Course Evaluation

College and Registrar Forms

When do I need to request a course evaluation?

When you transfer in a Biology course from out of state or from a private Flordia School, each one must be evaluated to see if it is equivalent to the courses taught by the Department of Biology at USF, or is eligible for Biology elective credit if we don't teach the same course. Biology courses vary widely, even if they have the same name.

This can be confusing because you received a letter from USF telling you that your courses were accepted. This just means that courses from an acredited school were accepted. It does not mean that equivalency by a Department has been determined. Take a moment to look at the SASS report that you received from your advisor or printed from FACTS.org. Let's use PCB 3023 Cell Biology as an example. If you received equivalent credit then on your report you will see PCB 3023 with a + sign next to it and below it your course code. This means you have received equivalent credit. If you took Cell Bio at your school but you don't see this, then equivalency has not been determined.

What is the procedure for course evaluation?

Use the course evaluation form. Complete one form for each class and attach a full syllabus. Bring, mail or fax the information to Biology Advising according to the information on the form. Be sure the syllabus has the following information:

Text used and year of publication
Detailed outline of topics and chapters covered
the same information for the lab if a lab is being evaluated

The Department of Biology does not accept course descriptions from catalogues. Call your school and get a syllabus. Most schools keep these on file for many years. We have syllibi going back over 20 years and we know that most schools keep them.

Overseas schools. If your syllabi are in Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Vietnamese, Chinese, Arabic or Bulgarian we have staff and faculty who can read them without translations being needed. Otherwise, you will have to provide a third party translation. We cannot accept your personal translation.

Courses taken more than 10 years ago. If you took the class more than 10 years ago, you are out of date in your knowledge and will have difficulty with upper level classes. We do not grant equivalency in this instance. You may request a competency exam. If you pass the exam, then credit will be given and you can proceed. If not, then you must retake the course if you want credit.