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Off-Campus Studies  |
Policies and Procedures for Off-Campus Study
 
You are expected to be familiar with these important rules, policies, and procedures concerning off-campus study at Colby College. Download a PDF copy of the Off-Campus Study Handbook here Attendance and Exam Requirements APPLYING FOR OFF-CAMPUS STUDY MINIMUM G.P.A. To apply for Off-Campus Study in either the fall or spring of the following year, you must have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.7 by the end of January. You must maintain this minimum cumulative GPA prior to departure or your approval will be withdrawn. PROBATION You must be in good academic and social standing to be approved for off-campus study at Colby. This means that you may not be on academic probation. If you are on disciplinary probation please discuss this with OCS.Please be aware that most off-campus study programs require a “home school nomination” or “study abroad advisor approval” form as part of their application on which they ask about any disciplinary or academic probation in the student’s history, among other things. You are required to bring this form to OCS and we will complete it truthfully. You or your Advising Dean may be asked to provide additional information. In most cases, any past infractions or probation do not impede admission to the program as long as you show a good record since and the College approves your application. JUNIOR STANDING With the exception of Colby’s language-acquisition programs in Salamanca and Dijon, which are open to sophomores, you must have junior standing when you study abroad. If you wish to study off-campus during your sophomore or senior year, you must contact the office of Off-Campus Study. Colby requires seniors to spend their last semester on the Waterville campus. LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT FOR STUDY ABROAD a) Language preparation: Colby believes that foreign languages are the key to understanding foreign cultures and that the most rewarding experience abroad includes living in and speaking a language other than English. To study abroad in regions where the spoken language is taught at Colby, students are expected to have completed the equivalent of three semesters (through 127) of the given language (Spanish, German, French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Russian) prior to study abroad. (For study in Portuguese-speaking countries (Portugal or Brazil), Colby requires the equivalent of 3 semesters of college level study of Spanish or another romance language). Exceptions to this rule are the Colby in Salamanca and Colby in Dijon language semesters, which accept students who have had only one semester of language at the college level or three years at the high school level, and any exemptions specific to majors and programs that are listed in Section II of this handbook. For some departmentally-recommended programs, other standards may apply; see the statement of your major department in section II of this handbook. If there is no statement about language in your department’s section, you should expect to complete the three semesters before going abroad. NOTE: Exemption/modification for study in Italy: Due to the difficulty Colby students have in enrolling in beginning Italian courses, and meeting the prerequisite of three semesters of Italian in order to study in Italy, Off-Campus Study will accept requests for modifications/exemptions to the language policy for programs in Italy. In order to do this, you will be required to meet with OCS and submit a petition by March 1. This change in practice is not a guarantee that an exception will be granted. Students are urged not to put off their language requirement beyond their sophomore year. Last-minute attempts to fulfill the requirement through a semester of study abroad almost always run into roadblocks such insufficient GPA, senior residency requirement or major requirements. b) Language study while abroad: Students studying on programs in countries where the host language is not English are required to study the local language for the duration of the program. This includes both languages taught at Colby College and languages that are not included in the Colby curriculum. In some programs such as DIS (Denmark), the Danish language course will be in addition to 4 other courses for a total of 5 courses. For study in Israel, Colby requires all students studying at a university in Israel to enroll in Ulpan and in an appropriate Hebrew language course during the semester which follows. (Most Israeli universities require Ulpan and it allows the semester to be long enough to meet Colby’s requirement for credit). Colby will normally award 2 credits for Ulpan and no more than 6 credits total for the study of Hebrew during Ulpan and the semester. c) Language modification: Students who have received special accommodation for language study at Colby College should speak directly with the Office of Off-Campus Study so we may assist you in choosing a suitable program. If you feel you cannot handle the study of a foreign language, you should consider going to an English speaking country. Aside from a language modification or certain departmental exceptions, there will be no exceptions to Colby's language policy. GRADES Colby program: Grades received and courses taken abroad on a Colby program (Colby in Salamanca, Dijon, St Petersburg, and Bigelow Laboratory) will appear on your transcript and will count in your Colby GPA. This includes passing and non-passing grades. You may elect to take a course satisfactory/unsatisfactory prior to a specific deadline, which will be announced once you arrive on-site. Resident directors of Colby programs submit the grades for students in their program directly to the registrar at Colby. Non-Colby program: Grades earned and courses taken abroad on a Non-Colby program are posted on your transcript by the registrar but do not figure in your Colby GPA. These grades do appear on your Colby transcript, and it is quite legitimate for you to count them when you are asked to compute your own GPA for the purpose of employment or graduate school. The policy to grant credit, but not factor grades into the GPA for non-Colby programs stems from the inherent impossibility of controlling the curricula of all the programs that we approve for credit transfer. On a Colby program, we exercise control over the curriculum, the faculty and staff, the content of the courses, and the grading practices. The policy to factor grades earned on one's own program into the GPA, but not those of other institutions and providers, is quite standard at institutions like Colby. Note: You WILL NOT receive credit for any course in which a grade of less than C- was received, and the grade WILL APPEAR on your Colby transcript. CREDIT TRANSFER FROM AN APPROVED OFF-CAMPUS PROGRAM If your plans are approved by OCS you will receive a full courseload of 16-20 credits per semester (as long as your classes and grades meet the guidelines)
