TEXAS MARITIME ACADEMY

Transcription

1 Multicultural Services The De part ment of Multi cul tural Ser vices works with other pro grams on cam pus to sup port the cul tural, ed u ca tional, so cial and per sonal de vel op ment of all stu dents at tend ing TAMUG. De part men tal ser vices in clude per sonal ad vis ing; a re source li brary in clud ing multi cul tural books, ar ti cles and video/au dio tapes; and tu tor ing and mentoring ser vices. Com put ers and skill en hance - ment soft ware are also pro vided for in com ing stu dents want ing to re view ba sic chem is try and cal cu lus. Multi cul tural Ser vices is also re spon si ble for the Cul ture Club which is open to all per sons seek ing to gain valu able ex pe ri ence in pro mot ing di ver sity through multi cul tural pro gram ming. For more information, call the Office of Student Life at Hazing Any one who par tic i pates in haz ing is in vi o la tion of Uni ver sity rules as well as state law. Vi o la tors may be sub ject to Uni ver - sity dis ci plin ary ac tion in ad di tion to state crim i nal pen al ties. Haz ing means any in ten tional, know ing, or reck less act oc cur ring on or off the cam pus by one per son, alone or act ing with oth ers, di rected against a stu dent that en dan gers the men tal or phys i cal health or safety of a stu dent for the pur pose of pledg ing, be ing ini ti ated into, af fil i at ing with, hold ing of fice in, or main tain ing mem ber - ship in any or ga ni za tion whose mem bers are (or in clude) stu dents at the Uni ver sity. A com plete definition of hazing is available in the Office of Student Life. University Police The Uni ver sity Po lice are re spon si ble for the pro tec tion of per sons and prop erty of Texas A&M Uni ver sity, and for the en - force ment of the laws of the State of Texas and the rules and reg u la tions of Texas A&M Uni ver sity as pro mul gated by the Texas Ed u ca tion Code. Uni ver sity po lice are com mis sioned peace of fi cers in volved in reg u lar foot and ve hi cle pa trol of cam pus, late-night se cu rity es corts, crime pre ven tion pro grams for the cam pus com mu nity, and crim i nal in ves ti ga tions for the re cov ery of prop erty and ap pre hen sion of crim i nals. Of fi cers also pro vide reg u lar se cu rity checks of build ings and prop erty on cam pus. All Uni ver sity per son nel are re quested to co op er ate with Uni ver sity po lice of fi cers. Student Right to Know and Campus Security Act In com pli ance with the Fed eral Right to Know and Cam pus Se cu rity Act of 1990, a bro chure is avail able which in cludes in - for ma tion on cam pus se cu rity and safety re sources, pol i cies and pro ce dures for safety (re port ing crimes and emer gen cies, crime aware ness and pre ven tion, se cu rity of cam pus fa cil i ties and res i dence halls), al co hol, drugs and weap ons, and crime in for ma tion and sta tis tics. This in for ma tion is avail able from the Uni ver sity Po lice Of fice, Build ing. 3025, and can be reached at Mission and Purpose TEXAS MARITIME ACADEMY The Texas Mar i time Acad emy (TMA) is a pres ti gious, highly spe cial ized, mar i time train ing pro gram that is em bed ded within Texas A&M Uni ver sity at Galveston (TAMUG), which is a branch of Texas A&M Uni ver sity (TAMU) at Col lege Sta tion. The mis sion of TMA is to pro vide the mar i time in dus tries of the State of Texas and the United States with highly trained and pro - fes sional li censed Mer chant Ma rine Of fi cers (deck/en gine) to serve on ocean-go ing and in land wa ter way ves sels. The Acad emy in cludes: Cadets who are in the U. S. Coast Guard licensing program (called License Option) leading to a Merchant Marine Officer s unlimited license as a deck or engineering officer. The Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) leading to an officer s commissioning in the U.S. Navy. The Drill and Ceremony Cadets who desire the leadership training in the Corps of Cadets, but choose to not participate in either of the above programs. Ad di tion