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To establish a course equivalency, the syllabus from the host institution is reviewed by department chairs, the course code equivalent at USF is confirmed by departments and college deans, and then the course equivalency is uploaded into the USF transfer catalog so that the course always transfers back to USF as the same course code and number regardless of student major, class standing, or catalog year. As an academic advisor, you would be responsible for determining whether the USF course equivalency would be degree applicable prior to travel as well as moving the course to the appropriate spot on Degreeworks or communicating with your department’s/college’s responsible party to do so if necessary once the credit has been transferred to the student’s record. The GLO’s Academic Services team is actively working on securing course equivalencies for study abroad in conjunction with a wide array of academic departments across the university, particularly for spotlighted affiliate programs. 

A course substitution is a flexible option for transfer coursework to be recognized as degree applicable. First, it does not have to undergo the formal review process to receive an official USF course code designation in the transfer catalog the way that equivalencies do. Second, the people involved in reviewing the course substitutions are different from equivalencies, which can reduce processing time. Most departmental academic advisors can make determinations about what a course abroad could be an alternative for and how that course could be utilized towards degree requirements at USF! Check with your advising director to find out if there is a team member designated as the course substitutions contact for your team or if all advisors contribute to this effort when their students request assistance. Different students in different departments may take the same course abroad, but the course could result in different substitutions depending on what each individual student’s degree requirements are and how the reviewer evaluates the course—this can happen because course substitutions do not have the same permanent institutional standing as course equivalencies do. Upon return from their program abroad, each course is processed into the student's records reflecting the host institution’s course code. Then, the academic advisor or college/department graduation certifier is responsible for updating the course substitution based on what was confirmed on the Course Approval Form prior to travel and then manually moving the course to the appropriate spot on the student’s Degreeworks audit. Exchange programs typically utilize course substitutions, but any affiliate programs’ courses without equivalencies would result in course substitutions as well. 

When students participate in non-USF study abroad programs, the timeline for processing the credits earned may differ significantly from the traditional USF term. It is hard to give exact dates for when official transcripts will be received from host institutions or schools of record, but students and advisors can anticipate that transcripts will be received from their non-USF programs no earlier than 2 months after their program end date. Even after the Global Learning Office has received the official transcript, it may take several weeks to process everything into the student’s USF academic record and Degreeworks. As a result, students are not approved to participate in exchange programs or affiliate programs in their final semester at USF as there is a risk of delaying graduation.