As an institution of higher education, Lander University holds the responsibility for determining and upholding standards related to the awarding of credit hours for student work consistent with national standards. At Lander, a credit hour represents a minimum level of student achievement of specific learning outcomes as verified by an assessment of student work. Lander's definition of the credit hour establishes a basis to quantify academic activity for purposes of awarding academic credentials and determining federal funding, including institutional eligibility, program eligibility, and student enrollment status and eligibility.
Definition Of A Credit Hour
Lander University adheres to the Federal definition of a credit hour for cumulative contact time per semester:
- One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out of class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time; or
- At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.
Lander University ensures a minimum of 700 minutes of instruction per credit hour (2,100 minutes of instruction for a standard, three-hour course), regardless of mode of delivery. The fall and spring semester standard meeting times for three-hour courses are a 50-minute Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule and a 75-minute Tuesday, Thursday schedule.
Summer Session classes follow the same standard of 700 minutes of instruction per credit hour but because the summer sessions are shorter than a fall or spring semester, the summer terms standard meeting times are longer and more frequent.