ally, Li cense Op tion Ca dets who vol un teer and meet the qual i fi ca tions, may join the Strategic Sealift Officers (SSO) Pro gram ad min is tered through the Na val Sci ence De part ment/nrotc pro gram, which pro vides the op por tu nity for Li - cense Op tion Ca dets to re ceive a com mis sion as an En sign and serve in the Na val Re serve. These Ca dets are also el i gi ble to re - ceive fund ing ($8,000 per year) through the Stu dent In cen tive Pro gram spon sored by the U. S. Navy and ad min is tered by the Mar i time Ad min is tra tion. Ca dets in this pro gram also have the op tion to re quest ac tive duty in the U.S. Navy or a di rect com mis - sion in the U.S. Coast Guard. Application Ad mit tance to the Texas Mar i time Acad emy is granted by spe cial ap pli ca tion which can be ob tained at the Texas Mar i time Acad emy website. You must also gain ad mit tance to Texas A&M Uni ver sity at Galveston as out lined in the Ad mis sion sec tion of this cat a log. Li cense Op tion Ca dets may only ma jor in Ma rine Trans por ta tion, Ma rine En gi neer ing Tech nol ogy, Ma rine Bi ol ogy 54

2 Li cense Op tion, or Ma rine Sci ences Li cense Op tion. On-cam pus hous ing is re quired for all ca dets, ex cept those in Vic tor Com - pany. Background The Texas Mar i time Acad emy (TMA) is over 50-years-old and has a rich tra di tion of pro vid ing out stand ing Mer chant Ma - rine Of fi cers and ac tive duty Na val/coast Guard of fi cers who have proudly served in the Mer chant Ma rine and on ac tive duty in the mil i tary dur ing the Viet Nam War, Desert Storm, So ma lia, and Bosnia, and now serve in the Iraqi/Af ghan i stan Wars and the war on ter ror. Our grad u ates have gone in harm s way and served hon or ably and with great dis tinc tion. Un doubt edly, fu ture grad - u ates will also go in harm s way and face many of the same chal lenges. Our grad u ates have dis tin guished them selves as out stand - ing ship han dlers, en gi neers, and ashore cor po rate of fi cers through out the United States and the world. TMA pro vides the tools to deal with those pro fes sional chal lenges at sea and ashore. The Texas Mar i time Acad emy en ables our grad u ates to have the abil ity to face any ad ver sity and over come any chal lenge. This is ac com plished through an ex tremely de mand ing ac a demic de gree pro - gram cou pled with a rig or ous prac ti cal mar i ner train ing pro gram taught by hand picked, highly ex pe ri enced Mas ter Mar i ners and En gi neers. This en ables our Ca dets to meet the de mand ing li cens ing stan dards and re quire ments of the U. S. Coast Guard (USCG). This is the rea son our grad u ates are sought na tion wide. To meet the high ac a demic and prac ti cal deck and en gi neer ing sea man ship train ing stan dards re quired to re ceive a de gree, a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) li cense, and a Com mis sion, an in di vid ual must be highly mo ti vated, hon or able, ex tremely ded i cated, of high moral char ac ter, and will ing to sac ri fice to meet the nec es sary reg i men ta tion found in the Corps of Ca dets. Training/Commercial Cruise Requirements Li cense Op tion Ca dets, re gard less of age or sta tus, are re quired by fed eral law to be in the Ca det Corps for a min i mum of 3 years as a full-time stu dent, and par tic i pate in three sum mer Cruises. A min i mum of two cruises will be aboard the train ing ship (first and third cruises). The sec ond cruise be tween the soph o more/ju nior years may be on a com mer cial ves sel, de pend ing on the Cadet s grades ( re quir ing an over all GPR of 2.5 or higher to go com mer cial) and the avail abil ity of com mer cial ves sels. If a Ca det is un able to qual ify for a com mer cial cruise or if none are avail able, they will take their sec ond cruise on a train ing ves sel. The com mer cial cruise is com pet i tive, not a re quire ment, and not all Ca dets will be able to sail com mer cial. In those cases, a Ca det may: Sail his/her sec ond cruise on a train ing ship; They