Intensive Short Courses

Guidelines for courses to be taught in short intensive sessions appear in sections 8.32.10 through 8.32.13 of the UNIVERSITY MANUAL:

8.32.10 Course Credits. The normal maximum rate at which academic credit may be earned at the University of Rhode Island is three credits per two-week session. This limit applies to individual courses and to combinations of courses which may be offered in a single session. Sponsors of any course or session which would exceed this limit must provide special justification for their proposal. For existing courses to be taught during unusual time frames during the academic year and for all new courses, this course justification shall be provided to the Curricular Affairs Committee and/or the Graduate Council. For existing courses to be taught during the summer, justification shall be provided to the Dean of the College of Continuing Education.

8.32.11 Courses which enable students to earn three credits in two weeks must be designed for persons who will be able to regard their studies as a full-time activity during that two-week period.

8.32.12 Lecture courses taught during short sessions (i.e., sessions shorter than half a semester) must include at least 700 minutes of classroom instruction time (exclusive of "breaks")for each academic credit which is offered. (A one-credit course taught during a fourteen-week semester would meet once a week for fifty minutes, i.e., for a total of 700 minutes.) Appropriate justification for different contact times must be provided for courses using different formats.

8.32.13 In addition to classroom instruction time, students enrolled in short sessions must be allowed an appropriate amount of time outside of class for readings, research projects and for assimilation of lecture material. This requirement may be met in part by work done by students before or after the academic session. In the former case, the instructor might require that students read specified books or articles prior to the first class; in the latter case, the instructor might require that students complete and submit a paper within a specified time period after the last class meeting.