Some General Guidelines for Transfer Credit
Students may use courses taken elsewhere to apply to a major or minor in Jewish Studies at UF. In most cases, such courses are taken abroad in Israeli programs. This memo sets out some general principles about the transfer of such credits. Keep in mind that the Office of the Registrar has the sole authority to put courses on the student’s official transcript. The Center may only determine whether or not such courses apply to the major and minor.
Provided they have followed appropriate procedures, students who participate in approved UF Study Abroad programs in Israel may have those hours applied to a Jewish Studies major or minor. In transferring specific courses, we attempt to assign a course number that matches a UF course equivalent. If no such equivalent course exists at UF, we assign a JST 3930 (Special Topics) or a JST 4956, Overseas Studies in Judaism.
Apart from this general policy, we follow guidelines for specific issues as follows:
Hebrew – Hebrew courses and/or ulpan hours are credited toward the major or minor based on the recommendation of the Department of African and Asian Languages and Literatures in Grinter 470. Because basic competence in Hebrew is a corequisite for the major and minor in Jewish Studies, the Hebrew hours do not apply directly to the degree or minor. However, students who acquire more than the minimum 17 hours (for the major) or 10 hours (for the minor) in study abroad ulpanim, may have some of those hours applied to the elective portion of the JST major or minor. This is done on a case-by-case basis and usually involves only 3 hours maximum. Hebrew courses taken beyond the minimum while in residence at UF will be applied to the major or minor.
Jewish Leadership Institute – Students who study in the JLI program, administered through Florida International University, may transfer two 3-hour courses to UF. These two courses are accepted for credit toward the major and minor. Students who participate both in JLI and UF-approved Study Abroad programs may not apply credits from both programs to the major or minor except under highly unusual situations approved by the Director of the Center at UF.
March of the Living – We do not apply these courses to the Jewish Studies major or minor although UF may accept them as valid elective credits for other purposes.
High School in Israel – We accept one 3-hour course from HSI toward the major or minor in Jewish Studies. We limit students to a total of 6 hours of credit from 2000-level courses. Because we require all majors and minors to take REL 2604 (Introduction to Judaism), application of HSI credits exhausts the 6-hour limit and no additional 2000-level courses may be applied to the major or minor.
These guidelines are meant to be general and students should contact the JST advisor for specific guidance. The advisor can be reached at 392-9245 or by email.