Pictured | Max Spicer | Radiography | Elkhart, Indiana (hometown)

Admissions and General Information

Program Application Deadline

A maximum of 22 students are admitted each fall semester. The application opens February 1st of each year and closes on April 1st.

Required Admission Materials

Students must apply and be admitted to Indiana University South Bend. After being admitted to the University, students will need to apply to the Radiography Program by completing an application. 

Admission to the Clinical/Professional Program is based upon each applicant’s admission grade point average (AGPA) of the completed preradiography general-education core courses, a personal statement (essay), completion of a radiography module, and an interview. Applicants will be given access to the radiography module once their application is submitted. 

Admission Rating System

At the conclusion of the spring semester of program application, students in the applicant pool are scored to determine their rank order. The criteria for admission consideration is based on a a 4.0 scale as follows:

• Application GPA (the weighted GPA of all program prerequisite courses): 45%
• Essay (the average of reviewers’ scores): 15%
• Radiography Module (total score from a multiple-choice assessment about the program and the profession): 10%

The top ranked applicants (maximum of 35) will be selected for an individual interview (30%). The individual interviews will score applicants on:

• Knowledge of the profession
• Communication
• Responsibility/decision-making
• Motivation

Students admitted to the Radiography program will be determined by the combination of their pre-interview score (70%) and their interview rank (30%).

Students offered a clinical position within the associate degree program must formally accept or decline admission, in writing, to the program prior to the beginning of the semester to which they are admitted. Students offered a position in the Clinical/Professional Program but decline acceptance or become academically ineligible can reapply to the program the following year. They must compete with the applicant pool for the semester in which they request entrance with no preference or wait listing given. Students have only three opportunities to decline admission in writing prior to losing their eligibility to apply.

Academic Renewal

If a student was granted academic renewal by the University, then the student should use the Student Undergraduate Program Summary GPA instead of the Indiana University Undergraduate Summary GPA for their Cumulative GPA.

Volunteer Experience

Although not a requirement, volunteer experience is recommended and is very helpful in making a career choice.

Criminal History Background Checks

A past criminal history may become a significant barrier to service learning placements, clinical practicum rotation placements, or have a negative impact on a graduate’s ability to sit for a registry or certification examination or obtain a license to practice. While a conviction of a crime does not automatically disqualify a student from participation in the educational experience, a criminal history may be grounds for denying progression depending on the facts and circumstances surrounding each individual case. 

Affiliates of Indiana University agree that the background check that is conducted by the University for compliance with Policy PS-01 is sufficient unless it is specifically stated otherwise in the affiliation agreement. Policy PS-01 states that students are subject to a criminal background check, which includes a sex offender registry check, within the last five years. The background check and sex offender registry checks must be repeated at least every five years thereafter. Individual programs or units may require more frequent updates. 

The college Requirement to Disclose form must be completed and submitted annually if the student is continuing in a course-related service or clinical practicum requirement in a subsequent year(s).

The successful passing of the required Indiana University background check may not be sufficient to pass future background checks for future licensure, certification, or job placement.

Students are responsible for applying for the criminal history background check and all fees associated with the check upon their application for the clinical program. 

Participation in Clinical Experience

A student may be prohibited from participation in Clinical Experience coursework if they have been convicted of certain crimes. These crimes may include but are not limited to: rape, criminal deviate conduct; exploitation of an endangered child and/or adult; failure to report battery, neglect, or exploitation of an endangered child and/or adult; murder; voluntary manslaughter; and operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OWI).

A conviction of any of the above crimes at any time during an individual’s life may prohibit them from entering clinical rotations. In addition, if an individual was convicted of involuntary manslaughter; felony battery; a felony offense relating to a controlled substance; or theft within five (5) years before the individual’s start of clinical rotations, the individual may not be able to enter clinical rotations.

Drug Policy

All admitted clinical professional students will be required to have a drug screen prior to attending clinical experience and every year; and it may be required on demand under certain situations at the clinical site. A positive drug screen may result in removal from the clinical site and possible dismissal from the program.

Admission Standards

Students enrolled in the Preradiography or Clinical/Professional Program are subject to academic standards as established by IU South Bend. Failure to maintain these standards could lead to progression issues or dismissal from the program. The standards are explained to students during their initial orientation/advising session.

If students have a disability and need assistance, special arrangements can be made to accommodate most needs. For the hearing impaired, SPRINT provides services at (800) 743-3333. For more information, contact the program director.

Essential Abilities

The Radiologic Sciences faculty has specified the following nonacademic criteria (essential abilities) which all applicants and enrolled students are expected to meet in order to participate in the Radiologic Sciences programs and professional practice.

