Students planning to study abroad in certain University programs in England, Scotland, and Ireland will be receiving three credits for the semester instead of four, due to a recent vote made by the Committee on International Studies.
According to Director of the Office of International Studies Carolyn Sorkin, the decrease in credits will only apply to students going abroad during the fall semester to King’s College, Queen Mary College, Royal Holloway College, the School of Oriental and African Studies, University College London, the University of East Anglia, the University of Kent, the University of Dundee, the National University of Galway, and University College Dublin.
Some of these options were not previously approved for fall-only study abroad. United Kingdom study abroad programs not sponsored by the University will not be affected.
The Committee on International Studies made the recommendation to the Educational Policy Committee to decrease the number of credits after finding that the number of teaching weeks in a term in England is about one month less than the number of teaching weeks at the University.
Dustin Brockner ’09, who is currently studying abroad at King’s College in London, says that a short term does not necessarily mean easier work.
“I didn’t [know] this at the time [I applied], but I have to write about 90 pages this semester, which is a lot more than most Wesleyan semesters,” Brockner wrote in an e-mail.
According to Sorkin, the Committee on International Studies considered this possibility when they discussed the credit decrease.
“There are different pedagogies and different expectations [in programs abroad],” Sorkin said.
Ultimately, the Committee decided that less teaching time means less time for student learning.
“The lack of classroom time is not always accompanied by more time for assignments,” Sorkin said.
Over the past five years, 67 students have studied abroad in the United Kingdom for the fall semester. As students prepare for the March 1 application deadline to study abroad in the fall, Sorkin says that the credit change may result in fewer applicants to the affected programs.
“Students who are not credit-rich will be less likely to apply,” she said.
Brockner agreed.
“I was not that committed to England when I decided I wanted to go abroad, so I would [have] definitely considered this additional factor,” he wrote. “It will definitely send two or three students a semester to another country.”
However, Sorkin points out that the new option to study at King’s College, University College, and Kent, as well as other institutions, during the fall semester may attract more students who have plenty of credits and are interested in the unique academic areas that these programs cover.
Currently, any change in the number of applicants has yet to be seen, and Sorkin said that she has not heard any complaints about the credit change.
“So far, I have not had fallout from it,” she said. “People seem to understand the decision.”
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