may sail on a com mer cial ves sel dur ing the next Fall or Spring se mes ter (subject to availability and competitively based). It should be em pha sized that a C av er age is re quired by Ca dets in all USCG Stan dards of Train ing, Cer tif i ca tion and Watch stand ing (STCW) courses that are a cruise pre req ui site (as noted in this cat a log) to par tic i pate on a sum mer cruise. Ca dets must also main tain a cu mu la tive GPR of 2.25 or above in their ma jor and a 2.0 GPR over all to at tend cruise. Ca dets must also com plete all prac ti cal train ing and work off all de mer its prior to be ing cer ti fied for each sum mer cruise. These re quire ments may be ap - pealed to the Superintendent who will make the final determination of eligibility on that cruise. How ever, a C av er age or better is re quired in all USCG/STCW courses for a Ca det to be el i gi ble for a USCG li cense. This re quire ment is not open to ap peal and must be met as noted in the Li cense Op tion cur ric u lum in this cat a log. Ashore, all Ca dets in the Corps are re quired to live on cam pus with the ex cep tion of those ap pli cants who are mar ried, 25 years of age or older, pos sess a bach e lor s de gree or have prior mil i tary ser vice. These in di vid u als are placed in Vic tor Com pany which re ports di rectly to the Com man dant of Ca dets. In the Corps, Ca dets learn to de velop and hone a myr iad of skills but par tic u - larly the lead er ship skills needed upon grad u a tion in the very de mand ing en vi ron ment of a pro fes sional Mer chant Ma rine Of fi cer or Mil i tary Of fi cer. The reg i men ta tion found in the Corps in stills lead er ship, honor, self dis ci pline, trust, char ac ter and a sense of moral re spon si bil ity which en ables each Ca det to eas ily face the chal lenges of a sea far ing life. The Corps of Ca dets fol lows many of the tra di tions and cus toms found in the Corps of Ca dets at TAMU in Col lege Sta tion. How ever, af ter over 50 years as a maritime academy, some sea far ing tra di tions and cus toms have de vel oped. Fi nally, af ter meet ing all the ac a demic and train ing re quire ments (which in cludes pass ing the USCG ad min is tered li cense exam) and based upon the rec om men da tion of the Su per in ten dent and the Ac a demic De part ment Head, each Ca det will re ceive a di ploma from Texas A&M Uni ver sity and a U.S. Coast Guard li cense as a Third Of fi cer (Deck/En gine) in the Mer chant Ma rine. If the Ca det has par tic i pated in the Mer chant Ma rine Na val Re serve pro gram they will also re ceive a Com mis sion as an En sign in the U.S. Navy Re serve. Ca dets may also ap ply for ac tive duty in the U.S. Navy and a di rect Com mis sion in the U.S. Coast Guard. Ca - dets who don t com plete both re quire ments, will not be al lowed to re ceive their di ploma in the TMA uni form. The Corps of Cadets Ap pli cants who de sire a de gree pro gram lead ing to a USCG li cense op tion (LO) as a Mer chant Ma rine of fi cer (Deck or En - gine) are re quired to be a mem ber of the Corps of Ca dets. The Corps pro vides Ca dets a reg i mented en vi ron ment that is de signed to de velop lead er ship skills re quired to be a Mer chant Ma rine or mil i tary of fi cer. Lead er ship de vel op ment is the ul ti mate goal of the 55

3 Corps. One of the prin ci pal com po nents of lead er ship de vel op ment is uni for mity and co he sion. There fore, all Ca dets are re quired to wear uni forms and meet es tab lished stan dards of dress, groom ing and dis ci pline. These stan dards pre pare the Ca dets to dress for suc cess when they en ter the mar i time in dus try, the mil i tary or, for the Drill and Cer e mony Ca dets, the cor po rate en vi ron ment. The uni form re quire ment list and cost/pay ment pro ce dure will be pro vided to each Ca det when ac cepted into the Corps. The cost of uni forms will vary but gen er ally ranges from $1,500 to $2,000 for all four years. This in cludes $ for re place ment items. Uni forms should be or dered upon ac