Global Experiences
Global Experience Resources
Global Experiences Handbook
The Office of Global Experiences Handbook contains important information for all students going abroad. Students should review it carefully prior to departure and refer back to it while they are abroad.
Academic Planning and Credit Transfer
Course Equivalency Database
The Office of Global Experiences maintains a Course Equivalency Databaseof study abroad courses that have previously been evaluated for UW-Whitewater equivalency as a resource for students and faculty/staff.
Note:
The course equivalency database
- is not a 100% guarantee that these courses will be approved or evaluated the same way for future students (although it is likely)
- does not guarantee that a particular course will be offered during the term that you are studying abroad (some courses are only offered every other semester or may have been discontinued)
- does not replace the need to complete the study abroad course approval process (see below).
Course Approval Process
If you are participating studying abroad on a program that involves taking classes at a host university or study abroad center abroad, you are required to obtain approval for their proposed study abroad coursework by contacting the course approvers when you have your form completed and can supply the approvers with a course syllabus. Depending on your program type, you will do this by completing either a "Course Equivalency Form" (exchange programs) or a "Transfer Credit Agreement" (all other study abroad programs).
Except in the case of study abroad programs that only offer a single course option which all program participants take, students are strongly advised to seek approval for twice the number of credits that they actually plan to take abroad, in case of course cancellations, schedule conflicts, etc. The majority of study abroad coursework can been approved by the following individuals.
| College of Arts & Communication | Robert Mertens |
| College of Business & Economics | Kari Pahl |
| College of Education & Professional Studies | Kelli Danielski |
| College of Letters & Sciences | Susan Johnson |
| World Languages | Pilar Melero |
| General Education | Susan Johnson |
Students must contact the approvers once they complete the form in order to get their courses approved by the above individuals. This is due at your predeparture meeting.
Please note that, for certain education abroad programs or specialized course areas, students may instead be referred to individual department chairs or other designated faculty members for course approval, rather than to the above individuals.
Course Load
Students participating in semester or year-long study abroad programs must enroll in a full-time course load (at least 12 credits/semester) or risk losing full-time status for financial aid purposes, facing loan repayment, etc. The number of credits required on short-term programs (e.g. winterim or summer) will vary; the program information page will typically outline the number of courses or credits students are required to take.
Grade and Credit Conversion
Universities outside the U.S. may utilize different systems for academic credit and grading. When UW-Whitewater receives your host university transcript upon completion of your program, UW-Whitewater will convert the credits and grades you received at your host university to U.S. credits and letter grades before recording your study abroad coursework on your UW-Whitewater transcript.
Transcripts
Your study abroad coursework will be recorded on your UW-Whitewater transcript only after the Office of Global Experiences receives a transcript from your host institution. Please note that it may take up to 3 months after the completion of your study abroad program for your transcript to arrive to our office. Many, but not all, study abroad programs will arrange to send students' transcripts to their home university automatically. However, if your host university or study abroad provider needs to to complete a transcript request for or asks you to confirm where your transcript should be sent, please have it sent to the following address:
The Office of Global Experiences
University of Wisconsin - Whitewater
800 W. Main St.
Whitewater, WI 53190
USA