MSUM Policy on Credit-Hour definitions (proposed)  DRAFT

MSUM recognizes that the student credit hour is a widely-used measure nationwide in universities.  It is used in defining what course load is required to be a full-time student, in comparing courses between different campuses, and in a variety of other applications.  However, it is not necessarily a well-defined measure of a course.

MSUM’s standard is that one semester credit hour for undergraduates is meant to represent three hours of academic work per week for the average student who has the expected preparation for the courses that he or she is enrolled in. 

MSUM also affirms that all grades for academic work are based on the quality of the work submitted to the instructor, not on the amount of time expended on the submitted work.

In particular, this would mean that for a 3-credit course that meets for three 50-minute periods each week, the student should expect to spend six and a half hours outside of class reading the material, doing homework, writing or researching papers, studying for exams, participating in class-specific chat rooms, etc. per week, averaged over the semester, on that class.  It also means that some students will spend more or less time outside of class than others, depending on their own preparation and ability levels and their ability to use their time efficiently.  A course load of 15 credit hours per semester would bear an expectation of 45 hours spent per week on academic work averaged over the semester.

If a 3-credit course meets for less than three 50-minute periods per week, it is expected that the students will be doing a larger proportion of their academic work for that class outside of the traditional classroom.  If a 3-credit course meets for more than three 50-minute periods per week, it is expected that the students will be doing a larger proportion of their academic work within the classroom than they may otherwise do, which is often appropriate for laboratory or workshop classes.

MSUM also understands that the nature of specific courses and class activities may require more than three hours of work per week for each credit hour.  Examples of such courses may include, but are not limited to, clinical experiences or internships, some laboratory courses, or some studio courses.  Courses of this nature should make this expectation clear to the students enrolled in the course.  For example, a 1-credit lab course is normally assigned two to three hours in the lab each wee.

In submitting new courses for approval faculty are strongly urged to follow the above guidelines.

Administrative Note

This credit hour policy defines a semester credit from the perspective of the student.  It should be recognized that the student workload and the faculty workload for a particular course, although often closely related, can differ greatly based on the nature of the course.  Some courses require additional faculty time to teach than would be accounted for by this definition.  Specific examples include, but are not limited to, science laboratory courses for their intensive set-up time, problem-based courses which require large amounts of graded homework, and writing-intensive courses due to the expectation of commenting on multiple drafts of each paper.  Deans should count such courses differently towards the faculty workload than the student credit hour load or should strictly limit enrollments in such courses, or some combination of both of these, in an effort to equalize workload among faculty teaching different types of courses. 

Policy should be disseminated to/printed in/discussed during

Student Handbook

Student Orientation

FYE courses

APAC policy manual – New courses would be expected to follow this guideline.

New Faculty Orientation

Academic departments

Liberal Studies Committee

Introductory course for International Students – HIST 190 “Life in the US”

Faculty should be encouraged (but not required) to include the italicized portion of the policy on their course syllabi.

Also included as a check-box on the Liberal Studies and APAC new course forms.