Advising

Certificates

• Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing: This 18 credit certificate prepares students for entry level careers associated with bioprocessing.  Click here for more information on our biopharmaceutical manufacturing certificate.

• Medical Device Quality: This 18 credit certificate prepares students for entry level careers associated with the medical device industry.  Click here for more information on our medical device quality certificate.

• Regulatory Affairs: This 18 credit certificate prepares students for entry level careers associated with regulatory affairs.   Click here for more information on our regulatory affairs certificate.

AAS Degree

• The Associate of Applied Science degree program concentrates on technical and professional development courses that are directly applicable to the various careers in the field of biotechnology. 

• Although this degree prepares students with the hands on technical skills to start a career after graduating, both IUPUI and IU Richmond will accept this degree for transfer.

This document contains more information on our offerings and how the certificates flow into the degree.  

All schools receiving federal funding are now required to have their students complete an outcomes assessment.  The outcomes assessment is a culminating project or exam in which the student shows mastery of the core competencies taught throughout the degree or certificate.  You will be required to complete an outcomes assessment in order to earn your degree or certificate in Biotechnology.  Each certificate or degree has their own method of assessment:

• Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Certificate:

  • Instructors in the courses will be asked to record scores on exam questions covering the following topics.

    • BIOT 100: Understand and maintain a safe and productive manufacturing environment.

    • BIOT 100/BIOT 110: Perform basic scientific measurements and tests to identify product defects or deviations.

    • BIOT 105/ BIOT 110: Understand and comply with necessary and applicable regulations and standards.

    • BIOT 103/ BIOT 104: Read, comprehend, follow, document (GDP) and communicate information accurately.

    • BIOT 102: Demonstrate a commitment to quality and continuous improvement.  

  • At the end of each semester, instructors will report the percent for each student to the program chair (or enter them directly on a shared excel file).

  • Student must earn an average of 70% or higher on all skills combined to pass and earn their certificate.

• Medical Device Quality Certificate:

  • For BIOT courses, instructors in the courses will be asked to record scores on exam questions covering the following topics.

    • BIOT 100: Understand and maintain a safe and productive manufacturing environment.

    • BIOT 100: Perform basic scientific measurements and tests to identify product defects or deviations.

    • BIOT 103: Understand and comply with necessary and applicable regulations and standards.

    • BIOT 103/ BIOT 104: Read, comprehend, follow, document and communicate information accurately.

    • BIOT 102: Demonstrate a commitment to quality and continuous improvement.

    • DESN 101: Demonstrate understanding of sketching practices and the features and considerations associated with the operation of computer-aided design (CAD) systems

    • INDT/ MPRO 108: Demonstrate the ability to read prints to determine needed measurements, then make accurate measurements using precision measuring tools

  • At the end of each semester, instructors will report the percent for each student to the program chair (or enter them directly on a shared excel file).

  • For the courses without a BIOT prefix, the program chair will collect the final semester grade.  If a percentage is not available, the letter grade will be converted to a percent, with an A counting as a 95%, a B counting as 85% and so on.

  • Student must earn an average of 70% or higher on all skills combined to pass and earn their certificate.

• Regulatory Affairs Certificate:

  • As part of the capstone, or final, course for this certificate (BIOT 218: Product Life Cycle), students will complete a semester long project that requires them to synthesize and use the knowledge gained from the previous courses in this certificate.  The score earned on this project will double as their outcomes assessment score.  Students must earn a 70% or higher on this project to earn their certificate.

• Associate of Applied Science (AAS) Degree:

  • During the capstone, or final, course for this degree (BIOT 279: Capstone in Biotechnology), students will take a cumulative exam that covers the following courses:

    • BIOT 101: Introduction to Biotechnology (students may have substituted BIOT 100 (Survey of Biotechnology) and BIOT 106 (Introduction to Biotechnology Lab) to obtain the same material)

    • BIOT 103: Safety and Regulatory Compliance

    • BIOT 201: Cell Culture

    • BIOT 211/212: Analytical Methods I and II

  • Study materials are provided and students have two attempts to complete the exam.

If you already work in the biotechnology industry, you already have skills and knowledge that may count towards your degree.  If you have the right combination of knowledge and skills, your work experiences may allow you to obtain credit for one or more courses you need for a certificate or degree!  Although there is a fee associated with obtaining course credit through prior learning assessment, it is much less than the cost of taking the course.

In order to earn PLA credit, please review the following checklists for the courses available.  If any match your experiences, please contact one of the program faculty advisors.  The advisor will give you a form to fill out and take to your work supervisor.  Your supervisor will complete the form and return it directly to the advisor.  Once the advisor has reviewed the form for completeness, he or she will submit to the registrar's office.  The registrar's office will then process the form and be in touch with you for next steps to pay the fee and obtain the credit!

PLA is available for the following courses:

• BIOT 100: Survey of Biotechnology

• BIOT 103: Safety and Regulatory Compliance

• BIOT 105: Survey of Regulatory Affairs

• BIOT 280: Internship

Click here for a list of the knowledge and skills you must have to earn credit for each of these courses.