Areas of Concentration (AOCs) are formally articulated and approved clusters of related elective courses on a particular topic or recognized area of professional expertise. AOCs enable students to conceptualize and plan their programs more easily and to highlight their interests to future employers if they wish to do so. Although we strive to regularly offer as many electives as possible, students should be aware that there is no guarantee that all courses within an AOC will be offered while a student is in the program and a student interested in a particular AOC will not be given preferential treatment during course registration. However, because a relatively large number of courses are listed within each AOC, it is anticipated that interested students will not experience any difficulties related to their abilities to achieve an AOC in any of the areas.
To achieve an AOC, a student must take at least 5 of the specified electives in the AOC area (including any mandatory electives), achieving a minimum grade of at least 75% in each course. Students may include one or two AOCs in their programs but only one course can be cross-counted in two different AOCs. Within one term after program completion (i.e., while the FIMS LAN account is still active), students may request an Area of Concentration designation through an electronic process. The AOCs for participating students will be noted on their FIMS academic record but will not appear on the official transcript, as per student request. Students attaining an AOC will be issued a FIMS certificate of achievement.
For course information related to obtaining an AOC, please select from our list of available Areas of Concentration.