{"id":163,"date":"2019-10-30T14:00:27","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T18:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocmsites.org\/policy\/?post_type=ht_kb&p=163"},"modified":"2019-10-30T14:39:07","modified_gmt":"2019-10-30T18:39:07","slug":"definition-of-a-credit-hour","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/ocmsites.org\/policy\/policy\/definition-of-a-credit-hour\/","title":{"rendered":"Definition of A Credit Hour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Policy Statement<\/strong><\/h1>\n

For academic purposes, Georgia Regents University conforms to standards set by the BOR (Board of Regents) Policy 3.4.1 of the University System of Georgia, the SACs (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) Commission on Colleges Policy Statement, the Federal definition (Federal Register (75 FR 66832 p. 66946), Carnegie unit recommendations, and individual program accrediting agency guidelines to define and measure semester credit hours awarded to students for course work.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Affected stakeholders<\/h1>\n

All entities and persons within the Enterprise that are affected by this policy:<\/em>
\nGraduate Students<\/a>, Health Professional Students<\/a>, Undergraduate Students<\/a><\/p>\n

Policy Owner<\/h1>\n

Office of the Registrar<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Definitions<\/h1>\n

Credit Hour Definition for Undergraduate, Graduate, and College of Dental Medicine Courses<\/h3>\n

Introduction<\/h3>\n

The Federal Definition of Credit hour (Federal Register (75 FR 66832 p. 66946)):<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out of class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit, or the equivalent amount<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of work over a different amount of time; or (2) At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution including laboratory work, internships,\u00a0practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>hours.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Georgia Regents University Definition of a Credit Hour<\/h3>\n

    Although not explicitly stated in the BOR policy which defines one semester credit hour as 750 minutes of total instruction or equivalent per a\u00a015 week\u00a0semester (50 minutes\/week), GRU also expects the minimum of 1500 minutes (2 class hours; 100 minutes\/week) of out of class student work in line with SACs and Federal definitions. Thus overall, one credit hour is constituted by a minimum of the equivalent of three class work hours; where a class hour is<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>defined as 50 minutes. However, the ratio of in class\/direct instruction time vs out of class student work, will vary depending on the course type.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    The standard for a one semester credit hour course is one class hour (50 minutes) of direct instruction and a minimum of two class hours (100 minutes) of out of class student work\/student academic engagement activities each week during the standard semester (15 weeks). This equates to a total of 750 minutes of direct instruction and 1500 minutes of out of class student work per standard semester (15 weeks).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    A course offered in fewer than 15 weeks shall contain the same total hours (contact hours, preparation time, content, and requirements) as the same course offered in the standard 15- week semester.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Reasonable Equivalencies for Course Types and Methods of Delivery\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Semester credit hours are granted for various types of instruction as follows:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n