Credit Transfer for Study Abroad in Italy

All students considering attending a non-direct credit study abroad program in Italy, including Italian majors and minors, must have courses they intend to take approved for credit transfer ideally BEFORE attending the foreign study program. This entails having the green credit transfer form (available in Garrett Hall) filled out and signed by advisors in each department associated with the course(s) you plan on taking.

For courses in Italian language, literature, and cinema, the form must be completed by the Italian Study Abroad Advisor, Prof. Adrienne Ward, 129 Wilson Hall. For all other classes (Italian history, art history, political science, etc.), students must go to the study abroad advisor in the appropriate UVa department.

Note: If you plan to attend “UVa in Siena,” click the Course Matrix to find out exact transfer credit equivalencies for all courses offered.

***TO ALL STUDENTS***

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CREDIT TRANSFER GUIDELINES BEFORE CONTACTING PROFESSOR WARD:

CLAS (College of Arts and Sciences) Foreign Language requirement:
Please be forewarned if you wish to transfer credits to satisfy any part of your CLAS language requirement (this means any of the courses in the CLAS language requirement sequence ITAL 101-102-201-202). The policy in the Italian section of the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese permits students to substitute courses taken abroad for UVa courses within the above sequence only with certain restrictions. If you take the course from any program other than “UVa in Siena” or IES-Milan (another highly recommended program), you will be required to successfully pass a special exam upon your return, in order to receive foreign language requirement credit. If your performance on the exam is not satisfactory, you will have to re-enter the UVa language sequence where you last left it, and may risk losing credit for the language course taken outside of UVa.

This policy is based on our belief in the rigor and standards of our language classes here, and our awareness that many courses offered elsewhere do not adhere to such standards. We want to make sure you are getting the most educational value for your money spent on programs in Italy, especially when it comes to the native language. We also want our students who will be continuing with Italian at UVa to be adequately prepared for the next level they undertake once they are back on grounds.

Equivalency:
Whether you are an Italian major/minor, or only intend to apply an Italian course as an elective, you must show adequate equivalency between the non-UVa course and an existing UVa Italian course from among the Italian course offerings listed in the UVa Undergraduate Record.

"Adequate equivalency" means that the course you wish to take is almost identical to a UVa Italian course in terms of:
• course content
• skill level
• language in wh/ the course is taught
• assignment requirements
• in-class hours / credits

WHAT TO BRING TO YOUR MEETING w/ Prof. Ward:
In addition to the green credit transfer form, you must provide the Study Abroad Advisor with program materials printed by the program/institution which clearly indicate all of the information below. You may print documents off a website, but please do not ask that I look through a website for this information.

GENERAL:
• name and location of the program you plan on attending

FOR EACH COURSE:
• elective / major / minor / foreign lang requirement credit?
• exact name and mnemonic of the course
• course content
• language in wh/ the course is taught
• assignment requirements
• length of term (exact number of weeks, start/end dates)
• how many in-class hours per week

EXTRA INFO FOR LANGUAGE COURSES:
• What Italian courses have you taken so far and where?
• Where does this language course fit in with the whole language sequence offered by the program? (see details below)

*****
PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO SEARCH THROUGH A WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION.

SAMPLE OF WHAT YOU NEED TO BRING IF REQUESTING CREDIT FOR A LANGUAGE COURSE:
Let's say you are interested in taking a language course called IT 318AF through CIAO University's program in Perugia. You must show the Study Abroad Advisor documentation that demonstrates:

"CIAO University Study in Perugia" Program

• Fall semester 2007; Sept. 1 - Dec. 15 (14 weeks)

• IT 318AF meets Mon-Wed-Fri, 10-11AM

CIAO-Perugia's Italian Language Offerings:

Italian 116AF -- 4 credits
Beginning Italian language for students with no previous experience, (continued course description…)

Italian 118AF -- 4 credits
2nd course in Italian for students with one semester of language study, (continued course description)

Italian 316AF -- 3 credits
For students who have completed one year of Italian, (cont'd description..)

Italian 318AF (IT 318AF) -- 3 credits
This course offers the student who has successfully completed three semesters of Italian language the chance to review the more complex aspects of Italian grammar (subjunctive, conditional, sequence of tenses, indirect speech). Students will consolidate this knowledge through rigorous in-class grammar work, in addition to frequent reading and writing assignments. Reading work will incorporate Italian newspapers and magazines, research on Internet sites, and an introduction to short works of Italian literature. Writing assignments will include weekly essays on topics relating to current Italian culture. There will be three exams over the course of the semester. The course text is Benvenuti, ed. 2001.

Again, make sure your documents contain all of the information listed above. Bring any other information that might help me get a good sense of the course.

REMEMBER: If you do not receive PREapproval, i.e. before you depart for your study program, you have no guarantee that upon your return you will receive credit for the course(s) you take at the non-UVa institution. If you anticipate any questions re: the approval, it is to your benefit to bring whatever other materials you have describing the course (syllabus, exams, papers, textbooks, etc.)