Awarding Academic Credit Policy
TBR Policy Reference: 2.01.00.01
Approved by: President's Cabinet
Original Date Effective: 2022-08-24
Last Modified: 2023-08-31
Purpose:
The purpose of this policy is to define credit hours awarded to conform to commonly accepted practices in higher education and comply with SACSCOC policy and Federal requirements.
Jackson State Community College subscribes to the federal definition of the credit hour (Federal Register 75 FR 66832) as applicable to semester hours of credit awarded. A credit hour is the amount of work represented in student learning outcomes verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency reasonably approximating:
Definitions:
The Federal Definition of Credit hour (Federal Register (75 FR 66832 p. 66946):
1) Not less than one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours out-of-class student work each week for approximately 15 weeks for one semester, or,
2) The equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time, or,
3) At least an equivalent amount of work as required outlined in item 1 above for other academic activities as established by the institution. These activities may include laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours
While SACSCOC policy acknowledges that the federal definition provides some flexibility for institutions in determining the appropriate amount of credit hours for student coursework, it also notes that a credit hour is expected to be a reasonable approximation of a minimum amount of student work in a Carnegie unit in accordance with commonly accepted practice in higher education.
1) The Carnegie Unit-Definition and Calculation
a) Credit Hour is the unit of measuring educational credit, usually based on the number of classroom hours per week throughout a term.
b) Lecture Classes - For a lecture class, one unit is considered to be one hour of lecture class time and two hours per week of homework. For the typical three-unit class, a student spends three hours per week in class and should do six hours per week of homework. The total semester hours are calculated by multiplying the weekly hours by 15.
c) Laboratory Classes - For a laboratory class, the hours per week are considered to be all in class with no outside assignments. Thus, one unit is three hours per week of laboratory time.
2) Jackson State Community College Definition of a Credit Hour
One course credit hour is equivalent to one hour of instruction based on a 15-week semester. 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.
a) Delivery
All courses must be equivalent to the standard credit hour calculation (depending on the course type), and must be consistently delivered.
b) Course Development
All courses will be developed to be equivalent to a regular, 15-week semester even if the course is taught in an alternative or accelerated format. This procedure applies to all lecture, laboratory, and/or external learning experience (clinical) courses.
c) Reasonable Equivalencies for Course Types and Methods of Delivery
Course credit hours are granted for various types of instruction as follows:
i) Lecture courses - The number of course credit hours awarded a lecture course will be determined by the actual number of contact hours per week the course is scheduled using a ratio of 1 course credit hour for 1 lecture contact hour per week.
ii) Lab courses - The number of course credit hours awarded a lab course will be determined by the actual number of contact hours per week the lab course is scheduled using a ratio of 1 course credit hour for a range of 1 up to 4 lab contact hours per week.
iii) External Learning Experience courses - External learning experience courses include cooperative education, practicum, field experience, internship, and clinical experience. The number of course credit hours awarded an external learning experience course will be determined by the actual number of contact hours per term the external learning experience course is scheduled using a calculation ratio option deemed appropriate for a particular program.
d) Distance Delivery Credit Hour Calculation
All courses offered through distance learning must be developed and delivered in compliance with Jackson State’s definition of a credit hour.
Policy/Procedure:
Establishing level of credit awarded for all courses (Including those courses that are not designed to transfer, i.e. courses in the AAS programs. Any course that is not designed for transfer is marked with a double asterisk (**) in the college catalog which leads to this statement at the bottom of the page- “This course is not designed for transfer to a 4-year college or university.”)
Generally speaking, 1000-level courses designate freshman level; 2000-level courses designate sophomore level. For many courses, the prefix and number have been standardized by statewide faculty committees convened by the Tennessee Board of Regents.
1) The Curriculum Committee approves any changes to the curriculum. Changes to the curriculum are proposed by content experts in the department and approved by department dean.
2) A new course and master syllabus should be developed by faculty who are content experts in the department where the course will be taught.
3) Rationale for course addition should include information on the program(s) where the course will be used and whether or not the course is designed for transfer or General Education core, and whether or not it replaces an existing course.
4) Courses not included in the state community college common course library must provide a copy of the course syllabus outlining course learning objectives appropriate to and in alignment with the course level using the guidelines below.
1000-level courses:
Introductory courses should focus on lower-level cognition, affections, and psychomotor skills. These courses have anticipated learning outcomes that include “define,” “select,” “identify,” “compare,” and other verbs from the two lower tiers. These verbs should be chosen to reflect the purpose of an introductory course in framing the discipline and equipping with basic skills. There may be some verbs chosen that reflect application of basic knowledge like “calculate,” “identify,” “diagram,” or “test” depending on the discipline and the nature of the course. However, there should rarely be any higher order verbs, such as “critique,” “assess,” “design,” and “formulate” within these courses.
2000-level courses:
These courses are often still introductory level courses, which should still focus on lower-level cognition, affections, and psychomotor skills. Therefore, there may be significant similarity in the verb choice a syllabus at the 1000-level and the 2000-level, particularly when the 2000-level is a first introduction to a discipline intended for sophomores who are selecting a major. There will still likely be an emphasis on basic knowledge verbs such as “select,” “define,” and “compare.” There will likely, however, be an increasing bias toward middle-tier verbs, such as “criticize,” “diagnose,” “solve,” and “predict.” Most 2000-level courses will avoid higher order verbs.
Sources/References:
Federal Register (75 FR 66832) (p.66946)
THEC Chapter 1540-01-02 Authorization and Regulation of Regularly Authorized Postsecondary Educational Institutions