Comprehensive Standard 3.4.6
The institution employs sound and acceptable practices for determining
the amount and level of credit awarded for courses, regardless of
format or mode of delivery.
All courses at LSUA are reviewed by several faculty groups and the
campus administration during the development and approval process.
Course proposals [1]  originate in an
academic department, where they are reviewed by the department faculty
to determine if they meet the general intent and purpose of that
department, are appropriate in content for the proposed credit to be
awarded, and contain appropriately-challenging content for the level at
which the credit is to be offered. If a proposal passes successfully
through the departmental review process, it is forwarded to Courses
& Curricula Committee where a similar review is conducted. The
Courses & Curricula Committee is a committee of the Faculty Senate
and is composed of representatives from each academic department.
Proposals that are approved by the Courses & Curricula Committee
are then subject to additional review by the Faculty Senate prior to
being forwarded to the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic and
Student Affairs, who reviews the proposed course with the Chancellor.
Once new courses are approved by the Provost and Chancellor they are
added to the LSUA Catalog [2] .
As noted above, the appropriate level and content for a new course
is determined and affirmed through the faculty review process. Lecture
credits are awarded on the basis of 1 hour credit for each 50 minute
course period per week. For those courses that either wholly or
partially include lab, studio, performance, or clinical components, the
two or three hours of activity are typically viewed as equal to one
hour of lecture. The determination of whether to award two or three
hours of activity per hour of credit is made during the course
development process.
The university does not distinguish the mode of delivery of a course
as part of the initial development and determination of the amount of
credit that should be awarded. Courses that are delivered in a
non-traditional format are scheduled and arranged so that students will
accomplish learning comparable to that in the same course taught in a
traditional format. A given course is designed to deliver the same
quality and quantity of content regardless of the mode of delivery.
Regular semesters of study are 16 weeks, with class meetings equivalent
to 50 minutes of instruction each week per credit hour awarded. This
means that courses taught in shorter time frames, e.g., A or B term
classes, meet more hours per week so that students receive the same
amount of instructional time as they would in a 16-week course. Other
delivery modes, such as distance learning, are designed to deliver
equivalent learning opportunities regardless of time. For example,
faculty give written assignments and projects in distance learning
courses similar to those they would assign in classes taught
traditionally.
The meeting times for classes are published in the Schedule of Classes [3] .
Expectation of student work and achievement in any class, traditional
or non-traditional, is provided to the student in the Course Syllabus [4] .
Faculty review courses as part of the unit planning process in
academic and student life. As part of the review process, faculty
review similar courses/programs at comparable institutions. The amount
and level of credit awarded for courses at LSUA is comparable to that
offered for courses of similar content at other universities in
Louisiana and elsewhere.
Documentation
[1] Form for Addition or Change of a Curriculum (16kb)
[2] LSUA Catalog 2005, p. 105-151 (1335kb)
[3] LSUA Class Schedule Summer/Fall 2005-2006, p. 24 (757kb)
[4] Examples of Course Syllabi (82kb)
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