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Information for Faculty
Advisors
Study Abroad
Participation
If a student
asks for advice on choosing a study abroad program, recommend
that they make an appointment with the Education Abroad Office. We
have numerous program options lasting a summer, semester, or
year for students in ANY Virginia Tech major. In the
majority of cases, students abroad for a semester or more
will still graduate on time by carefully selecting the courses
they take abroad. Inform the student that their scholarships and
financial aid apply to study abroad programs.
Here is an interesting article from
Harvard about increasing student participation in study abroad
programs:
Harvard Letting It's
Students Ship Out (PDF)
Course Credit
Most commonly,
students need your help to complete the Permission to Take
Courses Elsewhere form for
course
credit transfer. Following are
several guidelines for assigning credit.
1
Each country has its own
credit system, so do not assign the same number of credits at VT
as is designated for a foreign course without consideration as
to the amount of time and effort required for completion. For
example, 2 credit courses in Australia have more hours per
semester in the classroom than a 3 credit course at Virginia
Tech. Instead, use the following guidelines to assign credit.
2
In-major courses should be matched
by content. Remember that no courses will match Virginia Tech
courses exactly. If a majority of subjects are covered in both
courses, credit should be assigned. Part of the study abroad
experience is to learn things not taught in courses here. The
student is not likely struggle in subsequent
courses as long as the differences between the VT course and the
foreign course are minor.
3 Core credit should be
assigned if a course meets the intentions of a particular Core
area. For the Virginia Tech computer system to count credits as Core
credits, courses must be transferred in as an existing Core
course. Because Virginia Tech offers a limited number of
courses, students will likely find courses that fulfill the
goals of a Core area without matching a Virginia Tech course. In
this case, the foreign course should be assigned to transfer in
as the next closest course carrying Core credit. For example,
Aboriginal Studies should be transferred in as Introduction to
African Studies. A British course called The History of Rock
Music should transfer in as Music In America.
4 Upper-Level In-Major Electives
- High level courses at the host institution that directly
relate to a student's major can often be transferred in as upper-level in-major electives. This allows the student to add
uniqueness to their degree by taking courses not offered at
Virginia Tech. Many departments have a list of in-major
electives to choose from, and foreign courses may satisfy the
intent of this list without being offered at Virginia Tech.
These courses should transfer in with a general code as follows.
Grassland Science may transfer in as CSES 3XXX Elective, and
Sensors and Actuators may transfer in as ME 4XXX Technical
Elective.
5 Combining Courses - Because
courses are transferred in by content, the content of two
foreign courses combined may match the combined content of two
VT courses even if neither course is a one-to-one match. In
this case, the student would get credit for two VT courses if he
or she passes both foreign courses.
6 Honors Credit - Research and/or
independent study credit is often arranged for field studies
program. Students can complete independent studies while abroad
by maintaining email contact with the faculty advisor for the
independent study.
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