Starting in the summer of 2009, students will be able to receive academic credit for approved summer study abroad programs that is equal to the amount of credit granted for Advanced Placement exams and Brandeis Summer School, according to University Registrar Mark Hewitt. The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee approved the final details of the change last Thursday.

Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe called it a "good change" because it will provide an opportunity for students to have the study abroad experience and gain some academic credit when it might be difficult for them otherwise.

To graduate, students must accumulate a minimum of 128 academic credits, according to the University bulletin. As part of that requirement, students must complete at least seven semesters and 112 of those credits at Brandeis in the fall or spring, under the academic residency requirement. Students who choose to study abroad for two semesters through an approved program in the fall or spring must complete eight semesters altogether at Brandeis, including the two semesters abroad.

Under the current policy, students not studying abroad or only studying abroad for one semester have the option of fulfilling their remaining 16 required credits, which do not have to be completed at Brandeis, through A.P. scores, Brandeis Summer School or exams such as the International Baccalaureate, for which they can receive up to 16 nonresident numeric credits altogether.

That policy will also apply to approved summer study abroad programs next year, according to Hewitt. Currently, he explained, summer study abroad programs can only count for purpose credit to fulfill distribution requirements, such as for a non-Western course or quantitative reasoning.

Director of Study Abroad J. Scott Van der Meid said his office made a proposal last Thursday to establish that the summer study abroad programs for credit would be subject to the same academic, health and safety standards and the approval of the UCC as study abroad programs during the year.

He said he hoped that his office will have completed a list of approved summer programs by the fall. Van der Meid estimated that at least 50 of the approximately 250 existing approved programs likely also offered summer programs.

"[We] think study abroad is important, so we want to reward that experience with numeric credit, but we also wanted to make sure that the experience is truly valuable," Hewitt said.

Summer study abroad will not count for academic residency as many approved study abroad programs in the fall or spring can, according to Hewitt. He said that in general, academic residency only applies to courses taken during the academic year at Brandeis, with some exceptions made for those approved fall or spring study abroad programs.

Study abroad semesters already have a special status, he said, because students must complete a minimum of six courses in addition to their semesters abroad to fulfill their residency requirement to graduate and cannot accelerate their graduation

"I think [the policy] is in line with how we think about study abroad, in that we think it is an important experience, but that's balanced out by the fact that we think summer experiences can be a little too condensed," he said. He called the policy a reasonable accommodation for students who might find it difficult to go abroad otherwise, such as those following a premed track.

Study Abroad Advisor Melissa Matsubara praised the new opportunity for students to have formal recognition of their summer study abroad experience on their transcript.

Union Director of Academic Affairs Kimberlee Bachman '08 said she thought student interest in such academic credit had existed for a while. She explained that she had been working with Dean of Academic Services Kim Godsoe this year to draft a proposal for the UCC.

"I wish we were able to count it the exact same way as the spring and the fall study abroad, but I think that this also serves its purpose because it provides continuity with the policy for Brandeis Summer School," she said.

Bachman said that the policy was beneficial because it gave students the opportunity to take on leadership roles on campus during their junior year while also providing them with the chance to have an international experience.