cep tance to the Texas Mar i time Acad emy and will be is sued dur ing Ori en ta tion Week which takes place prior to Fall se mes ter. All Ca dets will be re quired to stand watches on the train ing ship. Ad di tion ally, Ca dets are re quired to per form prac ti cal train - ing on the ship as re quired by the U.S. Coast Guard Stan dards of Train ing, Cer tif i ca tion and Watchkeeping (STCW). Ca dets are also re quired to at tend for ma tions, drill (in clud ing march ins at Kyle Field in Col lege Sta tion), stand an nounced and un an - nounced per son nel and room in spec tions, par tic i pate in phys i cal fit ness ac tiv i ties and per form other du ties as re quired by the Corps Rules. Ca dets are en cour aged to par tic i pate the in nu mer ous on cam pus sports, clubs and ed u ca tional ac tiv i ties. Fi nally, Ca - dets can also com pete to be mem bers of the Hearn Honor Guard, the Drill Team, the Sea Ag gie Band and the Flag Color Guard, who per form at events through out Texas and other bor der ing states. Six Categories of Cadets 1. U.S. Mer chant Ma rine Li cens ing Pro gram: The first cat e gory is the Mer chant Ma rine Li cense Ca dets. This cat e gory in - cludes those in di vid u als who de sire a Mer chant Ma rine En gi neer ing or Deck Of fi cer Li cense (is sued by the U.S. Coast Guard). 2. U.S. Mer chant Ma rine Li cens ing Pro gram with Navy Re serve (SSO): The sec ond cat e gory is the Mer chant Ma rine Li cense Ca dets who choose to join the Stra te gic Sealift Officer s (SSO) pro gram which is sim i lar to NROTC, ex cept sum mer cruises are ac com plished on the train ing ship or a com mer cial ship in stead of with the U. S. Navy. Ca dets par tic i pat ing in the SSO pro gram re ceive a Com mis sion as an En sign, USNR upon com ple tion of their de gree, and suc cess fully pass ing the USCG li cense exam. For SSO Ca dets who meet the ac a demic re quire ments, there is an op por tu nity to com pete for the Stu dent In cen tive Pro gram (SIP) which pro vides $8,000 per SSO Ca det per year. Af ter com mis sion ing as an En sign, USNR, SSO (SIP) Ca dets must agree to re main in the Re serves for 8 years. All SSO Ca dets may choose to ap ply for Ac tive Duty. 3. NROTC: The third cat e gory is NROTC Ca dets. These Ca dets are in a non-li cense op tion pro gram but de sire to be an ac tive duty Na val Of fi cer (Navy/Ma rine). NROTC can di dates may also com pete for NROTC Na tional Four Year Schol ar ships. All NROTC Ca dets re ceive some uni forms pro vided by the Navy. Greater de tail on NROTC will be found be low. 4. Drill and Cer e mony: The fourth cat e gory is the Drill and Cer e mony (D&C) Ca dets. These Ca dets are not in a li cense op - tion (LO) cur ric u lum nor NROTC but de sire to be ex posed to the lead er ship train ing, and the spirit and ca ma ra de rie of Corps life. Some of these Ca dets are in di vid u als who come to TAMUG/TMA for two se mes ters pend ing trans fer to the main cam pus at Col lege Sta tion. These Ca dets are also fully in te grated in the Corps, must pur chase all re quired uni forms, stand watches, per form drill, stand for ma tion, room in spec tions, and re ceive prac ti cal train ing on the ship. They are not re - quired to go on the sum mer cruise. At grad u a tion, ev ery D&C Ca det will be pre sented a Cer tif i cate in di cat ing that they have vol un tarily par tic i pated in this rig or ous reg i men ta tion and lead er ship train ing. 5. Vic tor Com pany: The fifth cat e gory is the V Com pany Ca dets. These Ca dets are in di vid u als who are mar ried, over the age of 25, have a bach e lor s de gree or have been hon or ably dis charged from the Armed Forces of the United States. These in di vid u als are in a spe cial unit that re ports di rectly to the Com man dant of Ca dets. How ever, they too are re quired to buy all uni forms, par tic i pate in for ma tions as de ter mined by the Com man dant, stand re quired watches and per form prac ti cal train ing on the ship. As stated above, they are per mit ted to live off