credit wars: ciee conference 2013: align. innovate. educate… credit wars: curricular integration...
TRANSCRIPT
CIEE Conference 2013: Align. Innovate. Educate…
Credit Wars: Curricular Integration and Dis-Integration in Study Abroad Programming
Chair: Thomas Bogenschild, Vanderbilt UniversityPresenters: Kathleen Opel, University of Notre Dame
Kristi Hubbard, Emory University
Vanderbilt Study Abroad Overview (credit-bearing)
745 outbound in 201246.4% of all graduates28% on short-term programs (4 weeks/less)120+ options approved by 4 undergraduate
colleges◦ Third party provider◦ Proprietary fixed site◦ Faculty-led short term◦ Leaves of Absence ◦ Hybrid◦ Direct enroll◦ Exchange◦ Proprietary extended curriculum (VISAGE)
Geographic and Gender Distribution, 2010-11
Program Approval ProcessFour undergraduate schools/colleges
• Blair School of Music• School of Engineering• Peabody College of Education• College of Arts & Science
Each college has its own approval process ranging from informal to a 2 year multi-committee process
Most SA Programs managed by Global Education Office – reporting to Provost but not directly involved in approvals process
GEO assesses college approvals and makes recommendation to Provost, for final approval
LOAs and Faculty-Led Short Term programs managed by Associate Deans in 4 colleges
The “One University” Principle: Programs approved by one college open to students from all colleges
Approved status determines eligibility for Financial Aid, Direct Enrollment (all study abroad courses and grades appear on Vanderbilt transcript)
Program approvals @ collegiate level do not imply approval or credit determinations for any specific course or curriculum abroad
SA courses may not be cross-listed across more than one department
Every course taken abroad is directly evaluated by faculty members in corresponding departments* (generally the Directors of Undergraduate Study (DUS); the process is coordinated by GEO
Access to existing course approvals
Approvals and Credits: Process
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Harmonies of interest?
Student Interests Institutional Interests
Value added◦ Experiences unattainable on
campus
◦ Exposure to different pedagogies and perspectives
Academic integrity of SA experience
SA Credits fulfill institutional requirements◦ Core requirements
◦ Disciplinary requirements (requires confidence in
Program Approvals process)
Academic integrity◦ Faculty program approvals
◦ Direct transcripting
◦ No P/F option as on campus
◦ Faculty review of all coursework
Conformity to established degree pathways◦ Institutional Branding
◦ Departmental Branding
The Theory of Course Assessments
On-site evidence (syllabus, transcript,
recommended chart of
equvalencies
Objective Analysis of academic evidence by
faculty
Final Course Assessment: Disciplinary
determination, credit assignment, and grade transfer
to transcript
The Occasional Reality: Credit Wars
Presumptive challenges: the credit as weapon
Course evaluations may be influenced by:• Ongoing dynamics between departmental faculty
members (over methods, perspectives, ideologies, manners, etc.)
• Clashes of pedagogical or theoretical orientations between colleges and divisions
• Unfamiliarity with foreign pedagogical systems• Pressures to make SA experience conform to
established academic pathways on the home campus
• Economic pressures to maintain on-campus enrollments or to ‘encourage’ students to attend proprietary programs over other forms of SA
• Institutional heliocentrism (why would anyone take courses outside of this, the best institution in the entire world/universe?)
Examples and challenges1) ‘Not this department’
1) We don’t ‘do’ this sort of psychology2) European Banking is not a Financial
Management course, but an Economics course3) This geography course is Earth Sciences4) This geography course is Anthropology
2) ‘No major or minor credit’ – general credit only 1) We teach the same course in our proprietary program and need to protect our enrollments 2) This course falls outside of the established curriculum pathway in our department (our courses) as clearly outlined in the Student Handbook (or not) 3) ‘We encourage international engagement in core courses, but only 1 of 3 general ed requirements can be earned abroad’ 1) The breadth and depth of our foreign language and international study course offerings is more than adequate for any student 2) My on-campus course is better than your experiential learning course
Vanderbilt Creative Solutions
Streamline and try to control evaluation processes at the program and curricular level
Make students aware of the process and dangers inherent in the system
Educate, educate, educate!◦E.g. faculty workshops for DUS faculty◦Push for faculty engagement in 3PP
programs/programming
Notre Dame Study Abroad Overview Sponsors 40 academic year programs, 8 Summer
Programs◦ direct enrollment ◦ program providers◦ 2 proprietary programs ◦ 3 hybrid --direct enroll and classes taught by our onsite faculty
1266 undergrads outbound in 2012-13◦ 717 students on OIS semester or yearlong programs◦ 189 on OIS 6-8 week summer programs◦ ~50 yearlong undergrads in Architecture ◦ ~75 undergrads on 2 Engineering summer programs◦ Small number of undergrad faculty-led programs◦ Limited number of Leaves of Absence
Home school tuition direct ND credit and abroad grades into ND GPA
Notre Dame Course Approval Process
NDI approves new programs with guidelines from Provost’s Office
Every course taken abroad must be approved by a home department and given a unique Notre Dame course number, e.g., HIST 34821
Students supply advisors with a course approval form in advance of study and all approval forms go to OIS
Courses need not be an equivalent; new courses vetted to see how they will count
Notre Dame Registration / Transcript
REGISTRATION REPORT
ONLINE TRANSCRIPT
Notre Dame ChallengesFew options for students who are not
accepted into ND-sponsored programCreating new numbers for every new
course taken by a student abroadCourse approvals when there is no
departmental “home”◦ Languages not taught at ND ◦ Courses outside our disciplines, e.g.,
geography, veterinary science, food science, etc.
Dealing with perceptions that courses taken abroad are not as good as home campus
Where to situate survey classes that don’t have enough history to be a history class; not enough sociology to be a soc class, etc.
Why We Need Unique Course Numbers…. Graduation Progress System
Notre Dame Creative Solutions
Get an A&L generic # for a general elective course
Request that Department assign a special topics number
Add attributes to courses to make them readable to the GPS
Add a Development staff member to build donations around international efforts
Searchable International Course Database
Course Details from Database
Emory Study Abroad Overview
Approved semester program list – approx. 100 programs, including direct enrollment options, program providers, and 3 of our own programs
Approximately 300 students abroad during Fall & Spring semesters each year (400 on faculty-led summer programs) = 40% of Emory College of Liberal Arts & Sciences students
Home school tuition direct Emory credit and abroad grades into Emory GPA
Emory Course Approval ProcessEducation Abroad Committee (part of faculty
governance) approves programs and Departmental Faculty Study Abroad Reps approve individual courses from abroad
Students have to obtain an Emory equivalent for each abroad course (no equivalent = no credit F grade)◦ Blanket approved courses (only certain
departments)◦ Pre-approvals◦ On-site approvals via email during add/drop
periodStudents go directly to the designated person in
the department; the SAO only gets involved if problems
Academic Course Plan
Blanket Approved Course Database
Emory Registration / Transcript
Registration Screen Shot Transcript Processed Screen Shot
Emory Challenges & Creative SolutionsCredit and grade translation
memosLanguage approvals:
1. For languages not taught at Emory2. Worthy of credit, but not part of
Emory language sequence“Special Topics Abroad” courses