Guidelines for Computing Course Credit/Contact Hours

UAF Faculty Senate policy states that "One academic credit hour of non-laboratory instruction at UAF will consist of a minimum of 800 minutes of instruction" (FS meeting #3, March 25, 1988). It is understood that an average student will be expected to spend 1600 minutes of study and preparation outside of class in order to meet the learning objectives for the unit of credit in lecture. 

Related to credit hours is the length of the semester. This was establish as Senate policy, "The UAF Faculty Senate moves to establish a 14-week instructional period for the Fairbanks campus with provision for an additional examination period during each semester." (FS meeting #21, October 15, 1990)

The 2007-2008 catalog (p. 226) indicates that:
"One credit represents satisfactory completion of 800 minutes of lecture or 1600 or 2400 minutes of laboratory (or studio or other similar activity), whichever is appropriate. (It is understood that an average student will be expected to spend 1600 minutes of study and preparation outside of class in order to meet the learning objectives for the unit of credit in lecture.) 

Credit hours may not be divided, except one-half credit hours may be granted at the appropriate rate. For short courses and classes of less than one semester in duration, course hours may not be compressed into fewer than three days per credit. Any course compressed into fewer than six weeks must be approved by the college or school's curriculum council. Furthermore, any core course compressed to less than six weeks must be approved by the Core Review Committee.

The following standards establish the minimum requirements for an academic unit of credit (FS meeting #141, February 5, 2007): 

1.  800 minutes of lecture (plus 1600 minutes of study)
2.  1600 or 2400 minutes of laboratory (or studio or other similar activity)
3.  2400 - 4000 minutes of supervised practicum
4.  2400 - 8000 minutes of internship (or externship, clinical)
5.  2400 - 4800 minutes of supervised scholarly activity

Given the above information the formula used for computing credit/contact hours is 800 minutes (13.3 hrs) per credit. This equates to approximately 1 hour of lecture per week for a normal 14 week semester. The number of minutes required for one credit of laboratory (1600 or 2400) depends on the amount of instruction given during the lab.   For typical science and engineering labs where students work with teaching assistant guidance performing preset exercises, 2400 minutes (3 hours/week/credit for a 14 week semester) is used.  For labs in which a faculty member interacts with students and provides feedback throughout the laboratory period (clinical labs, art studio, automotive technical labs) 1600 minutes (2 hours/week/credit for a 14 week semester) is used.  A course submission with a lab component should include a justification for the number of minutes of lab per credit employed. 

Practica, internships, and supervised scholarly activity differ from lab instruction in that there is no structured daily educational exercises nor daily instructor evaluation, and a significant portion of the activity is not supervised by the instructor of record.

A practicum is a hands-on supervised work experience done by a student either as part of or in conjunction with an academic class as an educational strategy to attain the class objective.  A faculty member, usually the class instructor, supervises the work, establishes the objectives and evaluation metrics, evaluates the outcome and assigns a final grade.   Credit for practica requires a minimum of 2400 minutes of work per credit in addition to the contract hours of the associated class (e.g., a 3 credit class would require a minimum of 7200 minutes of practicum work).  Whether the practicum is embedded in the associated class or whether it is listed as a separate class, the same metric applies.  Credit for class-related practica can range from 1-3 credits for any given class.  Diversion from these guidelines can be granted if discipline or accreditation specific requirements for practica exist. 

An internship (also called externship or clinicals as discipline-specific terms) is a supervised work experience which is a capstone experience tied to a student's major or career goal. The internship involves a student working in an agency or other professional setting under the supervision of a designated practicing professional. The UAF faculty member serves as the instructor of record, approves the work activities and goals, and evaluates the outcomes. The instructor also assigns a grade upon review of the completion of the assignments. Credit for internship can range from 1-15 and requires a minimum of 2400 minutes of work (3 hours/week for 14 weeks) with the employer for each credit earned. Diversion from these guidelines can be granted if discipline or accreditation specific requirements for internships exist (e.g., NCATE accreditation for teacher certification programs).

A supervised scholarly activity is one where the student meets at least once a week with the instructor to discuss progress and future plans, but the work itself is basically unsupervised. A UAF faculty member serves as the instructor of record and approves the work activities and goals, evaluates the outcomes, and assigns the final grade. Activities are part of a formal course; otherwise they are simply "research" or "thesis" credit. The student must prepare a final written or oral report on the work performed. Credits for typical scholarly activities should be awarded at a rate of 2400-4800 minutes of work (3-6 hours/week for 14 weeks) per credit.

Following the title of each course, the number of credits is listed for each semester. Thus "3 credits" means three credits may be earned. Credit may not be given more than once for a course unless a course has been designated as repeatable for credit. Figures in parentheses at the end of course descriptions indicate the number of lecture; laboratory; and practicum, internship, or scholarly activity hours the class meets each week for one semester.

Generally a 1 credit course meets once a week for 1 hour for 14 weeks, plus a 2 hour final (1+0). A 3 credit course meets 3 hours a week for 14 weeks, plus a 2 hour final (3+0). A science course for 4 credits typically meets for 3 lecture hours and 3 lab hours for a 14 week semester plus a 2 hour final (3+3). An Art course for 3 credits meets 1 lecture hour and 4 lab hours for 14 weeks plus a 2 hour final (1+4). An internship meets at varying times during the semester as scheduled by the individual student and instructor, but includes supervised work in a professional setting for 3-10 hours per week for a 14 week semester. A student who worked 9 hours weekly could earn 1, 2, or 3 credits as determined by the faculty to be appropriate for the discipline (0+0+9).

Examples of credits hours are:  (1+0) 1 credit, (3+0) 3 credits, (3+3) 4 credits, (1+4) 3 credits, or (1+0+40) for 6 credits, where the first number is the lecture hours, the second number is the lab hours, and the third number is practicum/internship/scholarly activity hours. .

Last modified on June 13, 2007 by fysenat@uaf.edu