VIII. Study Abroad
STRUCTURE AND RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OFFICE OF STUDY ABROAD (OSA)
Study abroad for both Pratt and Trinity is coordinated by the Office of Study Abroad, which reports to the Dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. The director of OSA also serves as Associate Dean for Study Abroad and represents Trinity College on the Faculty Study Abroad Committee, one of the standing committees of the Arts and Sciences Council. The director is assisted by a staff of ten. A full list of staff members and email addresses can be found here.
PROGRAM TYPES
OSA is responsible for all Duke summer study abroad programs and, to varying degrees, for the two categories of study abroad programs during the academic year.
Duke-administered programs are developed and operated by Duke University. The courses offered in these programs are regular Duke courses (with a few exceptions in Berlin, Paris, and Glasgow) approved by appropriate departments of the university and are taught either by Duke faculty members or faculty approved by Duke. In general, students receive regular Duke credit (not transfer credit) and letter grades for their course work in these programs and pay Duke tuition for these courses. The courses, if so approved, count toward the major and general education requirements. Duke-administered academic year or semester programs are Beaufort to Bermuda, Duke in the Andes (Quito, Ecuador), Duke in Berlin, Duke Study in China, Duke in Florence, Duke in France/EDUCO, Duke in Glasgow, Duke in St. Petersburg, Duke in Madrid, Duke in Venice, the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies program in Rome, and the Organization for Tropical Studies programs in Costa Rica and South Africa.
All Duke summer programs are Duke-administered programs in which participants take Duke courses for Duke letter grades and credit. The number and location of the Duke summer programs vary each year; a current list can always be found on the OSA website.
Duke-approved programs are administered by other U.S. or foreign universities or colleges, or involve direct enrollment in a foreign university. Students earn transfer credit for their course work on these programs. They do not pay Duke tuition, but pay a study abroad fee each semester to Duke. Tuition and fees are paid directly to the institution administering the program, except in the case of McGill University (Montreal, Canada), where Duke students pay Duke tuition at Duke but pay no tuition to McGill. Duke's Study Abroad Committee has developed a List of Approved Programs for academic year, semester, and summer study abroad. Some 120 programs are approved for Duke student participation in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Oceania. This list is always under review and a number of programs may be eliminated and added each year. The list changes from year to year as new programs are added (following student petition to the Study Abroad Committee and review by DUSes) and old ones are dropped. New programs may be granted approval according to the petition procedures detailed below. All approved programs must be conducted by accredited degree-granting institutions. Copies of the List of Approved Programs may be requested from the study abroad office by emailing abroad@aas.duke.edu. It is also available to computers on Duke University networks at http://www.aas.duke.edu/study_abroad/approvedlist/index.html.
A special group of Duke-approved programs are the South Africa Direct programs at the University of Cape Town and Rhodes University, and Oxford Direct at Pembroke and St. Peter Colleges, where Duke has special agreements. For matriculation in these institutions, Duke students apply through OSA, which pre-approves the students based on criteria established by these schools. OSA collects tuition and sometimes fees for the foreign institutions and pays them directly. OSA then charges the students' bursar accounts at Duke in turn. As for all other Duke-approved programs, students receive transfer credit for their work done on the Direct programs in South Africa and Oxford. They pay no Duke tuition, but do pay the study abroad fee each semester to Duke.
EXCHANGES
The office also supervises Duke's undergraduate international exchange programs. Exchanges exist with McGill University in Montreal, International Christian University in Tokyo, and Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po). Duke undergraduates participating in these exchanges receive transfer credits as in all other Duke-approved programs.
VISITING INTERNATIONAL STUDENT PROGRAM
OSA, in cooperation with Undergraduate Admissions, may admit up to ten qualified foreign students a year provided they pay full Duke tuition. No financial aid is available for foreign students. More information on this program is available here.
THE ROLE OF THE DIRECTOR OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES IN STUDY ABROAD
The OSA may ask the Director of Undergraduate Studies for approval at any of several steps in students’ planning for study abroad. For more information about the policies and procedures governing undergraduate study abroad at Duke, click here.
1. APPROVAL OF TRANSFER CREDIT
Regular Courses: Students on non-Duke programs (and Duke in Berlin, Duke in France, and Duke in Glasgow) must verify that all the courses they plan to take while on study abroad leave are listed in the Database of Approved Courses. If courses are not contained in the Database of Approved Courses, students will need to provide the OSA with a transfer course approval form along with an official description of each course. The OSA will consult the DUS of the appropriate department to determine the Duke equivalent of the course not approved. The DUS may assign 888 (lower-level) or 999 (upper-level) as an approved course number if there is no exact Duke equivalent. The DUS will also recommend a course credit value (cc) for the course and an Area of Knowledge equivalent where applicable. Transfer course credit from study abroad is not coded for the curriculum, except for Areas of Knowledge.
ARTSVIS/ARTHIST, Independent Study, Field Studies, and Academic Internship Approvals: For Art and Art History courses, Independent Study courses, Field Studies and Academic Internships, students must obtain not only tentative approval through the OSA before going, but also final approval from the DUS of the relevant department after they return. To receive final approval, students must bring back evidence of their written work in the course, namely a syllabus, papers, exams, portfolio. To facilitate receiving more than 888 (lower-level) credit at Duke, it is recommended that students write a term paper for the course, even if the instructor does not require it. The required Final Approval of Study Abroad Courses form is available in the OSA.
