Academics

• Registration
• Journal Assignments
• Grading
• Modern Language Option

Registration     

The Study Abroad Program registers all participants for courses they take on a study abroad program. 

Once you turn in your Course Registration form, Study Abroad will register you for your courses. Depending on the program, sometimes it is necessary to register you for a “credit hold.” This registration will maintain your full-time student status until you confirm your registration. Once confirmation is received from you, your registration will be adjusted to reflect the actual registration at your host institution. All term long participants MUST E-MAIL confirmation of their class schedule after arrival.

It is important for you to notify the Study Abroad office if you want to register for courses other than those indicated on your registration form. If, on arrival abroad, courses have been cancelled or closed, you must make an alternate selection and notify Study Abroad by e-mailing the office. In some cases, requested changes may be denied.

Participants must maintain the minimum required credits for the program in which they participate. Independent study for credit must be approved by the Study Abroad Director and by the student’s academic advisor prior to departure.

It is the responsibility of the students to take care of holds placed on their account before the Course Registration forms are due. If a student has a hold on his/her tuition account, then Study Abroad is unable to register the student for his/her course.  If the block is not lifted by the start of the program you will not be allowed to participate. It is your responsibility to contact Student Accounts to correct the problem. Once your financial block is lifted and you notify Study Abroad of the lift, you will be registered.

Registration Following Study Abroad

You should discuss what courses you should take the quarter after your study abroad program ends with your faculty advisor. Doing this prior to your departure makes registration much easier since you will be abroad at the time. Your advisor should be able to give you an idea of what courses will be offered in your department as well as what courses you should take in the term following your return.

While you are abroad, you can access DePaul’s academic schedule information and registration system on Campus Connect (http:// campusconnect.depaul.edu). Academic schedules are posted on Campus Connect well ahead of registration dates. Prior to your registration, DePaul’s Student Records (SR) will send you an e-mail informing you of when you are scheduled to register for classes. Remember to take into account any local time difference when you register. Also, make sure your student account has been paid so you can avoid a financial block.

Journal Assignments   

Journaling is a tool used by writers, scholars, inventors, artists, journalists, entrepreneurs and others in almost any field.  On the road or on-site, we record our observations, thoughts and feelings in raw form on the page.  Later, these pages provide the material from which we craft, create, analyze and explain. You are REQUIRED to keep a journal on this journey. 

You will begin the journal prior to departure.  The Pre-Departure Journal Prompts and the

Value Statements documents can be found on Blackboard. These documents are designed to help you identify your expectations and to prepare for Study Abroad.  These early entries will give you something against which to measure your progress and personal growth as you learn and settle into your new setting.

On site, you will continue with prompts designed for each phase of your journey. This journal can take any form you like.  There is no right or wrong way to journal.  You do not need to have any special technique.  All you need to do is fill the pages.   You simply move your hand across the page or keyboard and record whatever comes to mind, whatever you see, smell, feel or fear.   This is not “writing” it’s just filling the page.  It is not art.  It is not meant to be profound or smart or funny or creative (Although, it often is!). No right.  No wrong.  Just get something on the page.

Study Abroad does not collect these personal entries. Instead, after their program students will be asked to reflect on their entries along the way. Near the end or after their program, students receive an e-mail message containing the instructions and prompts for the Final Journal Summary Assignment.  The final journal will ask you to reread their journals and summarize their reflections on topics such as stereotypes, key values, and current issues.  The specifications and deadlines for this assignment will also be given at that time. The Final Journal Summary Assignment is due about one month after your program ends and  must be submitted before Study Abroad can post your grades.

While we will provide prompts to guide your journaling, we also encourage you to make much more of your journals.  Below are some ideas for things to write about.

JOURNAL WRITING SUGGESTIONS—some ideas if you’re stuck

o       Record images, events and scenes

o       Write down details you may want to remember

o       Write down details that intrigue or puzzle you

o       Make notes about what the day’s images and events remind you of

o       What do the things you recall tell you about yourself

o       Make comparisons

o       Daydream

o       Craft a story to explain something you see?

o       Write a biographical sketch of someone you meet

o       Write a fictional sketch of someone you see but do not meet

o       Congratulate yourself for cultural puzzles solved or challenges overcome

o       Describe what you miss (or not) about home

o       Play with words

o       Make bilingual puns

o       Complain

o       Tell stories you hear from a different point of view

o       Draw pictures

o       Make lists

o       Record a conversation that you had or overheard

o       Write a fictional dialogue

o       Review films, readings and lectures

o       Write a letter to yourself or someone else

o       Copy the style of other writers

o       Imagine yourself in a different life, write about it

Grading   

Pass/Fail and incomplete are NOT available on Study Abroad Programs. Grades earned when studying abroad are calculated into the students overall grade point average (GPA).

Students may not withdraw from any classes taken while abroad that would reduce their course load. Drop/adds are permitted with the express approval of the Study Abroad Director only in exceptional circumstances.

Grading Delays: The Study Abroad Program oversees the posting of all grades earned for courses taken on a program. Grades are posted by the end of the term following your return. Graduating Seniors should note that grades are often not received until the following term and this may delay your degree conferral date.

In most cases, host institutions do not allow grade changes. All grade change requests are processed by, and require the approval of, the Study Abroad Director.  

Modern Language Option