10.7 Policies for awarding credit

The institution publishes and implements policies for determining the amount and level of credit awarded for its courses, regardless of format or mode of delivery. These policies require oversight by persons academically qualified to make the necessary judgments. In educational programs not based on credit hours (e.g., direct assessment programs), the institution has a sound means for determining credit equivalencies.

Judgment

x Compliance o Non-Compliance o Partial Compliance

Narrative

UL Lafayette employs sound and acceptable practices for determining the amount and level of credit awarded for courses, regardless of format or mode of delivery. The amount and level of credit awarded are reviewed and determined by persons academically qualified to make the necessary judgments. Course and credit policies and procedures are published in the academic Catalog and on the Academic Affairs website.

The University operates on the semester system and awards academic credit to students in units that are standard across higher education in the U.S. The University standard for credit is defined as

… a measurement of course work completed satisfactorily. Ordinarily, one semester-hour credit is given for one hour of class attendance a week for a period of one semester. However, in some courses, such as laboratory courses, two or three "clock hours" of attendance a week are required to earn one semester hour. A specified number of credits must be earned for a degree. Other colleges and universities may operate on a "quarter basis," that is, dividing the year into four quarters and giving quarter credits. Quarter credits multiplied by two-thirds equal semester credits. Semester credits multiplied by one and one-half equal quarter credits.

In addition, the University’s courses meet the requirements of the Board of Supervisors (BOS) for the University of Louisiana System, which state “For each semester hour of credit, a traditional lecture or laboratory course shall strive to meet a minimum of 750 minutes. Final exam periods may be counted as class time when computing required minutes.” All “face‐to‐face” instruction adheres to this required seat‐time policy.

The University adheres to the standard Carnegie Credit Hour formulas for Lectures and Lecture-Combinations:

· One credit hour of lecture requires 750 minutes of class time per semester.

· One credit hour of lab requires 1,500 minutes of class time per semester or 2,250 minutes, with approval.

A detailed chart shows the Credit Hour-Contact Hour equivalencies.

The Graduate and Undergraduate Curriculum Committees, which approve all new courses, monitor credit hour assignment for each new course proposed. The Registrar's Office uses this time‐credit formula when providing faculty and departments the time slots in which to schedule classes, and it reviews all non‐standard class‐time requests to ensure each course meets the minimum number of minutes.

The University’s adopted Credit Hour Policy supporting the long-practiced standard with regard to credit hours awarded for academic work in non-traditional formats states that

The student learning outcomes for a course must be the same regardless of whether the credit hour(s) is delivered in the traditional format or by equivalent academic activities. For online, hybrid, or other courses offered in a non-traditional format where there is no traditional section for comparison, courses must include contact and content sufficient to maintain high academic quality and standards commensurate with credit hours awarded and similar to face to face courses. This includes but is not limited to internships, independent studies, experiential learning activities, and online courses. For all modes of delivery, instructors’ expectations for learner participation in required course interactions (frequency, length, time minimums) must be clearly stated, and must constitute equivalent instruction to other modes of delivery of the same or similar course material.

The policy also specifies that credit hours awarded per hour of contact for lab courses follow the University’s standard credit hour-contact hour equivalencies chart.

In extending its current practice for the determination of credit hours to distance learning, flexible delivery platforms and other nontraditional courses, the University adheres to the SACSCOC Credit Hour Policy Statement, the Louisiana Board of Supervisors Minimum Length for Academic Courses Policy, and the Louisiana Board of Regents Seat-Time Policy for Academic Credit Policy.

The BOR Credit Hour Policy states that

All classes [awarding three hours credit] must be of reasonable length and include both content and contact sufficient to maintain high academic quality and standards commensurate with credit hours awarded for a "traditional" three-semester hour lecture class. The basis for such certification of learning is a valid, credible assessment system which reliably determines whether a student possesses clearly identified, standards-based knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Similarly, SACSCOC Credit Hour Policy states that

At least an equivalent amount of work as required outlined in item 1 above [which describes contact hour requirements for traditional face to face courses] for other academic activities as established by the institution including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.

The standards embodied in the University’s Credit Hour Policy are ensured by the University course approval process, the Head of the department offering the course, and through the University-wide student learning outcomes assessment process, which monitors student learning outcomes.

UL Lafayette does not award academic credit for course work taken on a noncredit basis. The University recognizes the validity of the recommendation in the current edition of the American Council on Education’s Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services, and will grant credit for certain military schools subject to the approval of the Director of Admissions and the student’s academic dean.

All UL Lafayette courses are approved by the faculty through the curriculum committee structure at the department, college, and university levels and, ultimately, by the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs – Academic Programs, using course approval forms. All course additions and changes, as well as curriculum revisions, require the approval of the departmental and college curriculum committees, as well as the approval of the Department Head, Dean, and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs – Academic Programs. Procedures at the departmental and college levels vary among departments and colleges. Course changes may be brought before the Department Head/Program Coordinator, the department curriculum committee, or other appropriate committees/subcommittees, or the full departmental faculty, depending on the department’s defined practice or on the significance of the proposed change. Many departments have curriculum committees that meet regularly to review and evaluate the curriculum and recommend changes. All distance learning course offerings are approved by the Department Head and Dean.

Upon approval of an undergraduate course by the Department Head/Program Coordinator and the Dean, the proposal is submitted to an administrative staff member in Academic Affairs to check for compliance with the University Style Guide and completion of information. After review and acceptance by Academic Affairs, completed forms signed by the individual initiating the course change, the Department Head/School Director, and the Dean, are digitized by Academic Affairs and provided to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, a faculty committee whose purpose is to encourage the orderly growth of the University’s course offerings, and to recommend to the administration only those changes that the committee feels reflect the needs of the students and the standards of the University. Following processing by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, the request is routed for approval to the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs – Academic Programs, who has been designated by the Provost to give final institutional approval to the request.

Graduate courses follow similar credit hour policies. For graduate courses, upon approval by the Department Head/School Director and the Dean, the request goes from the college to an administrative staff member in Academic Affairs to check for compliance with the University Style Guide and completion of information. Upon review and acceptance by Academic Affairs, completed forms signed by the individual initiating the course change, the Department Head/School Director, and the Dean, are digitized by Academic Affairs and provided to the Graduate Curriculum Committee. The Graduate Curriculum Committee, a standing subcommittee of the Graduate Council, reviews all course additions, deletions, and changes for courses that award graduate-level credit. The committee is appointed by the Chairperson of the Graduate Council and is composed of continuing, full-time faculty who are members of the Graduate Faculty (but not necessarily members of the Graduate Council) with representation from each academic college. Following review and approval by the committee, the requests are routed to the Graduate Council, the Graduate Dean, and the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs – Academic Programs. Each step of this review process entails a rigorous review of course aims, content, and student learning outcomes, and ensures that each course includes contact hours and content sufficient to maintain high academic quality and standards commensurate with credit hours awarded and similar to equivalent face-to-face courses.

In the course approval process, the difference in expectations between undergraduate and graduate students can be seen most clearly in mixed enrollment courses, which are numbered 4XXG. These courses may be taken by juniors and seniors for undergraduate credit and by graduate students for graduate credit. These courses must be approved by the Graduate Curriculum Committee. The University mandates that a distinction be made between the graduate and undergraduate students in the course. The Course Addition, Deletion, or Change Request Form submitted to the Graduate Curriculum Committee includes the following requirement: “If ‘G’ course, explain extra requirements for graduate students”; sample completed forms reflect the extra requirements imposed on graduate students in 4XXG: