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Transfer Credits and Special Programs

Course of Study 2009-2010

Credit earned at other institutions of higher education may be transferred to Kenyon (i.e., counted as meeting a part of the College's degree requirements) if the following conditions are met: (1) an official transcript is sent directly to the Kenyon registrar, (2) the grades earned are C- or above, (3) the other institution is fully accredited by a recognized accrediting agency, or the Academic Standards Committee has specifically approved the program for off-campus study purposes, and (4) the subject matter of the courses is within the spirit of Kenyon's curriculum. (Grades for transfer credit are not recorded on the student's permanent record, except for off-campus study transfer credit; see the section explaining off-campus study.)

The registrar determines whether the above criteria are met, the amount of credit that is transferable, and the distribution requirements that are fulfilled. Credit is accepted in transfer to the College on a pro rata basis: one Kenyon unit equals eight semester-hours or twelve quarter-hours of credit. Kenyon will not accept transfer credit or test scores for which transfer credit will be granted more than one year after the completion of the coursework/testing (except in the case of a student admitted to Kenyon as a transfer student).

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Because summer school credit is credit transferred to the student's permanent record, the provisions listed above regarding all transfer credit also apply to summer school credit. Students wishing to take courses at a summer school and receive transfer credit for work done there should obtain a transfer credit approval form at the registrar's office and then consult with their faculty advisor and with the chair of the corresponding department at Kenyon for approval of the course(s). These approvals, along with any pertinent information from the summer school brochure or catalog, should then be submitted to the registrar's office. Upon receipt of the summer school transcript, the credit will be transferred to the student's permanent record if all conditions are met.

No more than 2 units of summer school credit may be credited to the Kenyon degree. Credit earned in summer school may not be counted as a substitution for a semester of residence at the College. Summer school credit may, however, be included in a proposal for early graduation.

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Students who are applying for off-campus study (OCS) must present compelling academic reasons for this option, and they will be required to articulate how the proposed OCS work will be closely linked to their Kenyon curriculum.

The process for approval to study off campus is highly competitive and the number of spaces available for off-campus study is limited. Students applying for a year must present a very strong case for this longer option. Some year-long applications may be approved for a semester only.

Requirements. The minimum cumulative GPA for participation in an OCS program is 2.75. This GPA is a requirement but not a guarantee for OCS approval. A student with a GPA of 2.75 and a strong OCS application will receive approval before a student with a 3.00 GPA and a merely adequate application.

Participation in OCS is ordinarily limited to students with junior standing.

Students wishing to participate in OCS in a non-English-speaking country must have taken at least one semester of the language of the host country, if the language is offered at Kenyon. While on the OCS program, students are required to take at least one language class.

Deadlines. The deadline for all OCS applications from sophomores who wish to study off campus during the 2010-11 academic year is February 1, 2010. This will ensure that students will have planned well in advance for the integration of OCS coursework and their Kenyon academic work. No late applications will be accepted.

Approved programs. Students must participate in approved programs. Programs are approved by the director of international education and the faculty subcommittee on international education. Kenyon's programs, along with Kenyon's consortial programs, will have significant priority. Enrollment in U.S. colleges or universities is excluded, with exceptions for the historically black colleges and universities as well as specific U.S. programs.

Kenyon programs. All grades earned in the Kenyon seminar (taught by the Kenyon Resident Director) and all grades earned in Exeter's Department of English courses, translated into U.S. letter grades, will be listed on the official Kenyon transcript and figured into a student's cumulative Kenyon GPA. However, any grades posted from the University of Exeter, but earned in departments other than English, are simply treated as transfer credit, following the practices for transfer of grades from off-campus study programs not sponsored by Kenyon.

Participants in the Kenyon/Honduras Prorgram may enroll in courses taught in only one department.

Prohibited programs. Certain OCS programs and courses that do not meet Kenyon standards are explicitly prohibited. Students who fail to follow College procedures regarding off-campus study, or who withdraw from Kenyon and thus circumvent existing College regulations regarding off-campus study, are prohibited from receiving credit for coursework completed off-campus.

