ACADEMIC RIGOR REQUIREMENTS FOR INTERNATIONAL FIELD COURSES
All submitted materials that are included in international field course applications for vetting and approval
must meet the following list of standards and requirements for academic rigor. Upon approval by RCIP
staff, they will be sent on to relevant senior administrators for their approval. An unapproved application
means that the field course will not be authorized by the University.
If a BSU instructor(s) takes a group of students overseas on an unauthorized field study, she/he will not
be considered affiliated w/ BSU and will be fully liable for any situation, including the direst of
emergencies. Any student participating in an unauthorized field study will have her/his course
registration and financial aid cancelled.
Below is the list of standards and requirements for academic rigor. The checklist used in the approval
process follows this list. The Director of Study Abroad will carefully read the submitted syllabi and will
check all standards and requirements that have been met. Submitted materials will not be approved by
the Director until all standards and requirements have been met. When this has happened, the Director
of Study Abroad will route his recommendation to relevant senior administrators that they approve of the
field course in question.

For any three-hour course, instructors must be present to conduct 45 hours of instruction.

For any three-hour course, instructors must give assignments, and/or exams that will take at least
90 hours of preparation to complete.

Goals of Student Learning Outcomes (SLO’s) must be articulated.

A detailed daily itinerary of academic activities and assignments must be included in each
syllabus.

Instructors must articulate how and why each academic activity and assignment will lend itself to
the SLO’s mentioned in the syllabi.

If an immersive project is the focus of an international field course, it must result in a tangible
product such as an economic development plan, eco-advisory manual, architectural charrettes,
power point presentations, etc.

Courses that offer graduate credit must include assignments and/or exams that reflect criteria for
rigor worthy of graduate-level expectations and performance. Such criteria must be stated in
syllabi of graduate-level courses.

Graduate students cannot receive academic credit just for helping the instructor of record manage
undergraduates.

Instructors must tell how letter grades will be formulated and determined for each assignment and
exam, including the weight of each that culminates in the final grade. In terms of an immersive
project, on-site clients and local instructor-colleagues will be asked to help evaluate the quality of
the project’s outcomes.

Instructors must submit a Curriculum Vita that indicates they hold at least a Master’s Degree.
ACADEMIC RIGOR CHECKLIST FOR INTERNATIONAL FIELD COURSES
Submitted materials show evidence that:
_______ Instructor will be present to conduct at least 45 hours of instruction.
_______ Time for preparation of assignments and studying for exams will reasonably take 90
ours.
_______ SLO goals are clearly stated.
_______ A daily itinerary of academic activities and assignments is articulated in detail.
_______ Ways in which each daily activity and assignment will lend itself to the achievement of
the SLO goals are clearly articulated.
_______ The nature and qualitative expectations for the product of an immersive project are
clearly defined.
_______ Graduate-level assignments and the criteria for assessing them are clearly stated and
reflect expectations of graduate-level work. The stipulation that graduate students
cannot receive academic credit for merely helping the instructor of record manage
undergraduates is mentioned in the submitted materials.
_______ Formulae for determining assignment-/exam-specific and Final Grades are spelled out
in detail.
_______ Instructor’s(s’) Curriculum Vita indicates that she/he has earned at least a Master’s
Degree.