Lewis & Clark Overseas Program

Your registration for the Dominican Republic program is attached. You will see that we have not included specific course titles. This is because you will choose specific courses when you get to Dominican Republic. It is important to know, however, that students normally register for 16 semester hours per semester. The following curriculum information is important for you to consider as you prepare to be away from campus.

Before you leave:

Grading. All courses in this program are offerred on a graded basis. Should you want to take any of your Dominican Republic courses on a CR-NC basis, your petition to do so must be received by the Registrar within two weeks of the starting date of classes. A faxed request is acceptable, and must specify the course(s) by title.

Courses used to meet general education requirements must be taken on a graded basis.

Academic planning: Because you will be expected to select courses for the semester following your program while you are off-campus, you should meet with your adviser now to outline what courses you will want to take. If you have chosen a major you will want to review the list of major requirements carefully. You may also wish to do an audit of general education requirements.

You may leave a copy of your plan on file in the Office of the Registrar. It will be returned to you with registration materials, as a reminder of what you discussed with your adviser. Remember, there are no guarantees that you will get the courses you want, so be sure to include a number of alternatives in your plan.

Declaration of major: Students are expected to declare a major by the end of the sophomore year. If you are currently a junior, or will be a junior by the end of this semester, and have not yet declared a major, you should do so before leaving campus this semester and make sure you have reviewed your academic plan with an adviser in that department.

Financial considerations: We will register you for the semester following your off-campus study program IF, AND ONLY IF, your Cashier's Office account is clear of any debt to the College. Therefore, PLEASE be sure your account is clear before you leave the country.

Release of information about you: Federal law prohibits us from sending transcripts or providing personal data about students without that student's written permission. While overseas, students often ask parents or friends to order transcripts or request personal information for graduate school or job applications, "good student" auto insurance benefits, scholarships, bank loans, Social

Security benefit payments, enrollment verifications, etc. You may sign a release form before you leave campus authorizing your parents (or others you list) to request such information. Without that authorization form we will be unable to comply with any requests of that nature.

Graduation: Students who have completed at least 80 semester credits prior to an overseas or off- campus study program should complete a Degree Application prior to leaving campus. Please see Kathie Holland in the Registrar's Office if you have not received that form yet. You will definitely want to meet with your adviser to review your major requirements and make sure everything is in order. You may also want to work through the General Education Requirements with Kathie to be sure everything is in order there, too.

These issues may have a big impact on your choice of courses when you return to campus, not to mention your graduation plans. And, it will be really hard to sort out the details from the Dominican Republic. 

Leave of Absence: If you are planning to take some time off following your overseas or off-campus program, you will want to request an official Leave of Absence, so that you can return under the same set of requirements that were in force when you entered the College. That form is available in the Student Development Center in Templeton Student Center.

During your program:

General Education Reauirements: Since you choose courses you will take when you get to the Dominican Republic, we cannot say that courses in your program will automatically satisfy general education requirements.

One option for completion of the International Studies requirement is to complete a total of 8 semester credits from a Lewis & Clark overseas study program in course work dealing with the unique

history and culture of the host country. Credits in language instruction do not apply. That determination is made by the Registrar in consultation with relevant departments as necessary. 

The following courses offered Pontifica Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra appear, by the course title and content statement received by the Registrar, appropriate to be counted toward the IS requirement: Latin American Culture and Society (DR 20), History of the Caribbean (DR 22), Issues of Development in the Caribbean and Latin America (listed under DR 25), and the following courses listed under sampling of PUCMM courses available to the CIEE program participants: Latin American Literature, Contemporary Latin American Literature, Contemporary Dominican Republic Literature, Spanish Caribbean Literature, Introduction to Dominican History, and Introduction to Dominican Reality. Most of the courses are 3 credit hours; a minimum of 8 is required to satisfy the IS requirement. If you get there and want to register for other courses that you think might meet the IS requirement, the Registrar would need course description materials from the university in order to evaluate them.

Courses taken on a CP,/NC basis may not be used to satisfy general education requirements. 

Major/minor requirements: Successful completion of this program meets the overseas study requirement for the Hispanic Studies major and the Foreign Languages major, when Spanish is the 1st language, and for the Latin American Studies minor.

Registration for the next semester: You will receive registration materials for the next semester while you are on your program. We will ask you to provide a list of courses you'd like to take in order of preference. Your registration form will be processed at the same time as forms received from students who are on-campus. We will attempt to get your class schedule to you before the end of your study program. If we are not able to do that your schedule of classes will be mailed to your home address.

We will register you for the semester following your off-campus study program IF, AND ONLY IF, your Cashier's Office account is clear of any debt to the College. Therefore, PLEASE be sure your account is clear before your leave the country. 

Please think carefully about these issues now, and take advantage of your remaining time on campus to ask questions and plan ahead. It is difficult to gather information after you leave campus, and we want your return to go as smoothly as possible.

The following people can help you with your planning:

 

Sharon Deal <deal> Registrar's. Office Ext. 7327	Larry Meyers <meyersl> International Education Ext. 7295	Tracey Phillips <phillips> Cashier's Office Ext. 7829
Ron Elmore<elmore> Student Financial Services Ext. 7090	Dell Smith<dasmith> Registrar Ext. 7324	_________________ Your Faculty Adviser Ext. _______

- CIEE page