Section XII - Student Services

XII B 1

Academic Matters - Credits for Curriculum Programs

To state the amount of various educational activities needed to equal one semester hour of credit

A curriculum program is an organized sequence of courses leading to an associate degree, a diploma, or a certificate. Curriculum programs are designed to provide education, training, or retraining for the work force, transfer to four-year colleges and universities, or to confer general liberal arts degrees.

Credits for courses are awarded based on a semester hour credit. Credit hours for courses are determined and awarded using the following procedures as established by the State Board of Community Colleges Code (SBCCC).

Credit Hours

  1. Class: Credit of one semester hour is awarded for each 16 hours of lecture and other instruction provided in a class under the supervision of an instructor.
  2. Clinical Practice: Credit of one semester hour is awarded for each 48 hours of clinical practice. Clinical practice provides an opportunity for health science students to apply knowledge and skills in their delivery of care in a health care setting. A qualified faculty member, clinical instructor, or preceptor, as defined by the program related approving or accrediting body, shall supervise clinical practice to provide the student with learning experiences related to the program and to monitor and assess the student’s application of skills. Clinical practice may utilize experiences that simulate realistic clinical experiences to meet the curriculum and course objectives. The percentage of simulation experiences substituting for traditional clinical practice and the qualifications of faculty providing the simulation experience must comply with the guidelines of the applicable health science accrediting and approving bodies.
  3. Experiential Laboratory: Credit of one semester hour is awarded for each 32 hours of "experiential laboratory work." Experiential laboratory work means instruction given to a student by an instructor to increase the student's knowledge and skills without immediate student application.
  4. Faculty Directed Laboratory: Credit of one semester hour is awarded for each 48 hours of "faculty directed laboratory." Faculty directed laboratory means instructional activities are demonstrated or conducted by an instructor with immediate student application.
  5. Work-Based Learning: Credit of one semester hour is awarded for each 160 hours of work-based learning (WBL curriculum prefix courses). Work-based learning is the development of job skills by providing the student with employment that is directly related to the educational program, and coordinated by a college representative.
Reference:

1D SBCCC 200.3 PROGRAM CLASSIFICATION
1D SBCCC 400.1 Curriculum Definitions

 

Adopted: 04/15/1999