Global Experiences Glossary of Terms

A compulsory course is a course that you must successfully complete to meet the requirements of your program. Compulsory courses include core courses and other mandatory courses within a major. A compulsory course is the least flexible type of course. You will need to find host university course/s that are at least an 80% match to the content of the UQ compulsory course.

A concurrent diploma is a diploma-level qualification (AQF 5) that you can study alongside your bachelor's program.

Course flexibility means that you have a variety of courses to choose from as part of your outstanding degree requirements and are not limited to seeking credit for specific courses.

Courses for accreditation are courses that can contribute to professional accreditation (license/credential) within a particular professional field. These courses must be studied at UQ.

A course profile gives you the key information about a course. At UQ, It outlines the course aims and learning objectives, required textbooks, assessment criteria and due dates, and other important information.

Course profiles required in a global experience application are those from the host organisation. Course profiles can look very different depending on the host university. 

The number of courses you need to take to make up the full-time study load will differ per host. Faculty understand that host courses won't match UQ courses 100%, and therefore allow some flexibility in course content alignment, depending on the credit you are seeking. See 'compulsory course', 'discipline elective' and 'general elective' for more information about credit alignment.

This flexibility means that a slightly smaller course (smaller based on workload, content covered and contact hours) at a host university may be approved for credit to a course at UQ. However, when this occurs, students are still expected to take the standard full-time study load, and therefore may be required to take a 'credit compliancy course'. See the example below.

Note: All credit compliancy courses need approval by faculty and should be included on your study plan.

Example:
Full-time study load: 15 credits at Host University equals 8 units at UQ

The credit equivalent is relevant for short-term global experiences. This is the number of credits/units that each course is worth according to the host program and how many UQ units the course is worth upon successful completion. The credit equivalent for each experience is listed under the ‘credit equivalent’ section of each host/experience page.

This search tool can help you determine your eligibility for credit by looking at the precedents established for courses (course previously approved or denied) and programs previously assessed for credit by UQ.

Be aware that precedents are only valid for three years, so some courses may need re-assessment.

Be aware, the list of courses in the Credit Precedent Database is simply a list of courses previously assessed. Should students wish to take different courses, they can apply to have them assessed within their experience application.

A discipline elective, also known as an on-list elective, is a course that relates to your program major or minor, but is not compulsory course. Discipline electives are usually listed under a heading “Choose 6 units from”.

This type of course provides some limited flexibility as host university courses will need to be from the same study area as your UQ discipline, but don’t need to match to an exact UQ course.

The full-time study load at UQ is 8 units.

While 6 units can also be considered full-time at UQ, for semester-based exchange 6 units is considered a reduced study load.  

The full-time study load equivalent at each host is listed under the academic matters tab of each host university page.

A general elective, also known as a free elective or an off-list elective, provides great flexibility. General electives allow you to study topics that interest you from outside your primary UQ faculty or school. You can find host university course/s across most disciplines, so long as they meet the first year or upper-level course requirements.

A host organisation is an organisation at which you undertake your global experience. For semester exchange, the host organisation will be the host university. For short-term experiences, the host organisation could be another host university or a third-party organisation providing the opportunity.

The program mode is in reference to short-term experiences and explains how program fees are paid and to whom. There are three different participation modes of short-term global experiences which are explained on the further on the experiences explained webpage.

A progression check is a way to ensure you are progressing through your UQ program correctly, and to see what courses and requirements you have remaining.

Some faculties have a progression check document (BEL Faculty) or online form (HASS Faculty), while other faculties encourage you to refer to your program rules and course lists for a self-progression check.

A study plan for your semester-based exchange is a document which is part of the semester exchange application. In this document, you list the courses you intend to study at the host organisation and the UQ courses / credit you believe they equivalent to.

Tuitions fees are those costs associated with the instruction/teaching of a course.

Costs not included in tuition fees often include administration fee, technology fee, amenities fee, field trips, lab fees, activities fee, health service, athletics admission, recreation, transport fee, international student service fee, accommodation fees, etc.

A Third-Party Provider is an organisation that facilitates a global experience with a host organisation. Third-Party Provider organisations often include a variety of support services for participating students and are reviewed through a strict due-diligence process.

A unit represents the value of individual courses that contribute to the total unit requirements of a program. Most UQ courses have a value of 2 units (sometimes displayed as #2) and a standard full-time study load is 8 units per semester.

A visa, travel visa or study permit, is a conditional authorization granted by a country to any foreigner, allowing them to enter or remain within that country. Visa requirements will vary based on your host location, duration of program and your citizenship. You may also need a visa for any country that you are transiting through to your final destination, even if you do not intend to leave the airport. You will need to research the visa requirements with the foreign consulate or embassy for your preferred program.