The unit of credit is one semester hour which, in most courses, represents one, 50-minute class period plus the required preparation. The language of “credit hours” normally is not used; rather, courses are designated as either a full course or a half course. 

One full course (1.0) is equivalent to 3.00 semester hours. 

A half course (.5) is equivalent to 1.50 semester hours. 

The faculty expects a minimum of two hours work outside of class for every hour of allotted class time. 

In-person Classroom

1. The unit of credit is one semester hour (or Carnegie unit) represents one, 50-minute class period plus between 2.5-3.0 hours of student-directed learning.  

2. Thus, on a per-course weekly basis students are expected to engage in four hours of classroom learning per week, plus ten hours of student-directed learning per week over the twelve weeks of a full course. This would mean that during a 12-week semester, a full course would meet for 40 hours of classroom contact time.  A half course meets for 20 hours of classroom contact time (two hours a week for ten weeks).  

Independent Studies

1. In directed and independent studies, a full course entails four to six hours of contact time between instructor and student. Correspondingly, independent student learning activities should extend to roughly 130-150 student-directed learning hours, which includes reading, writing and other activities, which contribute to student learning as defined by the supervising instructor. 

2. Half-course directed and independent studies entail two to four hours of contact time between instructor and student. Correspondingly, independent student learning activities should extend to roughly 65-75 student-directed learning hours, which includes reading, writing and other activities which contribute to student learning as defined by the supervising instructor.

Online Asynchronous, Online Synchronous, and Hybrid Courses

In online asynchronous, online synchronous and hybrid classes, one full course would entail approximately 40 hours of any combination of the following activities: face-to-face classroom time (for in-person section of hybrid course); watching instructor-defined content such as streaming video; reading lecture transcripts posted online, PowerPoint presentations, streaming audio, etc.; engaging in instructor defined interactive learning activities such as discussion boards, chat or Web conferencing discussion groups. Additionally, students would be responsible for 97-117 hours of student-directed learning, or roughly 7.5-9.0 hours of student-directed learning per week.

Residential Focus Session Courses

1. A 20-hour in person period and approximately an additional 20 hours delivered online and/or residentially throughout the remainder of the semester.

2. There are two residential focus sessions each semester and term.  A student can take a maximum of two residential focus session courses in a semester or term.