Making Scheduling Changes While Abroad
Students are expected to update their advisor as well as the Office of Global Education if they make any changes to their pre-approved courses. In the event courses are added or changed, students are expected to provide the same information to their advisor as they did for their initial Course Approval Form. The process for approving the courses is the same as with the original approval request. Contact your advisor via email and copy Father Sivalon (john.sivalon@scranton.edu with the new course requests/changes. Ask your advisor to copy Father Sivalon with her/his response. Copies of the email will be kept in your study abroad file.

 

The Office of Global Education reviews all transcripts from abroad and as a result, any and all course changes/approvals must be communicated to the office in order for credits posted on foreign transcripts to transfer. Failure to have additional courses approved could result in credits not transferring.

 

A Few Reminders Regarding Your Courses Abroad
Many students have fulfilled requirements within their major as well as general education requirements. With departmental approval, students may take major-required courses at a university abroad. In such instances, the course description of the course abroad must match or closely approximate the course here at the University. Sometimes it is difficult to match courses abroad; therefore, an alternative option would be to fulfill a free elective requirement.  The University encourages students to take courses abroad that are not offered at the University but such courses must transfer to the University as electives.

 

Studying abroad for a semester automatically fulfills one Cultural Diversity requirement and studying abroad for two semesters fills two.  The credit can be assigned to any class and does not need to be approved.  When the transcript from abroad is evaluated, the student will automatically be credited for fulfilling their Cultural Diversity requirement(s).

 

It is not a common practice that students receive Writing Intensive credit while studying abroad. From time to time, approval is granted for Writing Intensive Credit, but that approval must come from the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

 

Students studying abroad for a semester must take a minimum of twelve credits in order to maintain their fulltime student status. Taking less than twelve credits has the potential of curtailing their financial aid and health insurance coverage. The number of credits taken abroad is ultimately determined by what the individual student needs to take to stay on track to graduate. The Office of Global Education cautions students not to take too many credits abroad, as there is the potential they will not do as well as they could or should. 

 

Credit Values of Courses Abroad
Credit values for classes in other educational systems range from 1.5 credits to 8 credits.  To transfer credits to fulfill a 3-credit requirement at the University of Scranton, students have the following options: 

• Take a course worth three credits
• Take a course worth less than three credits and find another course to make up the missing credits.
• Take a course worth more than three credits and apply the remaining credits to another course requirement.

It is not unusual that credit values for classes taken abroad do not match with classes offered at the University of Scranton. It is the practice of the University to fit the credits taken abroad to the students’ University record in a way that most benefits the student. For example; a student has twelve credits of major elective to complete and takes two classes worth four credits each abroad. Pending departmental approval, the student would have four credits of major elective to complete upon their return. In the event a student takes elective credit that exceeds what is available in a specific area, the excess credits are applied to the students’ free elective area. In some circumstances the credits may be applied to other elective areas providing the credits fulfill the area in question.

 

Grades From Courses Taken Abroad
Grades earned abroad are not used in calculating University of Scranton grade point averages. Note that courses must be taken for a grade and not on a pass/fail basis.

 

The grades students earn abroad do not show on their University of Scranton transcript. It should be note that a copy of the students’ transcript from abroad resides in their permanent academic file. If the student applies to graduate or professional school, it is not unusual that those schools will require copies of all transcripts. It is in the students’ best interest to do well abroad. Note that an equivalent grade of a "C" must be earned in order for credits to transfer back to the University of Scranton.

 

Accessing E-mail From Abroad
If you cannot access my.scranton from abroad, Express E-email is accessible from anywhere by

going to: Express Email  Enter your University of Scranton username and your Royal Mail password.

 

Note: All official communication from the University of Scranton will be disseminated via Royal Mail. If you are not using Royal Mail on a regular basis, you will need to access it periodically to check for messages you might need. Contact the Technology Support Center about forwarding your University of Scranton mail to other mail accounts. 

 

If you have any problems or questions about accessing e-mail from abroad, you may contact The University of Scranton Help Desk . The Help Desk email and other information may be found by accessing the following page: Technology Support Center.