SEMESTER/YEAR LONG PROGRAMS

Edit Cowan University, Australia
Course Selection and Transfer Credit Process

How many classes should I take?
Courses at ECU (called "units" or "subjects") are usually equivalent to 3 credits at ODU. The normal, recommended unit load per semester is 4 units. Therefore, a normal semester load would be 4 units valued at 3 transfer credits each (total of 12 transfer credits).

Please note that students receiving financial aid from ODU are expected to bring back a minimum of 12 ODU credits from their semester abroad in order to remain in good standing to receive financial aid in future terms.

What grades do I need to earn?
All credit from study abroad is transfer credit. This means that ODU awards the credit for courses taken abroad which have been successfully completed with a grade equivalent to "C" or better. The grade, however, does not show up on your ODU transcript - only a "TP" to designate "Transfer Passing." Your grade point average will not go up or down as a result of studying abroad.

Nevertheless, you do need to meet the minimum standard of earning the equivalent to a "C" or better to be granted the credit. Acceptable ECU grades and their U.S. equivalencies are noted below:

Australian Grade High Distinction Distinction Credit Pass Conceded, Conditional, or Compensatory Pass Failure

U.S. Equivalent A+ A B C D F

Anything other than these grades is NOT acceptable for transfer credit!

What is it like to study in the Australian system?
Despite a common language, many exchange students from the U.S. have found the academic system in Australia to be quite different and challenging. Study in Australia produces a guide for students, Guide to Study and Living in Australia, which is available on the web. The Study in Australia website is another good source for information.

Is there anything special I need to know as I look at ECU course selections (instructions on back)?
A unit (i.e. "class") at ECU generally consists of both a lecture (LEC) and a tutorial (TUT). The lecture is usually 2 hours in length while the tutorial is 1 hour. Students must sign up for both components - the tutorial is NOT optional (it is similar to a lab in a science class). There are sometimes several tutorial sections associated with a single lecture and students may choose the section that fits their schedule.

Finally, it is important to note that units beginning with a prefix of "4" are NOT available for undergraduate students. Australian degrees are 3-year degrees - therefore courses beginning with "2" and "3" at ECU are often comparable to 300 and 400-level courses in the U.S. academic system.

Edith Cowan University Course Selection and Pre-Approval
All courses taken abroad should be pre-approved by the appropriate academic department at Old Dominion. The chief departmental advisor in each department at ODU has authorization to approve courses. Students should begin this process with their assigned academic advisor, but may need to visit several chief departmental advisors before the pre-approval process is finalized.

When meeting with the chief departmental advisor, students should bring a Transfer Credit Evaluation form for Study Abroad (available in the Office of Study Abroad) as well as descriptions of all courses they plan on taking abroad. You can look up courses in the  "Undergraduate Handbook" online by taking the following steps:

• Go to http://handbook.ecu.edu.au.
• Select "Advanced  Search"
• Enter the discipline/subject that you are interested in taking in the search box; Select "undergraduate" and "unit"; Click on the search button; Then click on the units (classes) that you are interested in to get the description; you will then need to copy and paste the course descriptions into a word document in order to present them to the chief departmental advisor at ODU for pre-approval; (subjects/disciplines at ECU might be called something slightly different than what they are called at ODU.

Students should note that the information now available for pre-approvals is from the preceding academic year at ECU. Use this information until the new information is available! The current year's "Undergraduate Handbook" will not be released until December. Spring exchange students (Semester One in Australian terms) should not wait this long to begin the pre-approval process!

Students are encouraged to get several back-up units pre-approved. Registration at ECU is not finalized until shortly before the start of the semester and there may be schedule conflicts, questions about pre-requisites, and/or difficulties enrolling in certain units. Having extra units pre-approved helps to ensure that students will have plenty of options from which to choose.

Once the current year's ECU Handbook is available, students will also need to access the Timetables (i.e., schedules) on the web in order to fill out their pre-registration form for ECU. More information on this is provided in the ECU application pack.