cam pus. 6. International: The sixth cat e gory is In ter na tional Ca dets who wish to par tic i pate in the Mer chant Ma rine Li cense Op tion train ing and the de gree from Texas A&M Uni ver sity at Galveston. These Ca dets are sub ject to U. S. Im mi gra tion laws, must have a stu dent visa and ex cel lent Eng lish lan guage skills. It should be un der stood that by Fed eral Law, only U.S. cit i - zens may take the USCG li cense exam. How ever, cer tif i cate of com ple tion of all USCG courses and a de gree will be pre - sented upon com ple tion of all re quired train ing/ed u ca tion. Orientation Week Prior to the be gin ning of the Fall ac a demic se mes ter, 4th Class Ca dets (first year) are re quired to at tend O-Week. This pro - gram, un der the guid ance of the Com man dant of Ca dets and or ches trated by Ca det Of fi cers, in tro duces each new Ca det to the rou tine of the Corps of Ca dets, ex poses new Ca dets to the reg i mented Corps en vi ron ment, the cus toms and tra di tions of TAMU/TAMUG/TMA, and ba sic sea man ship and nau ti cal sci ence skills. Dur ing O-Week, Ca dets have for ma tions, march to class and to meals, learn team work, ex pe ri ence hands on sea man ship train ing and per form other train ing to en able them to hit the decks run ning when the en tire Corps re as sem bles fol low ing the Sum mer Cruise. 56

4 Admission Requirements for License Option Applicants Ap pli cants who meet the Uni ver sity ad mis sions stan dards and pass the U.S. Coast Guard phys i cal re quire ments are el i gi ble to ap ply to the Texas Mar i time Acad emy and to be con sid ered for ad mit tance to one of the Li cense Op tion courses and the Corps of Ca dets in Sep tem ber of each year. Li cense-op tion stu dents must choose to ma jor in ei ther MARB-LO, MARS-LO, MART or MARR cur ric u lum. Ad mis sion cri te ria is gov erned by 46 U. S. Code 310 and in cludes a re cord free of crim i nal of fense (back - ground in ves ti ga tion) and proof of U.S. cit i zen ship. Each ap pli ca tion is thor oughly re viewed by TMA staff and a rec om men da - tion for ad mis sion is made to the Su per in ten dent. The fi nal de ci sion for ac cep tance into the Texas Mar i time Acad emy rests with the Su per in ten dent. It should be em pha sized that ac cep tance to the Uni ver sity is not ap proval for ac cep tance into TMA. The ap - pli ca tion for ad mis sion for the Corps of Ca dets is avail able through the website. Gen er ally, stu dents will not be ac cepted into the LO cur ric u lum af ter the 12th class day of the se mes ter. General Health Standards Ca dets en rolled in the Li cense Op tion cur ric u lum are held to spe cial ac a demic and phys i cal stan dards due to the im mense re - spon si bil ity a Mer chant Ma rine Of fi cer has on board a mer chant ship. Med i cal phys i cal re quire ments for a li cense are in cluded on the ini tial Phys i cal Form which must be sub mit ted with the Texas Mar i time Acad emy ap pli ca tion. Both the TMA ap pli ca tion and the Phys i cal Form are avail able at the website. Ex am ples of those re quire ments for Deck and En gi neers li cense, as found in U.S. Code 46, Part 10, are: minimum 20/800 in each eye correctable to 20/40 in each eye. must pass an approved color blind test. must be psychologically, perceptually and physically sound. Any disability, including some learning disabilities that might prevent an applicant from performing the duties of a Cadet or officer at sea, could preclude acceptance to TMA and licensing programs. applicant must be honest and forthcoming on all questions relating to medical conditions. Any deceptive/false answers will be reason for dismissal from the program. Cadets are required to be screened for drugs prior to admission to TMA and will receive random screening while in the license option curriculum. Any Cadet testing positive is subject to removal from the LO curriculum. The cost for screening is the responsibility of the Cadet. Additional U.S. Coast Guard Requirements In ad di tion to USCG ap