University of Akureyri

In the two undergraduate programmes at the School of Health Sciences of the University of Akureyri, there are two Credit-transfer Committees, one in the Faculty of nursing and the other in the Faculty of occupational therapy. The two Committees represent the authority of the School Council. Their role is to evaluate whether a student’s earlier studies can replace courses taught in the School of Health Sciences. The Credit-transfer Committee members are three from the teaching staff of the programme in question. Chairmen are appointed at a Faculty Meeting, but the committee members divide other tasks between themselves.

The committees may define standards and procedures which are published on the universities website.

It is recommended that students send their request for an evaluation of earlier studies in a timely fashion before the course in question starts. The request should be sent to the Office Manager for the School of Health Sciences, who will send the request to the relevant Credit-transfer Committee. The Office Manager then sends the conclusions of the School Council to the applicant with a copy to the Credit-transfer Committee. The Office Manager secures that all case materials are kept in the student´s folder in the archive and the material are saved in the GoPro archival system.

Rules of Procedure for Credit-transfer Committees.

1. In order to render an evaluation of earlier studies feasible, there has to be a written request from a student for such an evaluation with a certified copy of the results from the school or schools where the studies to be evaluated took place. The application must specify which courses the student requests to have assessed as equivalent to earlier studies. Furthermore, course descriptions and reading lists of topics of the pertinent courses are to be enclosed.
    
2. The conclusions of the Credit-transfer Committees are normally available a month later. The conclusions from the School Council are send to the applicant.
    
3. Should it be deemed reasonable, the Credit-transfer committee may submit a request for an evaluation of earlier studies (cf. Subsection 1), asking for supervisors’ comments, to those supervisors of courses which constitute the basis of comparison for earlier study programmes on which an evaluation is requested.
    
4. Normally earlier studies are not evaluated in terms of studies at the School of Health Sciences at the University of Akureyri, if more than five years have elapsed since they were completed. A student cannot graduate from the UA School of Health Sciences on the basis of an examination in a course or courses operated more than 10 years ago.
    
5. Nurses who have nursing licences in Iceland and occupational therapists who are state authorized occupational therapists in Iceland can have their studies evaluated as units leading to BS degrees in specifically organized studies in the pertinent professional branches of work, if such study programmes are on offer.
    
6. The main rule to be applied is that either earlier studies are to be evaluated in terms of entire courses or not evaluated. An earlier course, that is the primary condition for the evaluation, is normally to correspond to at least two thirds of the contents of the course that it is compared with on the basis of equivalence, and apart from that, the total number of credits of the earlier course must be at least equal. If individual parts of courses are to be evaluated, they must be clearly delimited so that they can be evaluated as a whole according to the same rule. A course is not evaluated, unless the student has passed it with a minimum grade of 6.
    
7. An applicant for an evaluation of earlier studies and/or the supervisor of the courses concerned in the School of Health Sciences can request that the matter be examined anew by the School Council. The decision of the School Council can be appealed to the University Council.
    
8. If a student applies for an evaluation of courses previously taken at the School of Health Sciences, or if they have clear parallels in the faculty, the application is forwarded directly to the School Council, provided that the stipulations of articles 4 and 6 are satisfied. If a student receives an evaluation of the course (courses), this is to be entered in the student’s course record in the form of a grade. Credit-transfer Committees are normally not required to deal with such cases, but the School Council can request the opinion of the Chairperson of the pertinent Credit-transfer Committee.
    
9. These rules are designed to serve as guidelines. All guiding criteria relating to numbers (in subsection 6) are maximal and the Credit-transfer Committee is not obliged to evaluate earlier studies up to the maximal level.

The rules become effective as of the 13th of March 2012.