International and
Off-Campus Studies: Global Perspective

http://www.stolaf.edu/services/iso/

"Global Perspective"-- The term comes up again and again when St. Olaf students and faculty talk about the lessons they have learned while studying on international and domestic off-campus programs.
They're talking about the kind of exciting insights that come when Hindu caste systems, Scandinavian cinema, or Greek architecture come to life before their eyes; when their biology or physics laboratory moves to a rain forest, a desert, or a glacier; or, when everyday and utterly familiar things like eating breakfast or taking a bath are put into thought-provoking new contexts.
More than three-fourths of all St. Olaf students participate in off-campus programs, many of them led by St. Olaf faculty members. As a matter of fact, more than 65 percent of every graduating class have studied internationally, in places as diverse as Aberdeen, Chiang Mai, Harare, and Medan. About 25 percent have participated in domestic programs -- ranging from Interim courses on desert ecology to consortial programs in urban education, the contemporary art scene, and northwoods environmental literature.
Obviously, a number of students énd off-campus study so valuable that they participate in two or three programs during their St. Olaf careers. Of equal importance is the fact that faculty members énd these programs extremely rewarding -- both for their students and for themselves. That is why, in the almost 40 years that St. Olaf has been sponsoring them, the college's field supervised programs (Term in the Middle East, Term in Asia, Global Semester, and more recently, Enviromental Science in Australia and the Term in Germany) have been led by 47 different professors, and 130 faculty members have led more than 300 off-campus Interim courses. Additional faculty-led semester programs include Environmental Science in Australia and the Term in Germany.
Each off-campus offering has a program adviser. Program Advisers are St.ÝOlaf faculty members who are particularly well qualified to offer academic advice on specific programs.
It is strongly recommended that all first-year students discuss off-campus study plans with their academic adviser and with the faculty Program Adviser or Study Abroad Adviser in the International and Off-Campus Studies Office.

Consortial Activities

Exchange agreements and the college's membership in consortia make it possible for students to participate in a number of exciting off-campus programs in addition to the ones sponsored by St. Olaf itself.

St. Olaf is one of 14 liberal arts colleges that make up the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM). Other ACM members are Beloit, Carleton, Coe, College of the University of Chicago, Colorado, Cornell, Grinnell, Knox, Lake Forest, Lawrence, Macalester, Monmouth, and Ripon.

St. Olaf is also a member of the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA), which offers students specialized programs in domestic and international sites focusing on community issues and social change.

Policies and Procedures

Students are responsible for adhering to the regulations and policies contained in the Academic Regulations section of this catalog. In particular, students on St. Olaf off-campus programs are directed to refer to the policies on "Graded and Ungraded Courses"for full details on how off-campus programs affect this graduation requirement.

Qualifications

Nearly all St. Olaf students who study off campus do so during their sophomore, junior, or senior years. (Two or three language Interims are open to first-year students.) The college's 4-1-4 calendar (two semesters separated by an Interim in January) contributes to the flexibility: it enables students to participate in programs which last a month, a summer, a semester, half a year, or a full year.

Students intending to take part in a recognized program off-campus must be in good academic standing, be sufficiently mature to benefit from such study, and provide evidence of good health. Many programs have prerequisites, including introductory or advanced courses in a specific discipline or certain levels of language proficiency. Some programs are competitive and applicants will be accepted based on meeting a standard set of criteria governing the selection process. Details about all St. Olaf approved semester and year-long programs, program advisers, prerequisites, and application deadlines and procedures are found in The International and Off-Campus Studies brochure, published every fall by the Office of International and Off-Campus Studies. Interim offerings are detailed in the Off-Campus Interim brochure published in spring by the Office of International and Off-Campus Studies.

Fees

Students in all St. Olaf-sponsored programs pay the St. Olaf tuition plus a program fee. In addition, students are expected to cover passport fees, the costs of additional independent travel, and personal expenses. St. Olaf financial aid is available for St. Olaf off-campus programs. Information about special scholarships for off-campus study is available from the Financial Aid Office or the study abroad adviser in the International and Off-Campus Studies Office.

Grades, Credits, Registration

All off-campus courses are graded and appear on the transcript, but only those letter grades given for a course taught by a St. Olaf faculty member are calculated into a student's grade point average.

In order for a student to receive academic credit for off-campus study sponsored by an institution with which St. Olaf has a program relationship, registration must be done in advance through St. Olaf College.

All credits earned on St. Olaf-approved programs are viewed as resident credit. In most cases, students can expect to earn the same amount of credit on an off-campus program that they would earn on campus during a comparable period of time.

Students studying on St. Olaf off-campus programs should be aware of the "24 graded courses"graduation requirement. Full details on how this requirement is affected by off-campus courses is found in the Academic Regulations section of this catalog.

St. Olaf's S/U policy applies to courses taken on off-campus programs.

Credits for Non-St. Olaf Terms Off-Campus

Students wishing to study on programs not listed here will take a leave of absence from the college and must negotiate in advance with the registrar in order to be sure that credits will transfer. Students may earn elective credit and credit toward a major, but may not fulfill general education requirements through such programs. These students may not register for subsequent St. Olaf terms through a proxy. Full details about programs, program advisers, prerequisites, and application deadlines and procedures are found in The International and Off-Campus Studies brochure, published every fall and spring by the Office of International and Off-Campus Studies. The brief descriptions which follow, however, will give you an idea of the breadth and depth of St. Olaf's off-campus study opportunities.