Registrar

A leave of absence can affect various aspects of your student experience.

Your eligibility for current and future financial aid and student loan repayment may be impacted by taking a leave. This could involve repaying scholarships, grants, or loans. We strongly recommend that you explore these potential effects before requesting a leave.

If you receive benefits as a service member or as a family member of a U.S. veteran, notify the campus Veteran Affairs office at [email protected] about your leave.

If you are an international student on an F1 Student Visa contact an International Student Advisor, Chris Brown, at [email protected] before departing or requesting a leave, as this may impact your visa status, scholarship eligibility or Optional Practical Training (OPT). International students who withdraw before completing their program only have 15 days to leave the country.

General education credit hour at LCAD consists of 1 hour in class with an average expectation of 2 hours of work outside of class each week. For a 3-credit class this would equate to 3 hours in class and 6 hours outside of class per week during a 15-week semester. Studio credit hour at LCAD consists of 2 hours in class with an average expectation of 2 hours of work outside of class each week. For a 3-credit class this would equate to 6 hours in class and 6 hours outside of class per week during a 15- week semester. It is important to note that the out-of-class time expectations are averages only and may vary depending on the level of the course as well as individual ability and learning style of the student.

A student should expect to spend a minimum of 135 hours in the successful completion of a 3 credit course. Students receive 45 hours of instructional engagement in a 3-credit course. Instructional engagement includes: submitting academic assignments, listening to class lectures or webinars, taking exams, interactive tutorials, conducting research and reading online resources, attending a study group assigned by the college, contributing to an academic online discussion, initiating contact with a faculty member, externship or internship. Instructional engagement occurs synchronously and asynchronously in both the online environment and in face-to-face contact. Additionally, students can expect to complete 90 hours of preparation. Preparation includes, but is not limited to: reading, study time and other research work needed to complete assignments and projects, as well as any activities related to preparation for instructional engagement.

For asynchronous online courses, course developers are to determine the amount of student work expected in each course in order to achieve the learning outcomes and to assign units based on at least an equivalent amount of work as represented in the above definition of credit hour. Therefore, it will take the average student a total of approximately 135 hours to complete a class. To calculate time on task, the following standards are good approximations to use.

• The average adult reading rate is 250 words per minute with 70% comprehension. [Smith, Brenda D. “Breaking • Through: College Reading” 7th Ed. Longman, 2004]
• Reading for learning (100-200 wpm)
• Reading for comprehension (200-400 wpm)
• Skimming (400-700 wpm)
• With an average of 400 words per page, at 200 words per minute a student should read around 30 pages per hour (200 words per minute x 60 = 12,000 words per hour divided by 400 = 30 pages per hour). Therefore, we are using 25-30 pages per hour.
• Audiobooks are recommended to be 150-160 words per minute or 22 pages per hour.
• Reading on Monitor: 180-200 wpm or 27 pages per hour.
• Slide presentations are closer to 100 wpm or 15 pages per hour.

Credit hours are validated during the scheduling process each semester. During this process, the Registrar’s office confirms required contact hours for each course being offered. For new courses, the Faculty Senate validates credit hours when the course proposal is submitted for approval. If hours fall outside of the required hours as described above, the Chair is notified. If the variation is plus or minus five hours, the course must be revised immediately.