Transfer of off-campus study credit. Students will have letter grades recorded for work done off campus whenever the course is taught and graded by a member of the Kenyon faculty and the course is given credit in the department where the member is appointed. These grades will factor into the student's GPA at Kenyon. All other OCS grades will be posted on the transcript, but will not be calculated into the College GPA.

Grades below a C- will be posted, but no credit will be awarded.

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Up to 3 units of Kenyon credit may be awarded to students who have received scores of 4 or higher on CEEB Advanced Placement (AP) tests. See the Web site of the registrar's office for recommendations regarding credit and placement.

AP credit counts toward the 16 units required for the degree. However, no diversification requirement (i.e., five departments, four divisions) may be satisfied with AP credit.

AP credit may serve as a prerequisite for specific courses in the department, toward requirements for the major, and as advanced placement, depending on each department's decision. Students who enroll in courses for which the AP placement is equivalent will have the AP credit removed from their record by the registrar.

Advanced placement, as opposed to credit, is determined by each department. AP credit may not be substituted for a semester of residence at the College. It may, however, be included in a proposal for early graduation.

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Students who satisfactorily complete an International Baccalaureate (IB) program in high school and who send the results to the registrar may have up to 3 units of Kenyon credit awarded. At the discretion of individual departments, 1 unit of credit may be earned for each score of 6 or 7 on Higher Level examinations. A full year of credit may be earned for an IB diploma point total of 36 or higher (with no score below 5).

Up to 3 units of Kenyon credit may be awarded to those who have satisfactorily completed certain other Baccalaureate programs, including the French Baccalaureate, the British A-Levels, and the German Abitur. Upon receipt of the official transcript, the registrar will determine, in conjunction with faculty members of specific departments, the awarding of the allowable 3 units. Placement in courses is determined by the department's faculty.

Except in extraordinary circumstances, students may earn a maximum of 3 units of credit from Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, French Baccalaureate, German Arbitur, or any combination of these programs. Credit will not be granted for scores from two programs which appear to be equivalent.

As with the College's advanced placement policy, baccalaureate credit cannot be used to fulfill residency or distribution requirements but may be included in a student's petition for early graduation.

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Founded by Kenyon and six independent Ohio secondary schools in 1979 as the School-College Articulation Program (SCAP), the Kenyon Academic Partnership (KAP) is dedicated to improving the transition of students from high school to college. KAP is designed (1) to reduce the amount of course duplication some students find in college; (2) to give students an introduction to the rigors of college work in familiar, supportive settings; and (3) to offer students more advanced and varied courses than are normally found in high school.

KAP course offerings have increased from four to thirty-one, and participating students have increased from 120 to more than one thousand per year.

Participating schools offer one or more courses cooperatively developed by the school and Kenyon faculty members. The courses are fully equivalent to the introductory courses offered in each of the College's participating departments. The teachers in the secondary schools present these courses to eligible students according to collegiate standards, reproducing as closely as possible a college environment. Kenyon's standards are maintained in a number of ways: the College appoints KAP teachers in the schools, Kenyon departmental representatives visit and evaluate classes in the schools, and teachers at both levels periodically exchange student papers for cross-grading. At the end of a course, a student's final grade is posted in the same manner as for other College students, and a transcript may be sent to any college to which the student may wish to apply. KAP credits have been accepted in transfer to approximately two-thirds of the colleges attended by KAP students. KAP students who attend Kenyon and who wish to include KAP credit toward the B.A. must visit the registrar's office to request that the KAP credit be applied to their undergraduate record.

