Getting Credit
Studying abroad
requires a great deal of academic preparation and planning.
The process requires working in a collaborative fashion with your
department(s), advisor(s), the Office of Admissions, the Registrar, and the
Office of International Programs. The
academic aspect of the study abroad program is the most important consideration
when deciding on a particular studying abroad program. Whether you are flexible
or have restrictions in terms of the classes you can take overseas, your success
in the program, to a large degree, will depend on how well you do in the
classroom and on the grades you receive. Using Study Abroad
Credits to Meet Degree Requirements. You may
use credit earned abroad to satisfy graduation requirements in your major,
minor, certificate, the Liberal Arts Core, or UNI electives.
To get approval for course equivalencies prior to studying abroad, you
must obtain (print or copy) course descriptions for each course you wish to take
and discuss how you wish those credits to apply toward your degree with
individuals authorized to make decision about equivalencies.
If you decide to take courses other than the ones initially approved for
transfer, it will be your responsibility to obtain approval for the changes. Preliminary
Credit Approval Form.
The Study Abroad Preliminary Credit Approval Form
must be completed before departure if you wish to apply academic credit earned
on a study abroad program toward your degree at UNI. The Preliminary Credit
Approval Form - with the appropriate signatures - constitutes a tentative
agreement that, provided successful completion, courses proposed and approved
will count toward your degree at UNI. If your academic program abroad involves transfer credit to
UNI, regardless whether the transcript is issued by a U.S. university or by an
overseas university/organization, you must complete this form.
Study abroad programs where participants earn UNI credit do
not fill out this form. Approval
Signatures: The completed form
must be submitted to the Office of Admissions for final approval and signature.
The signed original will be returned to you and a copy will be kept at
the Office of Admissions. It is
your responsibility to provide a signed copy to your program leader, the Study
Abroad Center, your department, your advisor.
It is your responsibility to obtain approval for additional changes after
the program departs. Final determination
of UNI equivalencies will be based on the review of the overseas academic
transcript. Students are strongly
advised to bring back course syllabi, list of required readings and other course
materials, papers, etc. as proof of academic work to facilitate the final credit
evaluation. Transfer vs. UNI
Credit:
If your program involves enrollment at a foreign institution of higher
education, at another college or university in the U.S., or at an approved
language school, credits and grades earned will count as transfer credit and
will be reflected in your transfer G.P.A. but will not count toward your UNI
cumulative G.P.A. If you
participate in a program where you register for actual UNI courses, then credits
and grades earned will count toward your UNI cumulative G.P.A. Graded vs.
Pass/Fail Credit. According
to the Office of Admissions, your grades transfer back as “graded credit” unless you request this requirement to be
waived. Permission for the waiver
must be sought and received from the Office of Admissions in a timely fashion.
Deadlines and other guidelines are published in the Schedule of Classes
and in the UNI Catalog. At present, a request to change graded credit to Pass/Fail or
Pass/Fail to graded credit must be made by the mid-semester deadline published
in the Schedule of Classes. Whether pass/fail
credit may be applied to meet exact requirements in a major, minor, or a
certificate is a departmental decision. Some
departments will not allow you to use pass/fail courses to meet required courses
toward a major or minor, others will. Check with the department if you are
unsure. Non-UNI Programs.
If you are participating in a non-UNI program and wish to transfer the
credits back to UNI, your program and your participation in the program must
first be approved. After approval is secured, you may proceed to submit your
application to the program provider. Contact
the Study Abroad Center after you receive your letter of admission to make
arrangements to enroll for the duration of your program. Office of
Admissions Contact Information Kristi Marchesani,
Assistant Director, International Admissions
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