Credit Hour Compliance Policy
Credit Hour Compliance (CHC) Policy
Purpose:
To ensure consistency, appropriate amount of content in courses related to the assigned credit hour unit regardless of modality in accordance with Federal, State, and accreditation requirements. The policy adheres to successful practices, sets expectations across academic units, defines direct instructional time and out-of-class time, and outlines requirements for compliance.
Expectations:
- All faculty teaching courses are expected to provide content and instruction to meet the assigned credit hours for their course(s) based on the requirements stated below.
- Program leaders (or designees) are responsible for overseeing assurance of all classroom activity in courses adhering to credit hour compliance (CHC) requirements as outlined below. College Deans (or their designee) are responsible for verifying with program leaders all approved courses are accurately documented as meeting CHC. Further, program leaders (or designee) are responsible for overseeing syllabi from all course sections comply with the documented course template or master course outline, as well as credit hour requirements of each course.
- The Registrar is expected to maintain an accurate, up-to-date master list of all approved courses and to be able to provide lists of courses offered by term and modality.
- Upon course review, if credit hours changed, an updated credit hour form will need created.
- For special or non-standard cases, consult the Provost Office.
Definitions:
1. “Direct Instructional time” is also known as “in-class time.” Calculating Face-to-Face (FTF) direct instructional time is simple, as this is typically the amount of time the faculty member is personally interacting with students within the context of the classroom but is not limited physically to the classroom. This task is not so straightforward for online, blended, independent study, and internship/practica modalities. In these cases, “DIRECT INSTRUCTION” can constitute a variety of activities counting as “in-class time.” Essentially, any structured activity which the instructor actively facilitates counts as “DIRECT INSTRUCTION.” See the credit hour compliance form for specific examples.
Online, independent study, and internship courses do not typically meet in the traditional sense of “seat time,” so it is necessary to articulate each specific course component (i.e., student “in class” work activity) and its average time-on-task. It is understood that there is variance in times for work activities/projects, so our goal is to define the AVERAGE AMOUNT OF TIME that NLU believes each task takes. The purpose of calculating direct instruction and in-class work is to ensure appropriate time to achieve learning outcomes set for each course. The total for these course components should assure compliance with time required to award credit.
2. Non-direct instruction activities are traditionally thought of as out of class work or time requirements, but could be in-class activities without direct instruction. The idea is to assign an AVERAGE AMOUNT OF TIME-ON-TASK to every non-direct instruction activity type.
3. While there are several requirements for different types of credit experiences listed below, there can be composite courses like practicums which follow the ratios of direction instruction and out-of-class homework per category, but combine these experiences in one course.
Requirements:
Standard Courses
|
Quarter Hours Awarded
|
Direct Instruction
|
Non- Direct Instruction Activities |
Total |
|
Semester Hours Awarded |
Direct Instruction |
Non-Direct Instruction Activities |
Total |
| 1 |
10 hours |
20 hours |
30 |
|
1 |
15 hours |
30 hours |
45 |
| 2 |
20 hours |
40 hours |
60 |
|
2 |
30 hours |
60 hours |
90 |
| 3 |
30 hours |
60 hours |
90 |
|
3 |
45 hours |
90 hours |
135 |
| 4 |
40 hours |
80 hours |
120 |
|
4 |
60 hours |
120 hours |
180 |
| 5 |
50 hours |
100 hours |
150 |
|
5 |
75 hours |
150 hours |
225 |
Internships
|
Quarter Hours Awarded
|
Direct Instruction
|
Non- Direct Instruction Activities |
Total |
|
Semester Hours Awarded |
Direct Instruction |
Non-Direct Instruction Activities |
Total |
| 1 |
0 hours |
30 hours |
30 |
|
1 |
0 hours |
45 hours |
45 |
| 2 |
0 hours |
60 hours |
60 |
|
2 |
0 hours |
90 hours |
90 |
| 3 |
0 hours |
90 hours |
90 |
|
3 |
0 hours |
135 hours |
135 |
| 4 |
0 hours |
120 hours |
120 |
|
4 |
0 hours |
180 hours |
180 |
| 5 |
0 hours |
150 hours |
150 |
|
5 |
0 hours |
225 hours |
225 |
Student Teaching
|
Quarter Hours Awarded
|
Direct Instruction
|
Non- Direct Instruction Activities |
Total |
|
Semester Hours Awarded |
Direct Instruction |
Non-Direct Instruction Activities |
Total |
| 1 |
5 hours |
25 hours |
30 |
|
1 |
8 hours |
37 hours |
45 |
| 2 |
10 hours |
50 hours |
60 |
|
2 |
16 hours |
74 hours |
90 |
| 3 |
15 hours |
75 hours |
90 |
|
3 |
24 hours |
111 hours |
135 |
| 4 |
20 hours |
100 hours |
120 |
|
4 |
32 hours |
148 hours |
180 |
| 5 |
25 hours |
125 hours |
150 |
|
5 |
40 hours |
185 hours |
225 |
Labs
|
Quarter Hours Awarded
|
Direct Instruction
|
Non- Direct Instruction Activities |
Total |
|
Semester Hours Awarded |
Direct Instruction |
Non-Direct Instruction Activities |
Total |
| 1 |
20 hours |
10 hours |
30 |
|
1 |
30 hours |
15 hours |
45 |
| 2 |
40 hours |
20 hours |
60 |
|
2 |
60 hours |
30 hours |
90 |
| 3 |
60 hours |
30 hours |
90 |
|
3 |
90 hours |
45 hours |
135 |
| 4 |
80 hours |
40 hours |
120 |
|
4 |
120 hours |
60 hours |
180 |
| 5 |
100 hours |
50 hours |
150 |
|
5 |
150 hours |
75 hours |
225 |
Independent Study
|
Quarter Hours Awarded
|
Direct Instruction
|
Non- Direct Instruction Activities |
Total |
|
Semester Hours Awarded |
Direct Instruction |
Non-Direct Instruction Activities |
Total |
| 1 |
1-10 hours |
20-29 hours |
30 |
|
1 |
1-15 hours |
30-44 hours |
45 |
| 2 |
2-20 hours |
40-58 hours |
60 |
|
2 |
2-30 hours |
60-88 hours |
90 |
| 3 |
3-60 hours |
30-87 hours |
90 |
|
3 |
3-90 hours |
45-132 hours |
135 |
| 4 |
4-80 hours |
40-116 hours |
120 |
|
4 |
4-120 hours |
60-176 hours |
180 |
| 5 |
5-100 hours |
50-145 hours |
150 |
|
5 |
5-150 hours |
75-220 hours |
225 |
Thesis/Dissertation Courses
|
Semester Hours Awarded
|
Direct Instruction
|
Non- Direct Instruction Activities |
Total |
| 1 |
1-15 hours |
30-44 hours |
45 |
| 2 |
2-30 hours |
60-88 hours |
90 |
| 3 |
3-90 hours |
45-132 hours |
135 |
| 4 |
4-120 hours |
60-176 hours |
180 |
| 5 |
5-150 hours |
75-220 hours |
225 |