In addition to Kenyon, KAP schools include the following:

Beechcroft High School, Columbus, Ohio

Buckeye Valley High School, Delaware, Ohio

Bucyrus High School, Bucyrus, Ohio

Danville High School, Danville, Ohio

Dublin Jerome High School, Dublin, Ohio

East High School, Columbus, Ohio

Edison High School, Edison, Ohio

Fredericktown High School, Fredericktown, Ohio

Garrett Morgan Cleveland School of Science, Cleveland, Ohio

Gilmour Academy, Gates Mills, Ohio

Granville High School, Granville, Ohio

Groveport High School, Groveport, Ohio

Hathaway Brown School, Shaker Heights, Ohio

Hilliard Darby High School, Hilliard, Ohio

Hilliard Davidson High School, Hilliard, Ohio

James Ford Rhodes High School, Cleveland, Ohio

John F. Kennedy High School, Cleveland, Ohio

John Hay High School, Cleveland, Ohio

John Marshall High School, Cleveland, Ohio

Laurel School, Shaker Heights, Ohio

Licking Valley High School, Newark, Ohio

Linden-McKinley High School, Columbus, Ohio

Mohawk High School, Sycamore, Ohio

Mount Vernon High School, Mount Vernon, Ohio

New Albany High School, New Albany, Ohio

North Ridgeville Senior High, North Ridgeville, Ohio

Northland High School, Columbus, Ohio

Reynoldsburg High School, Reynoldsburg, Ohio

Ridgewood High School, West Lafayette, Ohio

River View High School, Warsaw, Ohio

Shaw High School, East Cleveland, Ohio

Success Tech Academy, Cleveland, Ohio

Tiffin Columbian High School, Tiffin, Ohio

University School, Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Warrensville Heights High School, Warrensville Heights, Ohio

Westerville Centeral High School, Westerville, Ohio

West High School, Columbus, Ohio

Whetstone High School, Columbus, Ohio

Kenyon defines a unit of credit as eight semester-hours of credit. Many courses are taught over two semesters and earn the student 1 unit, while others, lasting one semester, earn the student .5 unit or four semester-hours of credit.

Descriptions of Kenyon courses that are also taught through the KAP program are found in this catalog within the departmental sections. Currently, KAP courses and credits include those listed below.

AMST 108 Introduction to American Studies (.5 unit)
ARTS 101 Color/Design (.5 unit)

ARTS 107 Digital Imaging I (.5 unit)

BIOL 109 Introduction to Experimental Biology (.25 unit)

BIOL 113 From Cell to Organism (.5 unit)
BIOL 114 Genetics and Development of Organisms (.5 unit)
CHEM 121 Introductory Chemistry (.5 unit)
CHEM 123 Introductory Chemistry Laboratory (.25 unit)
CHEM 124 Biophysical and Medicinal Chemistry (.5 unit)
CHEM 126 Biophysical and Medicinal Chemistry Laboratory (.25 unit)
ENGL 103 and 104 Introduction to Literary Study (.5 unit each)
ENGL 111Y-112Y Introduction to Literature and Language (1 unit)

FREN 321 Advanced Composition & Conversation (.5 unit)

FREN 323 Approaches to French Literature I (.5 unit)
FREN 324 Approaches to French Literature II (.5 unit)
HIST 101 and 102 United States History 1492 to the Present (.5 unit each)
HIST 131 Early European History (.5 unit)
HIST 132 Modern Europe (.5 unit)
HIST 175 Early African-American History (.5 unit)
HIST 176 Contemporary African-American History (.5 unit)
MATH 106 Elements of Statistics (.5 unit)
MATH 111 Calculus A (.5 unit)
MUSC 479 Symphonic Wind Ensemble (.25 unit)
PHYS 140 Classical Physics (.5 unit)
PHYS 141 Introduction to Experimental Physics (.5 unit)
PSCI 101Y-102Y Quest for Justice (1 unit)
PSCI 200 Liberal Democracy in America (.5 unit)
PSYC 101 Introduction to Psychology: Basic Processes (.5 unit)
PSYC 102 Introduction to Psychology: Behavior in Context (.5 unit)
SPAN 321Y-322Y Advanced Grammar and Composition (1 unit)

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