Every now and then transferred courses are identified as equivalent to one of our existing courses when they come in, yet they were completed with fewer credits at the other institution than how they’re offered on our campus. This can cause confusion when the equivalent course on our campus satisfies a General-Education requirement. As an example, we’ve seen a 2-cr course from another institution transfer in as equivalent to our PHIL-P 105, which we offer for 3 credits and as an option to satisfy the Critical Thinking component of our Fundamental Literacies.
Rather than establish a firm policy for all such cases at this point, we’d like to first build experience by reviewing each instance as they’re identified. Because the courses have already been deemed equivalent in how they’re identified, and should therefore have SLOs that are compatible with our offerings, we can streamline the process so that, in most cases, a quick decision can be made by the General Education Director / Co-Directors. Unless it is determined that the SLOs need to be reviewed more carefully, this will spare students the need to submit a formal petition to the Senate General Education Committee.
Until a policy is formalized, advisors are asked to contact a General Education Director to request consideration for such cases.
Note that although, for example, a 2-cr course may be approved to meet a requirement in the Fundamental Literacies, Common Core or Contemporary Social Values, that is normally met by a 3-cr course, this would not be applicable to the Extended Literacies, as those have an explicit requirement for three credits that can be met by a variety of course combinations.