Dear OCS Student,

Taking the time to read this memo and make note of its contents will help you make the right decisions when choosing your courses for your study abroad program.

One confusing aspects of choosing courses is understanding how credit will transfer to Kenyon. Most programs report credit to Kenyon under one of the following credit systems; you need to find out from your program which system they use:

System	Samples
semester-credits (Ratio = 8 to 1)	8 s.h. = 1.00 Kenyon unit 4 s.h. = .50 Kenyon units
quarter-credits (Ratio = 12 to 1)	12 q.h. = 1.00 Kenyon unit 4 q.h. = .333 Kenyon units 3 q.h. = .25 Kenyon units
European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) (Ratio = 15 to 1)	30 cr. = 2.00 Kenyon units

If you enroll in 16 semester hours, you will earn 2.0 Kenyon units for your semester abroad. Please do not confuse credit hours with contact hours (time spent in class). Credit hours are defined by each institution; the time spent in class is only part of that definition. Contact hours are not considered in determining transfer credit nor is the relative quality of one institution vs. another. Each institution's declared credit value is taken at face value.

Students planning to attend institutions not reporting credit in any of the above systems, should check our web page at http://registrar.kenyon.edu/ocstrans.htm. You will find a list of institutions from which we have accepted credit in transfer. The chart is simply a series of notes about the transfer of credit and is the most recent information we have and intended to help students anticipate the transfer of credit from the listed institution to Kenyon.

GRADES: We can only accept in transfer those courses taken on a letter grade basis for which you earn a C- or better. Although grades will be posted on your Kenyon record, only grades earned through study with a Kenyon instructor are calculated in your Kenyon grade-point average.

COURSES FOR DIVERSIFICATION: Many of you will find that courses offered are only worth 3 semester hours which is usually worth 0.37 units. This course along with a 0.50 unit course taken at Kenyon in the same department will fulfill a diversification requirement.

COURSES FOR YOUR MAJOR: Be sure to discuss all courses which you hope to use to satisfy major requirements with your advisor and the chair of your major department and obtain her/his signature on the OCS Course Approval Form.

All the best,

Ellen K Harbourt

Registrar