmation that you have submitted it. Your BIS 201 instructor may ask you to forward the email. In order to successfully pass BIS 201, you must submit your SEO to the SPRC.