02:12:04 Credit Hour Determination
- The purpose of this policy is to establish a procedure for determining the credit hours to be offered for all credit bearing courses and programs which conforms to commonly accepted higher education practices and includes the federal definition of a credit hour as outlined in the SACSCOC Policy Statement on Credit Hours.
- Definitions - A credit hour is based on the Carnegie Unit and is meant to link a credit hour to some measure of student expectations and minimum amount of student work.It is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates:
- Not less than one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours out- of- class student work each week for approximately 15 weeks for one semester, or,
- At least an equivalent amount of work as required outlined in item 1 above for other academic activities as established by the institution including laboratory work, internships, practicum, studio work and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.
- Courses taught in traditional classroom format during regular academic term,
- Pursuant to TBR Policy 2.04.00.00 - Academic and Registration Calendar.
- The credit hour range of ChSCC courses is from 1 to 17. Courses are assigned credit hours as determined by the amount of class time and/or the amount of work both in and outside the classroom for successful acquisition of the stated learning outcomes. The following indicates the number of minutes of instruction required for courses taught in the traditional classroom format over the period of a regular academic term.
1 credit hour course = 750 minutes of instruction
2 credit hour course = 1,500 minutes of instruction
3 credit hour course = 2,250 minutes of instruction
4 credit hour course = 3,000 minutes of instruction
5 credit hour course = 3,750 minutes of instruction
6 credit hour course = 4,500 minutes of instruction
7 credit hour course = 5,250 minutes of instruction
8 credit hour course = 6,000 minutes of instruction
9 credit hour course = 6,750 minutes of instruction
10 credit hour course = 7,500 minutes of instruction
11 credit hour course = 8,250 minutes of instruction
12 credit hour course = 9,000 minutes of instruction
13 credit hour course = 9,750 minutes of instruction
14 credit hour course = 10,500 minutes of instruction
15 credit hour course = 11,250 minutes of instruction
16 credit hour course = 12,000 minutes of instruction
17 credit hour course = 12,750 minutes of instruction
- For fall and spring semesters, ChSCC adheres to TBR Policy 2.04.00.00 - Academic and Registration Calendar, which requires a minimum of 15 weeks of instruction during the fall and spring semesters. The policy also allows institutions to offer terms of alternate length in addition to the 15-week fall and spring semesters.
- Courses taught in traditional classroom format during other academic term
- ChSCC offers the following terms of alternate length in addition to the 15-week fall and spring semesters:
- Fall Term First Session
- Fall Term Second Session
- Spring Term First Session
- Spring Term Second Session
- Summer Term May Mini Semester
- Summer Term First Session
- Summer Term Second Session
- Summer Term 10-Week Session
- Summer Term 12-Week Session
- Summer Term Full Session
- Courses taught in a hybrid format
- For these courses, a combination of course elements is provided and may come from the following possible equivalencies:
- Lecture delivered synchronously directly by the instructor in a face-to-face format;
- Required and faculty-involved asynchronous interaction via discussion boards, blogs, wikis or other appropriate social media;
- Tests/exams or student evaluation tasks delivered in a face-to-face format or through our course management system;
- Assignments (reading, writing, and video, etc.) that can exceed assignments required in a face-to-face course.
- For these courses, a minimum of 50% of the class must be scheduled synchronously in either the face-to-face or virtual format.
- Courses taught in a distance learning format
- For these courses, a combination of course elements is provided and may come from the following possible equivalencies:
- Lecture/discussion/chat sessions delivered synchronously and/or asynchronously directly by the instructor via our course management system;
- Required and faculty-involved asynchronous interaction via discussion boards, blogs, wikis or other appropriate social media;
- Proctored tests/exams or student evaluation tasks delivered through our course management system.
- Assignments (reading, writing, video, etc.) that can exceed assignments required in a face-to-face course.
- Courses taught in a laboratory or clinical setting
- Courses for which instruction is provided in a laboratory or clinical setting which is included in assigning the number of credit hours for the course must include a minimum of two hours of laboratory or clinical instruction for the credit hour associated with the laboratory or clinical instruction.
- The number of credit hours required in degree programs will be in accordance with TBR Policy 2:01:00:00 - General Education Core and Degree Requirements
- The number of credit hours required in certificate programs will be determined by the academic division offering the certificate.
- Compliance
- All who propose courses or programs of study are expected to adhere to this policy.
Submitted to Policy Review Committee on September 29, 2025
Submitted to Policy Review Board on November 3, 2025
Approved by Policy Review Board on November15, 2025
New policy approved by Policy Review Board: 2018.04.11
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