Credit and Student Time Commitment

A unit of credit is an academic convention representing the total time commitment, in and out of class, required of the typical student enrolled in a course. The total time commitment shall be consistent regardless of instructional modality using the basic undergraduate and graduate formulas described below, and shall include regular and substantive interactions between instructors and students. The particular mix of activities to reach the total time commitment will vary depending on the instructional modality and instructor pedagogical choices for any given offering of a course. 

Undergraduate Courses

Undergraduate courses are expected to have 3 hours per credit per week of total time commitment for a total of 30 hours per term per credit. Thus, a 4-credit course would require a total of 120 hours per term of active student engagement in either in-person or other activities that support learning objectives.  

1. The “in-person” instructional modality serves as a baseline for how much in-person engagement is part of the total time commitment. In-person undergraduate courses generally must have one in-person contact hour and two hours of out-of-class work per week for each credit hour earned. Each in-person contact hour will consist of a minimum of fifty minutes to account for passing time. For example, a four-credit course will meet in-person class for a minimum of 200 minutes per week; 

2. In some cases, in-person undergraduate courses at the 3xx and 4xx level may have three classroom contact hours per week for a four-credit class with sufficient demonstrated lab, activities or other student work outside of class to warrant the reduced in-person time  

3. Currently approved 1xx to 2xx 4-credit courses may continue to have reduced weekly contact time. Any newly proposed 1xx to 2xx 4-credit courses must have one in-person contact hour and two hours of out-of-class work per week for each credit hour earned. The courses currently approved for reduced weekly contact time are: 

  • ENG 104, 105, 106 Introduction to Literature series 
  • ENG 200 Public Speaking as a Liberal Art 
  • ENG 205 Genre (topics course, repeatable for credit) 
  • ENG 207, 208 Shakespeare series 
  • ENG 225 Age of King Arthur 
  • ENG 230 Introduction to Environmental Lit 
  • ENG 241, 242, 243, 244, 245 American Ethnic Literature series 

Graduate Courses

Graduate students are expected to perform work of higher quality and quantity, typically with forty hours of student engagement for each student credit hour. Therefore, a 4-credit graduate course may be expected to entail approximately 160 hours per term for the average student for whom the course is designed.  

In-person graduate courses follow the same general formula as undergraduate courses with one in-person contact hour per week per credit. Graduate courses may ask for reduced in-person time (3 hours per week in-person for 4 credits) with sufficient demonstrated lab, activities or other student work outside of class to warrant reduced in-person time. 

Translating to Modalities other than "In-person"

Following the general formulas above, a “Hybrid” class is one in which in-person time is reduced and replaced by forms of online engagement. For instance, a 4-credit in-person undergraduate class that meets twice a week for 1:50 could be offered in a hybrid format by meeting only once per week for 1:50 and providing online engagement to account for the other 1:50. 

An asynchronous online class does require any “in-person” or synchronous engagement but must still provide “regular and substantive interactions between instructor and students” in addition to other student activities to equal the total time commitment required for the number of credits. 

A synchronous online class would be expected to provide synchronous engagement online equivalent to the in-person engagement time of an in-person course. 

In all these cases, the total student time commitment for the number of credits is the same. 

Courses that meet for fewer than ten weeks will be scrutinized carefully regarding total student time commitment to determine the correct number of credits. 

The requested number of credits must be based on sound pedagogical reasons. Of particular interest are 1) course level; 2) descriptions of the typical course activities and work required and 3) GENERAL explanations of how student work is assessed.

Approved By: University Senate        Date: 05/24/2023

Motion Number: US22/23-20

Revision History:

Original US22/23-20 Date 05/24/2023