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Credit-Hour Policy

The credit-hour policy applies to all courses taught at Southern Virginia University for which students are awarded academic credit. This policy includes guidelines for zero-credit-hour courses.

Purpose

The credit-hour policy ensures the University is in compliance with credit-hour requirements promulgated by the United States Department of Education and the University's institutional accrediting body, The Commission on Colleges and Universities. This policy standardizes the method for calculating and awarding course credit.

Definitions

The University’s definition of the credit-hour and related terms align with policies issued from the United States Department of Education (34C.F.R. 600.2) and The Commission on Colleges and Universities' credit-hours Policy Statement:

  1. A credit hour is 1 hour (50 minutes) of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of 2 hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks per semester or equivalent.

  2. At least an equivalent amount of work as required outlined in item 1 above 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.

  3. Direct faculty instruction: Direct faculty instruction occurs when there is direct engagement between the faculty member and the student to facilitate student learning. For instance, direct faculty instruction includes live interactions between the faculty member and student, such as traditional face-to-face instruction, synchronous instruction via an internet meeting platform (e.g., Zoom), one-on-one meetings, guest lectures, and instructor-guided activities, such as small group activities. Other forms of direct faculty instruction do not require the faculty member and student to meet in real-time, such as recorded lectures, discussion forums facilitated by the faculty member, and email communication.

Policy Statement

Southern Virginia uses the credit-hour as its primary method for determining students’ progress toward degree completion. Faculty must apply the credit-hour definition applicable to the course(s)they teach to determine the amount of course time and out-of-class work to award for academic work. Faculty may exceed the minimum out-of-class work requirement.

The following credit-hour standards apply to all class types, including lectures, labs, internships, performance studies, directed readings, independent studies, and senior capstone courses:

  1. Face-to-face classes: 1 credit-hour is awarded for 1 hour (50 minutes) of in-class lecture or discussion time and a minimum of 2 hours of out-of-class work each week for approximately fifteen weeks per semester.

  2. Laboratory classes: 1 credit-hour is awarded for 75 to 170 minutes of laboratory time each week for approximately fifteen weeks per semester.

  3. Ensembles and applied lessons:
    a. Ensembles: 1 credit-hour is awarded for 150 to 250 minutes of in-class rehearsal time each week for approximately fifteen weeks per semester. Requires individual practice and preparation as well as concert performance requirements

    b. Lessons: 0.5 credit-hour is awarded for 25 minutes of lesson time each week and 1.0 credit-hour is awarded for 50 minutes of lesson time each week.

  4. Off-Campus courses:

    1. Study Abroad: In 1 credit-hour study abroad courses, out-of-class work expectations and direct instruction are combined with cultural engagement activities.

    2. Internships and Practica: In internships and practica, students are expected to complete at least 24 hours of supervised work or 40 hours in the work place per credit in addition to related directed instruction

  5. Asynchronous online instruction: The total duration of all online materials and activities in a course will equal a minimum of 45 hours per credit hour. Each course will describe how many hours equate to different activity types such as video, interactive activities, reading, groupwork, discussion, and assessments of various types. 6. Other: For directed reading, independent study, and senior thesis courses, credit is awarded in accordance with the time commitment required for the expected product.

Zero-Credit-Hour Courses

Proposed zero-credit-hour courses must be formal degree program requirements and not optional, cocurricular achievements.

Faculty Responsibility

Faculty within each department are responsible for implementing the credit-hour policy.

Related External Policies