proved and re quired Stan dards of Train ing, Cer tif i ca tion and Watchkeeping (STCW) courses, Ca - dets will be re quired to ob tain sev eral ad di tional train ing en dorse ments re quired by the USCG. Some of these in clude ba sic safety train ing, ad vanced firefighting, Ra dar/au to mated Ra dar Plot ting Aids train ing, Global Ma rine Dis tress Sys tem (GMDSS) train - ing and Bridge Re source Man age ment train ing. Ad di tion ally, each Ca det will be re quired to ob tain a Mer chant Mar i ner Cre den - tial (MMC) and a Home land Se cu rity TWIC card be fore the first cruise. For these doc u ments, Ca dets must have in their pos ses sion a valid U. S. Pass port, orig i nal birth cer tif i cate, and a photo ID, pref er a bly a driver s li cense. Most of this train ing and doc u ment costs have fees not as so ci ated with TAMUG/TMA. How ever, they are re quired by fed eral law and we will as sist each Ca det in ob tain ing the en dorse ments they need to re ceive their li cense. A com plete list of these re quire ments and costs will be made avail able dur ing O-Week. It is ex tremely im por tant that each ap pli cant un der stand that the USCG re quires all STCW courses to be passed with a grade of C or better or the course must be re peated. Also, class at ten dance for both ac a demic courses and STCW courses is man da tory. No unexcused ab sences al lowed. Ad di tion ally, the law re quires each Ca det, re gard less of sta tus, to at tend TMA no fewer than three fall and spring se mes ters, as a full-time stu dent, and par tic i pate in three sum mer cruises; two on the train ing ship and a com mer cial cruise on mer chant ves sel be tween the 2 /Class and 3 /Class year. There are no waiv ers or ex - cep tions to this re quire ment. Ad di tion ally, Ca dets must have an over all C av er age in all STCW coursework to be el i gi ble for sum mer cruise. Ca dets must also have a 2.25 GPR in their ma jor courses and a 2.0 GPR over all at TAMUG to be el i gi ble for sum - mer cruise. The Lifeboatman Train ing Cer tif i cate is not avail able un til grad u a tion per di rec tion of the U.S. Coast Guard. When all STCW and ac a demic re quire ments are met, the Su per in ten dent TMA will rec om mend and cer tify that Ca dets are el i gi ble to sit for their U.S. Coast Guard ad min is tered li cense. The exam takes place over a four day pe riod and cov ers ev ery as - pect of STCW train ing. It is an in tense and gru el ing four days and re quires that each Ca det be fully pre pared. It is im por tant to un - der stand that a de gree and/or a li cense can not be con ferred un til the test is suc cess fully passed. In ter na tional, non U.S. cit i zens are ex cep tions to this pol icy. Standards of Conduct Ca dets are held to a very high stan dard and rep re sent those Ca dets who have gone be fore them. There fore, TMA Ca dets do not lie, cheat or steal nor tol er ate any one who does. TMA Ca dets are sub ject to Corps Rules and Honor Code that char ac ter izes the ob jec tives set forth in the de vel op ment of their lead er ship skills. The Acad emy s con duct and dis ci pline pro cess is a ve hi cle for as - sess ing the ap ti tude and mo ti va tion of each Ca det for be com ing an Of fi cer in the Mer chant Ma rine or Mil i tary. The ul ti mate goal of the con duct sys tem is to build on the ba sic foun da tion of dis ci pline and con duct Ca det pos sesses when he or she en ters the 57