Observation

The applicant/student must be able to participate actively in all demonstrations, laboratory exercises, and clinical experiences in the professional program component of the degree and to assess and comprehend the condition of all patients assigned to him/her for examination, diagnosis and treatment. Such observation and information usually requires the functional use of visual, auditory, and somatic sensations.

Communications 

The applicant/student must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients in order to elicit information, describe changes in mood, activity and posture; assess non-verbal communications, and be able to effectively and efficiently transmit information to patients, fellow students, faculty and staff, and all members of the health care team. Communication skills include speaking, reading and writing, as well as the observations skills described above.

Motor

The applicant/student must have sufficient motor function to elicit information from patients by appropriate diagnostic or therapeutic maneuvers; be able to perform basic tests; possess all skills necessary to carry out diagnostic or therapeutic procedures; be able to interpret appropriate examinations and procedures, and be able to execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general care and emergency treatment to patients.

Intellectual/Conceptual Integrative and Quantitative Abilities  

The applicant/student must be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize. Problem solving, the critical skill demanded of radiologic sciences practitioners, requires all of these intellectual abilities. In addition, the applicant/student must have the capacity to perform these problem solving skills in a timely fashion.

Behavioral and Social Attributes

The applicant/student must possess the emotional health required for full utilization of his or her intellectual abilities; the exercise of good judgment; the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to care of patients; and the development of mature, sensitive and effective relationships with patients and others. Applicants must also be able to tolerate taxing workloads, function effectively under stress, adapt to changing environment, display flexibility, and learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in clinical problems of many patients. Compassion, integrity, concern for others, commitment and motivation are personal qualities which each applicant/student should possess.

Student Policies and Procedures

Please go to https://healthscience.iusb.edu/programs/index.html for all College of Health Science Policies and Radiography and Medical Imaging Policies.

ARRT Certification Eligibility

Issues addressed by the ARRT Rules of Ethics include convictions, criminal procedures, military court martials, or any matter described as a gross misdemeanor, misdemeanor, or felony act(s).

Candidates are required to report charges or convictions that have been withheld, deferred, stayed, set aside, suspended, or entered into a pre-trial diversion, or involved a plead of guilty or no contest (nolo contendere). Candidates do not need to report juvenile convictions that were processed in juvenile court, traffic citations that did not involve drugs or alcohol, or offenses that were previously reported to and formally cleared by the ARRT.

Candidates who had any license, registration, or certification denied, revoked, suspended, placed on probation, or subjected to discipline by a regulatory authority or certification board (other than ARRT) must contact the ARRT.

Additionally, candidates for certification are required to disclose any honor code violations that may have occurred while attending any institution of higher education (probation, suspension, or dismissal). If any of these situations apply or if a candidate is uncertain about a potential probable cause (drunk driving, possession of alcohol, possession or use of an illegal substance), they must contact the ARRT at (651) 687-0048 to discuss their particular case. This is to prevent the student from having completed the Associate of Science degree program only to be found ineligible to take the ARRT examination.

Clinical Placements

Admission to the university as a preradiography student, and successful completion of the general-education coursework, does not guarantee admission to the Associate of Science degree program. The number of clinical/professional students admitted each fall semester is dependent upon the number of clinical placements available at affiliated agencies.

Clinical agency sites include

• Beacon Medical Group Ireland Road; Beacon Granger Hospital; and Beacon Medical Group Pediatrics Bristol Street
• Elkhart General Hospital
• Goshen Hospital
• Goshen Surger Center
• Kosciusko Community Hospital
• Memorial Hospital
• Memorial Lighthouse Medical Imaging Center
• Saint Joseph Health System—Mishawaka
• Saint Joseph Health System—Plymouth
• Saint Joseph Health System—Medical Imaging Center, South Bend
• St. Joseph County VA Clinic

Withdrawal and Reinstatement

Students in the Associate of Science degree program who withdraw from the Clinical/Professional Program must reapply for admission to the program. Withdrawal from radiography major courses constitutes a disruption in progress and requires that a student seek reinstatement to the program.

Students desiring reinstatement must reapply within a time frame that would allow the student timely completion of the program. A written request must be submitted at least six weeks prior to the term of desired reentry. All requests for reentry are evaluated by the program director on the basis of available resources, and if appropriate, on the satisfactory completion of any conditions and/or recommendations existing at the time of withdrawal. Reinstatement to the IU South Bend Radiography Clinical/Professional Program is not guaranteed.

Awards

The program faculty recommends graduating students with superior academic performance for degrees awarded with distinction. Also each year, an outstanding student is presented the IU South Bend Outstanding Student Award for Clinical Excellence and another student is awarded the IU Academic Excellence Award.

Graduation Requirements

Satisfactory completion of 75 credit hours, to include 19 credit hours of general education courses and 56 credit hours of clinical/professional courses, must be completed in compliance with the academic and professional policies of the school and individual programs in order to graduate.