Approved by the Academic Policies and Curriculum Committee: 9/18/20
Approved by Faculty Senate: 10/8/20
Approved by the President: 10/9/20
As a unit of the University System of Georgia (USG), East Georgia State College (EGSC) adheres to the definition of a credit hour as presented in the policy manual of its governing body, the USG Board of Regents (BOR). As stated in section 3.4.1 Calendar of Academic Activities - Semester System:
“A minimum of 750 minutes of instruction or equivalent is required for each semester Credit hour."'
The USG definition of a semester credit hour is presented in the College catalog. This seat time definition is not an indication of the time the student must spend to successfully complete the credit hour. In practice, we relate verbally to the students our expectation that they must spend at least two hours outside of class for every one hour in class. This time is required to prepare for and carry out the assignments associated with the instructional time associated with the credit hour awarded. Thus, the definition of the credit hour is more appropriate if it is defined as
"'A minimum of 750 minutes of instructional time and 1500 minutes of time outside the classroom environment is required for each semester credit hour. For alternative delivery methods, the amount of instruction in and outside the classroom environment time will be equivalent for each semester hour of credit."
Also, the Course Level Table, shown below, is in the Catalog. The Course Level Table assists instructors as they assign course levels to proposed new courses.
| Course Number | Description |
| 0000-09999 | These are pre-requisite Learning Support courses. Students must earn a "C" grade or higher in the corequesite course to exempt and enroll in credit-bearing courses. |
| 1000-1999 | Introductory courses that are open to first-year students. These courses do not have prerequisites. |
| 2000-2999 | These courses are designed, primarily, for sophomores, juniors and seniors. First-year students may enroll if they have completed the appropriate prerequisite courses. |
| 3000-3999 | These courses are generally designed for juniors and seniors who are currently in their major area of study. |
| 4000-4999 | These courses are designed for seniors who required focused courses in their major area of study. |
For all curriculum proposals sent to the Academic Policies and Curriculum Committee for approval, both the instructional time and out-of-class time will be indicated. Prior to submission to the Faculty Senate and the President for approval, the Academic Policies and Curriculum committee will verify the appropriateness of the credit hours and course level listed in the curriculum proposal.
