Academic Scheduling

Rochester University operates on a semester academic calendar. Three semesters are offered per academic year: Fall (late August – mid-December), Spring (January – April), and Summer (May – August). Rochester University follows the Carnegie and federal definitions of a credit hour.

1. In keeping with Federal definitions for semester hours (known at RU as a credit hour), each hour must include at least 30 clock hours of instruction.
2. In keeping with Carnegie definitions, for each hour of credit, 15-week courses should require one hour of faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours each week of additional instructional activities each week; or
3. In keeping with Carnegie definitions, for each hour of credit, 8-week courses should require two hours of faculty instruction and a minimum of four hours of additional instructional activities each week.
4. In online and hybrid courses, faculty instruction is not always synchronous, but it follows the federal definition of “regular and substantive interaction” by utilizing at least two of the following each week: 1) Providing direct, synchronous instruction; 2) Assessing or providing feedback on a student’s coursework; 3) Providing information or responding to questions about the content of a course or competency; 4) Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency.