Requirements for transfer of Biology courses to Bates College

In addition to the requirements specified by faculty legislation for all transfer courses, the Biology department requires the following:

1. Biology courses taken at another institution must count towards the major in biology at that institution or be a prerequisite to another biology course that counts towards the major. This rule applies regardless of the intent to which the transferred course will be used (i.e. for the Biology major or for general education).

2. The lecture portion of the course must meet a minimum of 36 hours and, for courses with a laboratory, an additional 30 hours of laboratory meeting time is required.

3. If the course meets during the summer, it must meet a minimum of 5 weeks.

4. With few exceptions, the biology department does not provide transfer credit for courses offered by departments other than biology.

When submitting a request for transfer credit review, all materials must be submitted together and include:

1. The Bates transfer credit form, available from the Registrars office, with the student portion completed;

2. A dated note, requesting how the credit may be applied (i.e.. toward major, to meet the set requirement, as a third course).

2. The transfer institution’s Catalog, clearly marking the area where the biology department’s requirements, prerequisites and courses are listed. The course to be transferred should be clearly marked as well.

3. For summer courses, documentation of the times and dates that the course meets;

4. If available, the syllabus, reading list and description of laboratories. In some cases this information will be required before an evaluation can be completed.

Procedure

Assemble the needed items into a single packet and submit them to Laurie McConnell at the Carnegie desk. These will be forwarded to the Chair. After Biology department review, the materials will be forwarded to the Registrars office for the Registrar’s signature. You may be contacted by either the Biology department or the Registrar if additional materials are needed.

The Registrar will inform you whether the credit has been approved and will send you a copy of the signed transfer credit form for your records. Students are advised that at the end of the semester it may take longer to receive a response, and should plan in advance to provide materials for review.

revised: July 30, 2002