Information for Faculty

  • Education Abroad and ISS

    Guidelines for Teaching

    ISS Study Abroad

    All ISS courses offered through study abroad programs must be interdisciplinary and discrete in content from other course offerings.  Instructors may not give credit for both an ISS course and a disciplinary course using the same syllabus (i.e., ISS courses may not be cross-listed with other departmental alpha-codes).

    All syllabi must initially be reviewed by CIS Director, to insure that the courses are consistent with the Guidelines for ISS Courses and MSU's Code of Teaching Responsibility. We now approve ISS course syllabi for three years as long as there are no changes to teaching faculty or course content.  Syllabi must be re-approved after three years or if there are any changes to teaching faculty or course content. 

    Language instruction cannot be counted as part of the contact hours for an ISS course. No percentage of the grade may be allotted to language learning.  While some courses may include instruction in a foreign language, the language learning is complementary, not the primary focus.  With this in mind, students should not be graded on their competence of a language other than the language of instruction.  Discussions may be held in a language other than English, but course-based instruction of the language will not occur.

    All ISS courses offered through study abroad programs must include a minimum of 56 contact hours, including classroom time and experiential activities.  CIS-ISS recommends that such programs be at least 4 weeks in length.  Experiential activities must be directed or guided.  When it is not possible to direct or guide the ISS course at an experiential site, students must be given clear objectives and/or study guides.

    The substantial proportion of course instruction is to be delivered by the instructor of record. Portions of classroom instruction may be led by guest lecturers, provided those lectures contribute to the content of the course and the course's learning outcomes.

    Instructors of record must hold a terminal degree in order to teach ISS on study abroad programs.

    When an ISS course is offered as part of a study abroad program, at least 60% of the instruction must take place abroad. ISS courses should not include significant online instruction unless it is for an on-campus portion of the course.

    Students taking an ISS course as part of a study abroad program must meet all prerequisites for the course. Specifically, successful completion of an ISS 200 level course is required to enroll in an ISS 300 level course.

  • Honors Options

    All ISS courses are available for Honors Options. Honors Option is available at professor's discretion. Student must contact instructor during first two weeks of semester for specific requirements. Honors Options are limited to Fall and Spring semesters.

    Instructor must contact the CIS Director by the end of the third week of the semester to register the Honors Option requirements and confirm authorization.

    Student must earn at least a 3.0 grade in the course to receive credit for the Honors Option.

    After course grades are submitted, faculty complete an Honors Option Agreement Form located under the Registrar's Administrative Action Form menu.