Credit Hour and Course Delivery

THE CARNEGIE UNIT is a unit of measurement used by secondary and post-secondary schools to assure uniformity and consistency in assigning credit for courses awarded by an institution. Thus, Wingate University uses this unit in defining a semester hour of credit as equivalent to a minimum of three hours of class per week for a 15-week semester. Courses are reported and recorded in semester hours with one semester hour covering between 650700 minutes. A three-hour course usually contains the equivalent of 2,100 minutes of instruction. The traditional three-hour course includes between 42-45 fifty-minute sessions or 27-29 seventy-five-minute sessions. One credit hour courses contain 14-15 fifty-minute sessions; two credit courses contain 28-30 fifty-minute sessions. The application of this definition requires that all engaged in the process continually adjust for the evolving differences in the methods of delivery, the nature and scope of material, the pedagogy, and the varying ways students commit to the process of education including the pace at which they learn. It is further assumed and expected that students in traditional courses will spend at a minimum an additional two hours of preparation for every hour of instruction.

Courses with clinical, ensemble, or lab components have a different credit hour to contact hour ratio, than the 1:1 ratio described above. Typically, the ratio of credit hours to contact hours for these types of courses is 1:3; where 1 credit hour is equivalent to 3 hours of contact in the lab, studio, or clinical setting per week; however, this definition may vary by department/school. Each course with clinical, ensemble, or lab components will specify on the course syllabus the number of credit hours assigned to class (usual 1:1 credit to contact hour ratio) and the number of credit hours assigned to the experiential component, with the contact hours also specified. All proposals for new clinical/lab/ensemble courses coming forward for faculty approval will also have the credit hour to contact hour ratio (or number of contact hours) clearly specified.

In non-traditional courses such as Directed Independent Studies and Online Courses, the University intends that student learning per credit is the equivalent of between 42 and 45 hours of coursework for the semester or term through activities that demonstrate student competency in the learning outcomes while observing appropriate standards and design practices.

If a hybrid or online class is also taught as a traditional class, then the non-traditional version of the class will be deemed to have the same number of semester hours as the traditional version of the class provided both versions require roughly the same work from the student and achieve the same objectives and outcomes regardless of the amount of faceto-face meeting time scheduled for the non-traditional version of the course.

The faculty is responsible for ensuring that the expected quantity of student learning relative to credit hours is achieved. The process for approving courses for credit is a multistepped one which includes the formal request for a new course in which the requirements, credit value, instructional materials, budgetary issues, method of delivery, and learning outcomes are identified. This initial process provides compelling evidence of the need for the course and how that course will expand the mission of the department specifically and the University in general. Requestors file through the appropriate Department Chair who subsequently submits the request to the department for approval. Once approved by the department, the proposal is forwarded to the University Academic Affairs committee for approval, and then finally to the University Faculty Assembly for final approval.

Undergraduate courses are categorized according to the following classifications: