Academic departments should review their credit hour allocations to ensure the credits and course contact time align with polices of the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and the Middle States Commission of Higher Education (MSCHE) — links are noted above. Cornell University has developed a credit hour policy to support departments’ efforts to comply with the various regulatory requirements. Please see the policy for comprehensive details.

There are a few ways credit hours are determined in the credit hour policy, but the basic formula for classroom-based lecture, seminar, and discussion courses is one contact hour (defined as 50 minutes) of classroom instruction plus 100 minutes of work outside of the classroom (homework, readings etc.) per week equates to one credit hour. Within a typical 15-week semester, review the following examples:

Number of credits
(LEC, SEM, DIS course components)In Class Expectation for 15-week class
(semester minutes)Out of Class Expectation for 15-week class
(semester minutes)

Additional details related to other course components, including laboratory, studio, practicum, experiential learning, individual study, field study, independent study, internship, presentation, project, research, clinical, and graduate thesis/dissertation courses can be found within the policy.

No. Instruction mode does not have bearing on how the contact requirement is calculated. Guidance on instruction modes can be found under Distanced/Online Teaching and Learning in the policy.

Start with your academic department and/or college registrar for next steps to ensure compliance. Cornell University wants to ensure students receive credit(s) accurately and appropriately. A few potential solutions could be to adjust the number of credits to reflect the content in the course, reduce additional meeting hours, or the option to add an additional component to the class to reflect the additional work. An additional component would have to meet the associated requirements for the component, in addition to the existing component. Ensure the component definitions align with curriculum, and that contact hour expectations are met as defined in the policy.

Yes, contact hours and credit hours should match at the high end, as students should be awarded the appropriate number of credits for the work required for the class. If, for example, a lecture course is requiring five in-class contact hours per week with 10 hours expected out-of-class per week over a 15-week semester, it should be reflected as a five-credit class. Alternatively, the contact hours could be scaled back to correspond with four credits. The tables in the policy outline the number of minutes and the equivalent credits.

Instruction mode does not have bearing on how the contact hour is calculated. Guidance on instruction modes can be found under Distanced/Online Teaching and Learning in the policy.

No; none of the regulatory agencies support office hours to count as contact hours.

A thorough review of meeting patterns is a part of the multi-faceted approach to ensure credit hour compliance. This review will be conducted in the future; updated standard meeting patterns are anticipated to support comprehensive credit hour compliance.

Start with your academic department leadership for guidance. If further assistance is needed, your academic department can contact your school/college registrar.

The accurate calculation is to use a 7.5-week calculation for “half semester” courses, since that calculation most closely aligns with the number of days in consideration of a 15-week semester. Other short-session courses, including one-day or weekend classes, should use a calculation proportionate to the 15-week expectation.

It is recommended to document contact hour requirements in the syllabus. Currently, there is not a university-wide requirement that syllabi be uploaded to the Class Roster, yet college requirements may vary. An external review (SUNY, NYSED, audit) may require a syllabus review upon request, yet OUR has no plans to request and compile syllabi.

It is recommended to use an IND agreement (if applicable within school/college) or another form of documentation that outlines the scope of work and overall agreement between the student and the instructor.

Instructors should review output of credit hours based on contact hours and, in consultation with their college, use good judgment in determining whether to allow partial credit or supplement contact hours to support whole credit values. The concept of “rounding up” credit hour calculations is not supported by regulatory agencies.

Regulatory guidance does not provide any additional specifications. The information within the policy is in alignment with federal and state (NYSED and SUNY) regulatory requirements, as well as Middle States regional accreditation requirements.