Classes that meet in a face to face format must include one hour of contact time (50 minutes) and two hours of outside of class work for 15 weeks for each semester hour of credit.

• One hour of credit may be awarded for laboratory and discussion sections that meet a minimum of 50 minutes per week and a maximum of 150 minutes per week; no more than one credit may be awarded for lab and discussion sections without approval of the Office of the Provost.
• Classes that do not have the required face-to-face contact time (for example, hybrid or online courses) meet the credit hour standard if they meet one of the following criteria:
  • The course covers the same material in the same depth as a face-to-face version of the same course
  • The course has been evaluated by the department and college for content and rigor, and the department and college have approved the s.h. credit to be awarded; this approval must be documented.
• Workshops must meet the same credit hour calculation as face-to-face classes.  If students work a maximum of 8.5 hours a day, the maximum they can work in 5 days is 42.5 hours.  Thus the minimum number of days a workshop must meet for one earned credit hour is 5 days.

Standard courses on campus are offered for three or four s.h. credit.  Some classes will be approved for four credit hours.  All non-standard classes (including those that are offered for more than four hours) must be reviewed and approved by the Office of the Provost.

This policy allows for standard instruction, innovation, maximizes the use of instructional technology, and yet adheres to the requirements established by the federal government and the accrediting bodies.