Academic Year and The Credit Unit

The academic year is divided into two semesters (fall and spring), approximately 16 weeks each, totaling about 160 instructional days. Summer session and other short-term sessions may be scheduled. Within a semester or other session, courses may be scheduled for various periods (such as five-week, eight-week, and so on). Students may enter Mayville State University at the beginning of any term although the academic year begins officially with the fall semester.

The credit unit is known as the semester hour or credit hour. For face-to-face courses, one credit hour represents on 50-minute class period (lecture or structured student/faculty interaction) or 2-3 hours of laboratory session per week. A lecture hour has, on average, 2 hours of out of class student work; a lab hour has, on average, one hour of out of class student work. The total approximates three hours per week per semester for each credit unit.

For online or distance courses, including hybrid delivery modalities, credit units are equivalent to standard face-to-face courses. Distance courses are classified as follows:

• Online Asynchronous: Distance courses taught independent of time or location. Asynchronous classes require regular and substantive interaction, assuring consistent and meaningful student and instructor engagement, engaging students in active and engaged learning to meet course objectives.
• Online Synchronous: Distance courses taught independent of location, but requiring scheduled (real time) class meetings. Typically, at least 25% of the course is scheduled synchronously. Overall, courses ensure regular and substantive interaction through live, synchronous class meetings as well as other student and instructor engagement when scheduled synchronous course meetings are less than standard for the course credit unit(s).
• Hybrid/Blended: Courses that combine face-to-face, online synchronous, and/or online asynchronous deliver modes. At least 25% of the course is scheduled face-to-face. Students must, for reporting requirements, attend at least a portion of the class face-to-face (and cannot participate entirely online asynchronously or online synchronously).