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While Abroad

Emory Study Abroad Handbook
Academic Credit Abroad
Access to Learnlink and OPUS
Health and Safety
Emergency Contact

Emory Student Abroad Handbook

The Emory Study Abroad Handbook contains information on CIPA policies, academic guidelines for study abroad, health care issues, safety matters, cultural adjustment and issues to consider when planning your return home. Students receive a copy of this guide during the pre-departure orientation session. The table of contents includes:

Preparations for Departure
Managing your Money
Academic Credit and Financial Aid
Healthcare Issues Abroad
Safety and Legal Matters
What it means to be an American
Cultural Adjustment
Planning a Possible Career Abroad
Planning your Return Home

Academic Credit Abroad

Emory College academic regulations apply to students while studying abroad: http://www.college.emory.edu/current/standards/pdf/academic_regs.pdf.

In addition to Emory College academic regulations, CIPA requires students to maintain a regular full-time load of academic courses while studying abroad (15-16 hours, depending on the specific program). Students are also required to follow the academic policies of the host intuition overseas and/or the program provider of the study abroad program. In the case where the host institution overseas has a different policy than CIPA and/or Emory College, students must follow the academic policies as outlined below. Students should contact their CIPA Advisor regarding any questions about these policies

S/U

ALL courses overseas must be taken for a letter grade at the host institution. However, Emory College allows students to designate up to one course as S/U per semester while abroad (note: only 20 graduation hours may be taken S/U at Emory). Language classes and courses intended to satisfy a GER cannot be taken S/U. Most courses needed for major requirements cannot be taken S/U, so you should consult with your academic advisor before making the decision to take a class for your major as S/U. If you want to take a semester (or year-long course) S/U, you must notify CIPA in writing within 16 days of the first day of classes of the study abroad program. After this period, no S/U election or changes can be made. You must receive a confirmation email from your CIPA Advisor to finalize your S/U request. Please keep copies of all such emails. Your grade for the course will be changed to “S” or “U” upon receipt of the overseas transcript; you must earn a grade of “D” or better for the class to receive the “S” grade.

General Education Requirements (GER)

To fulfill a GER abroad, you must obtain approval from the relevant department on campus. For instance, if you want to fulfill Section IV B Humanities, Spanish 312, then you must meet with the Faculty Study Abroad Representative in the Spanish department. The Representative must assign the course with the Emory equivalent of SPAN 312 and check the box indicating that this fulfills a GER requirement.

Writing Requirements (WR)

Students may not fulfill WR overseas.

Patrial Withdrawal Policy

CIPA requires that all students maintain a regular full-time load of academic courses while studying abroad (15-16 hours, depending on the specific program). If you drop below 15-16 hours without prior approval from CIPA, your participation in the CIPA program may be jeopardized, and you may be dropped from your study abroad registration at Emory.

As stated in the Emory College academic regulations, “students may withdraw from one or more courses until 4:00 pm the Friday of the sixth full week of class of the semester after the drop-add period” (Emory College Catalog 2007-2009 edition p.59). For students who are studying abroad, the following applies for partial withdrawal:

You must maintain a regular full-time load of academic courses while studying abroad (15-16 hours, depending on the program). You may drop a course based on this partial withdrawal policy as long as you still maintain a course load of 15-16 hours. In order to initiate a partial withdrawal in this case, the process is as follows:

You may withdraw from a course until 4:00 pm the Friday of the sixth full week of class of the semester based on the academic calendar of the host institution.
You must notify your CIPA Advisor via email if you withdraw from a course.
If you withdraw after the official drop/add period at the host institution, but before the sixth full week of class (as defined above), you will receive a “W” on the Emory transcript.
If you withdraw after the sixth full week of class (as defined above), you may receive a “WF” on the Emory transcript, regardless of the specific withdrawal policy at the host institution.
All partial withdrawal requests for CIPA students will be reviewed by the CIPA Advisor and CIPA Director and will be considered for final approval by a dean of the College in the Office of Undergraduate Education.

In some extenuating circumstances, you may request to drop below the regular full-time load of academic courses (15-16 hours) while studying abroad. Extenuating circumstances may be defined as medical need, family emergency, death in the immediate family, or other significant circumstances resulting in unforeseen hardship. In order to initiate a partial withdrawal in this case, the process is as follows:

You must submit a formal letter of petition (via email to the CIPA Advisor or fax 404-727-6724) describing your extenuating circumstance and provide supporting documentation (such as a letter from a medical doctor).
Petitions will be reviewed by the CIPA Advisor and CIPA Director.
Petitions will be considered for final approval by a dean of the College in the Office of Undergraduate Education.
If you do not request approval prior to withdrawing, and you drop below 15-16 hours while studying abroad, your participation in the CIPA program may be jeopardized, and you may be dropped from your study abroad registration at Emory (resulting in “WF” grades for the academic term).
The above policy applies to the student’s registration in study abroad at Emory, regardless of the specific withdrawal policy at the host institution.

For additional details, please consult the Study Abroad Handbook.

Access to Learnlink and OPUS

You may access learnlink from any web browser while abroad (Netscape, Explorer, Opera, Safari). To access your Learnlink account, visit the website http://www.learnlink.emory.edu.

CIPA will send important annoucements regarding registration and other matters via the student's learnlink account. Please contact CIPA if you anticipate not having access to the web.

You may access OPUS while abroad from any web browser at: https://psoftsa.cc.emory.edu/.

Health and Safety

Students are encouraged to utilize the on-site resources provided by the host institution regarding health and safety matters. In addition, students should regularly consult the U.S. State Department website that issues regular and timely statements and information for Americans travelling abroad.

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis_pa_tw_1168.html
http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_1161.html

CIPA also encourages you to register with the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in your study abroad location.
You may do so on-line at https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/.

Emergency Contact

If you find yourself in an emergency situation, contact the on-site program director or coordinator immediately. You may also contact CIPA during regular office hours (8:00am-5:00pm Eastern Standard Time) at: 404-727-2240. For emergencies after office hours, please contact the Emory Police Department at: 404-727-6111.

In the case of health emergencies, you may contact Worldwide Assistance Services From within the US and Canada: 800-243-6124 Outside the US and Canada: international collect 202-331-1596.

Included in the health insurance program (included in the Emory program costs) is access to the 24-hour Worldwide Assistance network for emergency assistance anywhere in the world. In case of emergency, call the number listed above. The multilingual staff will answer your call in English and immediately provide reliable, professional, and thorough assistance.