Athens State University (ASU) has specific policies for determining the amount and level of academic credit awarded for courses, regardless of the format or mode of delivery of those courses. Institutional policies are consistent with Alabama State Board of Education Policy 705.01, which requires all Alabama Community College System (ACCS) institutions, including ASU, to use the semester hour as the basic unit of credit, and requires that the semester hours of credit awarded for a course are based upon the average number of hours of instruction weekly during a 15-week period. In addition, this policy describes methods for converting contact hours to semester hours for six general categories of instruction: Theory, Experimental Laboratory, Practical Application Laboratory, Clinical Practice, Preceptorship and Internship.

Furthermore, the institutional policy on converting contact hours to credit hours requires that courses offered via distance formats be equivalent to the same courses offered in the traditional classroom format. The policy stipulates that courses offered in distance format using synchronous technologies such as teleconferencing and Wimba require the same number of contact hours as those offered in traditional classroom format. Furthermore, instructors of distance courses using asynchronous technologies such as Tegrity and Blackboard asynchronous features use these asynchronous distance technologies to require the same number of contact hours as traditional courses via presentations, discussions, activities, and access to other learning activities.

In addition to the provisions in the institutional policy on converting contact hours to credit hours, the ASU Distance Learning Policy details specific steps that must be taken to ensure that courses offered in distance-learning formats are equivalent to those offered in traditional formats, thus ensuring that it is appropriate for the amount and level of credit awarded for the same course taken in either format to be the same.

As an upper division undergraduate institution, Athens State University does not offer lower division coursework, but offers upper division coursework in 31 programs leading to baccalaureate degrees. Therefore, all coursework offered by the institution is at the 300-400 level, consistent with the University’s mission and structure.

Any curriculum changes or new course proposals are subject to the multidisciplinary review of the Faculty Curriculum Committee, one of the standing committees of the ASU Faculty. The Curriculum Review Process published in the Employee Handbook and the Curriculum Review Process Policy requires that any course proposals give specific reasons why the change should be made or the new course offered. In developing this rationale and the level of credit to be awarded, department faculty frequently compare the proposed courses to similar courses offered at other institutions.