Independent study courses may not be arranged in the first semester of the study abroad sojourn. Only students who study abroad for the full academic year in the same program are allowed to enroll in an independent study a course at a foreign institution in their second semester. They will have to submit a proposal to the OSA to prove that the independent study course has academic merit and fits in their curriculum. They also have to submit the name and full address (with fax and e-mail) of the foreign faculty member who agrees to work with them. The OSA will then forward to the foreign faculty member the Duke guidelines for independent study as outlined in the most current undergraduate bulletin. If the foreign instructor agrees in writing to adhere to these guidelines, the student will be able to do the independent study project under the supervision of the foreign faculty member.
The independent study course must be one of the courses constituting the full study abroad course load and must be listed with a grade on the foreign transcript. The student should be aware that credit is not guaranteed for the independent study course until s/he has submitted all academic work (with substantive paper) completed in the course for retroactive credit approval by the appropriate department at Duke.
Any compensation for the instructor, if required by the foreign institution, has to be borne by the student.
The Maximum Number of Transfer Courses Permitted: To receive the maximum amount of transfer credit at Duke (generally four course credits for a full semester, eight for a full academic year, two for a summer), a student is expected to take a normal, full course load, as defined by the foreign institution. If the normal full course load at a foreign institution consists of more than four courses per semester, the student must take the full load; however, not more than four cc may be transferred to Duke per semester or may count towards graduation. Overloads are not transferable.
At certain British, Irish, and Japanese universities that are on the trimester system, only three course credits may be transferred for the single fall trimester. Students attending such universities in the spring are required to attend the two remaining trimesters and may transfer a maximum of five course credits.
All approved courses that a student takes abroad will appear on the Duke transcript as transfer credit and can be used to satisfy Area of Knowledge. At the DUS’s discretion, courses taken abroad may be used to satisfy major and minor requirements. Upon special request, transfer credits taken abroad may be considered for modes of inquiry coding, including the FL code, after completion of the study abroad experience. Information and a request form can be found at http://www.aas.duke.edu/trinity/t-reqs/transfercredit.html. Note that specific materials are required and must accompany the request and that such coding is not guaranteed upon request.
2. APPROVAL OF NEW DUKE COURSES FOR DUKE-ADMINISTERED PROGRAMS
If OSA establishes new Duke-administered study abroad programs and/or courses, the DUS will be asked by OSA or individual program directors or coordinators to evaluate the course proposals and curricula vitae of instructors proposed to teach the new course(s), and if acceptable, to assign a regular Duke course number or study abroad special topics number. If the DUS decides to create a new number for the course, a course form must be submitted by the DUS to the Committee on Courses. Duke courses taught abroad cannot be assigned the numbers 888 and 999 as those numbers are reserved for transfer credit.
Duke-administered programs are designed to adhere to the credit guidelines established for study abroad in general. Students earn only four course credits each semester or a total of eight during an academic year.
Duke courses approved for Duke-administered programs earn full Duke credit, including all curriculum coding for which they are deemed eligible. Duke courses taught abroad will not appear in the Database for Approved Courses located on the OSA’s website.
3. THE STUDY ABROAD PACKET FORM C
This is the form for Final Request for Study Abroad Status for students participating in both Duke and non-Duke programs. The DUS or, if the department decides, the student’s major advisor signs the form as the representative of the student’s major department, after discussing the requirements for the major and the student’s study abroad plans. The person advising also needs to remind the student of any departmental restrictions on transfer credit toward the major. Students are requested to submit this form by the end of the semester preceding the period of study abroad. After being signed by the DUS or the student’s advisor, the form should be submitted to OSA by the student for final approval by the Dean for Study Abroad. At the time they meet with their DUS or advisor, students should be reminded that they must take a full load of classes while abroad and that all classes must be taken for graded credit. Pass/fail courses will not be recognized for credit.
4. ROLE IN GAINING APPROVAL FOR PROGRAMS
Students who wish to receive academic credit from Duke for programs not approved by Duke for study abroad will need to file a formal petition for approval with the Faculty Study Abroad Committee prior to the study abroad leave. Petition packets are given to students by advisors in the Office of Study Abroad, only after consultation. Petition deadlines are posted online. The petition includes the approval form for courses the student plans to take. The signature of the DUS on the form(s) for the Approval of Study Abroad Transfer Credit Courses indicates to the Study Abroad Committee that the department would approve the program and the courses, provided the student earns grades of C- or better for the courses offered in the program.
Once the petition of the non-approved program has been approved, students must, upon completion of the program, bring back all course materials, syllabi, exams, and papers. Only after students obtain a program evaluation letter from the OSA and submit it together with all course materials to the responsible DUSs who will review their work, will the courses be entered on the student’s Duke transcript. The DUS’s comments on the evaluation form usually do not affect the individual student’s credit, but rather assist the Dean and Study Abroad Committee in determining whether future students should be given permission to participate in this program.
MINIMUM GPA REQUIREMENT FOR STUDY ABROAD
Students must have a minimum GPA of 2.7 to be eligible for study abroad during the academic year. Individual programs may require a GPA of 3.0 or higher. A student with a GPA lower than 2.7 may receive a GPA waiver from his/her academic dean under certain circumstances. Students studying on Duke summer programs must meet continuation requirements and have an overall GPA of 2.0 or above.