Minor in Aviation Flight Training and Management

The aviation industry is an exciting, growing industry that relies on a competent trained workforce to manage the technologically-advanced complex management, control and vehicle systems.

Forecasts for the industry indicate an increasing demand for employees with specialized skills. This growth in demand is based on a retirement bulge in the existing cohort of airline pilots and Air Traffic Controllers accompanied by annual increasing demand in the United States and world-wide.

This minor provides students with a unique opportunity to earn a pilot’s license and gain expertise in various aspects of aviation management. The combination of pilot’s license and aviation management places the candidate seeking employment with airlines, airports, air traffic control at a competitive advantage. Students completing this minor have completed one step in preparation towards jobs as Commercial Pilots, Military Pilots, Corporate Pilots, Certified Flight Instructors, Unmanned Aerial Systems Operators, Airline Dispatchers, Airport Managers, Air Traffic Controllers, Aviation Flight Test Engineers, Aviation System Engineers.

The structured set of courses for the minor will help students across University programs prepare for a career in this exciting and growing industry.

Students completing the minor will take classes for Pilot Ground school, and Flight Training leading up to solo and cross-country flights. In addition, students will also study aspects of aviation from system engineering of air traffic control, design of airports, human factors and psychology, and financial planning and management. Students will be trained to pass required government licensing exams such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Knowledge Test and FAA Flight Tests.

This minor is open to all majors, and especially appropriate for students in the natural sciences, computational sciences, information technology, finance, economic, mathematics, engineering, or computer science programs with a passion for flying.

Minor Requirements

The general university requirements for a minor can be found in the Academic Policies section of the GMU catalog, which states that:

"Students may elect minor programs of study in addition to major fields by submitting a completed Minor Declaration (Undergraduate) form to the Office of the University Registrar. Minors usually require between 15 and 21 credits of study, at least 8 of which must be applied only to that minor and may not be used to fulfill requirements of the student's major, concentration, an undergraduate certificate, or another minor. Students must complete at least 6 credits in their minor at Mason and achieve a minimum 2.00 GPA in courses applied to the minor."

The minor in Aviation Flight Training and Management consists of 15 credit hours of coursework, including:

Three required SEOR courses:

• SYST 460 - Introduction to Air Traffic Control
• SYST 462 - Flight Training Lab I (Course fee to cover flight training costs is $4,979 for academic year 2014-2015. This fee can adjust in future years. Other expenses such as the medical certificate, FAA Knowledge test fees and practical test fee are not included in the course fee).
  
• SYST 463 - Flight Training Lab II (Course fee to cover flight training costs is $5,380 for academic year 2014-2015. This fee can adjust in future years. Other expenses such as the medical certificate, FAA Knowledge test fees and practical test fee are not included in the course fee).

One additional course from the following:

• SYST 371 - Systems Engineering Management;
• SYST 461 - Air Transportation System Engineering
• MIS 303 - Introduction to Business Information Systems
• MSOM 301 - Managing People and Organizations
• MSOM - 305 - Managing in a Global Economy

One additional course from the following:

• SYST 469 - Human Computer Interaction
• SYST 470 - Human Factors Engineering
• PSYC 317 - Cognitive Psychology
• PSYC 333 - Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Some of the courses listed above have additional prerequisites. Students should pay careful attention to prerequisites when selecting courses.

Declaring the Minor

A student wishing to complete the minor should fill out the Undergraduate Declaration of Minor form. The student should also sign the course fee acknowledgement form. The form and acknowledgement should be taken to the SEOR department administration staff in Nguyen Engineering bldg., room 2100, for processing.

Registration Requirements

Students registered for SYST 462 and SYST 463 must obtain U.S. government clearance to conduct flight training prior to the first day of class. For international students this process involves fingerprinting and may take up to 60 days.

Students registered for SYST 462 and SYST 463 must obtain Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) required medical clearance.

Students registered for SYST 462 and SYST 463 will be required to schedule and coordinate all instruction (ground, simulation, and flight). These activities are dependent on the weather and availability of necessary equipment. These resources are scheduled on a first-come/first-serve basis.

Students completing all required course work for SYST 462 and SYST 463 will receive a grade for the course and college credit. Students can also complete the FAA mandated flight checks during the course. If the FAA mandated requirements are not completed during the course of the academic semester, the student is responsible for scheduling and funding these activities.

Students registering for SYST 462 and SYST 463 are subject to all laws and regulations of the University and its vendors.