Credit Hour Policy and Procedure
This policy is designed to assure consistency in awarding academic credit at Hardin-Simmons University in conformity with commonly accepted standards in higher education and in accordance with federal regulations. In the following definition, HSU utilizes the Carnegie Unit, a generally recognized measurement for awarding academic credit, as a means to express the institution’s definition of a credit hour.
Definition of credit hour
Using the Carnegie Unit as a commonly accepted standard, Hardin-Simmons University defines a credit hour, recorded by the university as a semester hour, in terms of instructional time and associated class preparation. Each credit hour reflects one hour of instructional time per week for a total of 15 instructional hours per semester. Students are expected to devote a minimum of two hours outside of class in preparation for each instructional hour. Thus students are expected to spend a minimum of approximately 3 hours engaged in learning per week per semester for each credit hour.
The application of this definition of credit hour must be equivalent throughout the curriculum. Faculty are responsible for assuring that at least a reasonable approximation of a comparable amount of work consistent with this definition of credit hour is represented in all academic activities for which the university awards academic credit, including, but not limited to, distance education, blended courses, practica, internships, laboratory work, travel courses, and studio work. In establishing equivalency, faculty should consider course content, method of delivery, pedagogical methods, and measurement of intended student learning outcomes, academic calendars, degree levels, and other factors to assure equivalency.
The university grants credit only for courses approved by the academic policies established by the university and taught by faculty approved by the university. The process for approving course credit involves individual faculty members developing a new course proposal which is then vetted by the department and the curriculum committee of the appropriate college or school. If approved, the course proposal is sent to the Academic Committee of the University for discussion and final approval. In some cases the protocol requires approval of the University faculty.
Course Listing
Course listings in this catalog begin with a four-digit number as described in the preceding section. The departmental prefix plus this number constitutes the principle identifier of the course and must be accurately noted when registering. The number is followed by the course title indicating the topic of the course and by the parenthetical numbers indicating the hours of credit, of lecture and of lab, all of which are printed in bold face type. If the numbers in the parenthesis are followed by the symbol “[#]”, the course is also listed in the Texas Common Course numbering system for easy cross-reference when transferring. This information is followed by a brief statement describing the content of the course. Note that this brief description is not comprehensive and that the full course content is contained in a syllabus obtainable from the department offering the course. The description may conclude with a prerequisite notice, indicating conditions which must be satisfied or other courses which must be completed prior to enrollment in the course. It may also be followed by an indication of when the student may expect the course to be offered. For example, a course normally offered each fall semester will have the word “Fall” printed at the end of the description. It is possible that such a course may occasionally be offered in the spring or summer, but the student should not expect that to be the case and should plan to take the course during the fall semester.