5 Acad emy. Ca dets are sub ject to de mer its and those who con tin u ally have dif fi culty con form ing to Corps Rules will be sub ject to vary ing de grees of dis ci pline as de ter mined by TAMUG/TMA rules. If dis ci pline con di tions per sist, a Ca det could face dis missal from TMA. Dis ci pline is over seen by the Com man dant. Ca dets are af forded due pro cess in all dis ci pline cases with ap peals de - cided by the Su per in ten dent. Li cense op tion Ca dets dis missed from the TMA and who are per mit ted to re main at TAMUG will not be al lowed to take LO courses, will be re moved from the Corps hous ing, and if a non-texas res i dent, will be sub ject to out of state tuition costs. All Ca dets are re quired to wear the spec i fied uni form of the day to class, for ma tion, and meals dur ing the week days Mon day thru Fri day, when stand ing watch and as deemed ap pro pri ate by TMA Staff/Corps Com mander. It is per mis si ble to re lax the uni - form re quire ment on the week ends, but ap pro pri ate at tire in the Stu dent Cen ter/gal ley is re quired. De mer its and prac ti cal train ing hours on the train ing ship are re quired to be com pleted be fore a Ca det can sit for li cense ex - am i na tions or at tend a sum mer cruise. Navy ROTC/Strategic Sealift Officer s (SSO) Program T he De part ment of Na val Sci ence trains Ca dets who de sire to par tic i pate in the Strategic Sealift Officer s program (SSO), a vol un tary joint pro gram es tab lished in 1925 be tween the U. S. Navy and the U.S. Mer chant Ma rine. The mis sion of the SSO is to as sist the U.S. Navy in times of war/mo bi li za tion by aug ment ing the Navy s sealift ca pac ity. Ca dets will be of fered the op por tu - nity to join the SSO pro gram dur ing their first year. Ca dets who pos sess the ap pro pri ate mil i tary ap ti tude/mil i tary bear ing, ac a - demic stand ing, and mo ti va tion and re ceive a pos i tive in ter view and en dorse ment from the Of fi cer in Charge of the Na val Re serve Of fi cers Train ing Corps (NROTC) may ap ply via the Com man dant for the SSO pro gram and, if se lected on a com pet i tive ba sis, may be of fered the op por tu nity to join the SIP pro gram dis cussed above. Upon grad u a tion and re ceipt of a li cense, Ca dets will be com mis sioned as an En sign USNR. They can also ap ply for ac tive duty in the Navy or an other branch of the Armed Forces. Basic Eligibility Requirements: The Cadet must be under the age of 34. The Cadet must pass a Navy physical examination (to enter the program and another prior to Commissioning). The Cadet must pass the semi-annual Physical Readiness Test. The Cadet must be enrolled in a license option curriculum. The Cadet must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0 (4.0 system). The Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) NROTC of fers those in di vid u als who de sire to be come Na val Of fi cers and meet the qual i fi ca tions to qual ify for a com mis - sion while at tend ing TAMUG. These Ca dets are fully in te grated into the Corps of Ca dets, and per form all the ac tiv i ties re quired of the Corps. Most uni forms for NROTC Mid ship men are pro vided at the ex pense of the Navy. To be el i gi ble for a Com mis sion, NROTC Mid ship men must com plete all re quire ments for a bach e lor s de gree as well as cer tain courses spec i fied by the Navy. Stu dents may join the NROTC pro gram as Na tional Four Year Schol ar ship Win ners or as non-sub si dized col lege pro gram ap pli - cants. In for ma tion on the Na tional Four Year Schol ar ship pro gram can be ob tained through a Navy re cruit ing of fice. The sub mis - sion dead line is 15 Jan u ary in the year ap pli ca tion is be ing made. Col lege pro gram Mid ship men are el i gi ble to com pete for three and one year or three year and two year NROTC schol ar ships. All NROTC schol ar ships pay full tu i tion, fees and uni forms. All schol ar ship and ju nior/se nior level Mid ship men re ceive an al low ance of $ per month de pend ing on class stand ing. Mid - ship men are also paid dur ing the sum mer train ing pe ri ods. Additional Costs The ad di tional costs shown be low are pri mar ily as so ci ated with the Texas Mar i time Acad emy Li cense Op tion Ca dets, and are over and above the costs of at tend ing TAMUG (see Tu i tion and Fees): Coast Guard Approved Fire Fighting School - $700-$900. TWIC - $150. O-Week Fee - $38. Merchant Mariner Credential - $140. Drug testing - approx $35 (each time). Uniforms - $1,500-$1,800 (for LO and Drill and Ceremonies Cadets). Training cruise - estimated about $6500 depending on fuel costs. 58