About Us
School of Record
Overview:
The University of South Florida (USF) is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the following degree types: Associates, Baccalaureates, Masters, Specialist, and Doctorate degrees. Located in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, Florida, USF holds the Carnegie Classification of a Research Very High institution and is one of the largest public universities in the nation, and among the top 50 universities, public or private, for federal research expenditures. For more information about USF, please see our annual USF Facts publications.
USF recognizes the importance in higher education for institutions to ensure high academic standards in Global Learning and recognizes that Schools of Record play a key role in ensuring that students have an academically rich educational experience abroad and receive appropriate credit for the academic work completed abroad. In accordance with the Forum on Education Abroad’s Guidance on School of Record Relationships for Global Learning, the University of South Florida proudly serves as the accredited institution documenting and awarding U.S. credits for courses in partnership with Sea|Mester.
USF’s School of Record Processes:
USF conducts regular site visits to its partner institutions to ensure academic and programmatic integrity and quality. A member of the USF community also sits on the advisory boards of each of its School of Record partners.
USF faculty from relevant departments evaluate each syllabus from our partner institutions to determine the USF course equivalency. In addition, the curricula vitae and copies of transcripts or diplomas of our partner institutions’ faculty are reviewed and approved by departmental chairs and college deans to ensure that they are qualified to teach in the academic discipline and/or area of specialization.
USF considers partner institutions’ courses to be, in every respect, the equivalent of a USF course. However, since USF recognizes that students are enrolled in our partners’ courses, the credit is shown as “transfer” rather than “institutional” credit on the USF transcript. The original foreign-taught course title, course number, number of credits and grade are included on the transcript, followed by the USF equivalent. This most accurately represents the connection between the foreign course and the USF equivalent.
Students who require duplicate official transcripts from a previous study abroad experience should contact the Global Learning Office for assistance. Standard transcript fees are assessed. Information on obtaining additional transcripts can be found here.
current partners:
Sea|Mester
Sea|Mester programs are undertaken on sailing vessels that circumnavigate the globe. Students live on board the ships with professional sailing and teaching staff. It is an ongoing learning experience with programs ranging from 20 to 90 days in duration. The voyages take students to the Caribbean & Lesser Antilles; Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean; Pacific Ocean and Polynesia; Australia and Indonesia; and to Asia, India and Suez Canal. In 2011, Sea|Mester was awarded the prestigious Sea Education Program of the Year Award by Tall Ships America (Formerly the American Sail Training Association). Sea|mester offers a limited number of courses each year (typically under 10) that relate to marine biology, oceanography, meteorology, geology, navigation skills, and leadership.
The SoR relationship was established in 2014 by recommendation of faculty from the Integrative Biology department who had worked on the SEA|Mester program for several years.
For questions regarding USF’s School of Record relationships, please send us an email.