PASS/FAIL You MAY NOT take a course on a pass/fail basis unless this is the only grading option available for that particular course. COURSE LOADS REQUIRED AND CREDIT FOR OFF-CAMPUS STUDY You are required to register and complete a full course-load which must be at least the equivalent of 15-16 Colby credits for the semester (you may transfer up to 20 credits back to Colby). In some cases, the course load required by Colby may be higher than that recommended by your program provider. Information on credit equivalencies and minimum/maximum course loads is available from the program or university you are attending or from the OCS course load requirements table on the OCS website. Remember that if you are studying in a non-English speaking country, you must take at least one class in the local language. COURSE SELECTION Course selection should generally be made on consultation with your Colby academic advisor prior to departure. You will be asked to list your course selections on your Colby and program applications. In many cases, however, these may change upon arrival in country. You should always notify OCS of any curricular changes. If you have not taken the courses you listed on your application, and have not obtained permission to change your courses, you may not receive complete credit for your semester or year abroad. You should advise the Off-Campus Study Office of changes at the beginning of your off-campus program in order to resolve any issues that may prevent transfer of credit. If there are discrepancies, your off-campus credits may not appear on your transcript when you return, delaying your ability to use them in applications for graduate school or other purposes. Please be aware that Colby may not approve full credit for certain courses taken abroad that do not meet Colby’s standards of academic rigor, even when these courses are marketed to you during your program orientation. For example, Sports & Learning in Australian Culture at the University of Sydney may only receive 2 credits. When in doubt, please consult with OCS by email and include a full course syllabus to allow us to determine the course content. Please note that not all of the courses on an approved program will automatically be approved individually and for all students. Guidelines for Course Selection:
Transcripts for students on non-Colby programs are reviewed by the Off-Campus Study Office before credits are posted by the registrar. COURSE APPROVALS
Course approvals should generally be requested prior to departure (when possible) from the appropriate individual within the department and based on the course information you provide (see Department Recommendations in Part II). Approvals may usually be requested from abroad by following each department’s guidelines listed on the OCS Course Approval Form for M/M/Distribution credit. If your courses change after arrival on site please notify OCS. Failure to do so may result in no credit given.
ATTENDANCE AND EXAM REQUIREMENTS You are expected to attend classes regularly and to comply with all the requirements of your program. If you are studying at a foreign university or institution, you are required to take the regular final examinations for all courses in which you are enrolled, or to have an alternative assessment of your work if you are not allowed to take the final examinations. If you do not take a final examination in a course for which an exam is given, you will receive no Colby credit for the course. If you leave your program early or for extended periods of travel while classes are in session, the amount of credit you receive will be reduced. In extreme cases, you will receive no Colby credit for your period abroad. Please note that no course abroad may be taken pass/fail and receive Colby credit. At the London School of Economics this always means exams in all courses and half-courses in which the student is enrolled. At other UK universities it means Degree exams except in the following situations:
NOTE: Please take these exam policies into account as you plan your stay abroad. Those students attending approved fall semester programs which continue into January should expect to stay into January to complete their courses and exams, unless there is an early start program in September. JANPLAN CREDIT Colby students on some programs which are in session for most of January and whose total duration is at least eighteen weeks are exempt from the January program requirement for that year. Holidays and vacation periods are deducted from the 18 weeks. Students who are abroad for a full year, are also exempt from JanPlan for that year (and may not return to Colby for JanPlan that year). Each student who is in residence for seven or more semesters must complete three January programs but must complete two if in residence for six semesters or fewer. JanPlan credit will not appear on your Colby record until you complete the program and your transcript is received. When registering for JanPlan that year, select “no JanPlan”. Programs qualifying for JanPlan Exemptions include: • Full year programs or full year off-campus on one or two programs • In Fall: Colby in Salamanca (integrated program if finishes in January) Hamilton in Paris (if Fall only) Wellesley in Aix (if finishes in January) American University of Beirut Bowling Greene State Univ in Salzburg (some other programs in Spain and France which finish in January may qualify. Student must provide academic calendar) • In Spring: Arcadia in Granada Colby in Salamanca (integrated and language programs) Columbia-Penn in Paris EDUCO Hebrew University Kings College Pitzer in Ecuador Queen Mary- Univ of London Royal Holloway SOAS University College London University of Bristol University of Cambridge Univ. of East Anglia University of Edinburgh University of Oxford University of Sussex Univ of the Arts- London University of York Washington University in Chile VWW in Regensburg (Note: If you believe that your program qualifies for the Jan Plan exemption and is not listed here, submit a program calendar for your semester to the Off-Campus Study Office for review.) INDEPENDENT STUDY PROJECTS ABROAD (ISP) If you participate in an SIT program, you must bring your ISP project and any work back to campus to be reviewed by a Colby faculty member upon return. Before you go, you should identify a Colby faculty member who is willing to read and evaluate your project. Select someone familiar with your expected topic and discuss it with them. Credit will only be transferred after this faculty member has reviewed your independent study and approved it for credit transfer. Failure of the work to meet Colby's standards may jeopardize the transfer of credit. If, upon return, your ISP topic has changed considerably, or the selected faculty is no longer able to read it, you must find another Colby faculty member who is willing to do so. If the ISP is written in a language not understood by your reader, it is your responsibility to translate it into English or identify another faculty member to read it. INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS International internship programs are encouraged, but must meet OCS requirements and conform to OCS and Colby policies. In addition to general policies, internship programs must include a non-paid internship with considerable academic work done in tandem and not to exceed 4 credit hours in order to receive Colby credit. The internship should be done as part of a study abroad program that is predominantly credited in terms of the courses taken. Typical models consist of 16 credits with the internship counting for 4 credits and three other courses counting for 4 credits each). Please consult with OCS if you are interested in choosing an internship program to assure that it will meet these requirements and that you will receive credit. |
