Off-campus Courses
Fulfilling master’s requirements
Even though University College Utrecht usually provides an excellent base for entering a master’s, some programs (especially natural science oriented master’s) require more than what the college offers. Example: taking a course in advanced statistical physics to complement a physics track.
Expansion of major or minor
Some students take an off-campus course because they are interested in a sub-field of their major or minor that is not taught at University College Utrecht. Example: taking a course in advanced conflict mediation to complete a development studies track.
Broader interest
Others take an off-campus course simply because they have found an interesting course that is not necessarily related to their curriculum. Example: taking a course in environmental economics while majoring in philosophy
Timeslot clashes
For students who have timeslot clashes or who did not get a spot in the course they preferred, an off-campus course can be a solution. Example: taking a level 2 economics course at the Utrecht School of Economics.
Languages
Also for learning a new language not offered at University College Utrecht, or learning a language at a higher level than offered at the college, off-campus courses can provide a solution. Examples: taking advanced Spanish.
The experience
Finally, an off-campus course can be an opportunity to experience a different learning and teaching environment - some argue that it is good to know how it is to live without the luxuries University College Utrecht provides, such as small classrooms and individual attention.
Ideally, students are in their second year before they consider an off-campus course. The first year at University College Utrecht is important for settling into the intensive study routine, mastering English as an academic language, and building an understanding of the curriculum.
As long as a student meets the pre-requisites for an off-campus course, as stated in the course outline in OSIRIS, they are entitled to sign up for it.
Students are entitled to take up to 22,5 ECTS of off-campus courses as part of their 180 ECTS degree requirement (15 ECTS if you decide to go on exchange); to be taken after their first year. Off-campus courses taken on top of the required 180 ECTS do not count towards the maximum number of off-campus courses. To appear on the UCU transcript, any off-campus course must be requested through the Exam Board. See also the UCU Academic Rules and Regulations.
Utrecht University
See the rest of this page.
Other Dutch universities
Contact the particular university you would like to take a course at for information about their courses and procedures. The same regulations apply as for Utrecht University courses.
Abroad
Many universities offer summer courses or winter courses for international/visiting students. You can find an overview of summer and winter programmes offered by partner universities here.
The UU Course Catalogue
The official database in which all courses that the UU offers are registered is the UU Course Catalogue. Courses for future years may not be confirmed and will not appear in the catalogue until they are confirmed. Selecting the current academic year provides some idea about course offerings next year, but nothing is certain until final confirmation is made.
The Course Catalogue provides course descriptions, instructor/course coordinator contact information, and scheduling information for all courses listed. It also indicates whether particular courses can be taken as a subsidiary course (not all off-campus courses are open to students from other faculties). If you have questions about whether you would be eligible for a particular course, you can try to contact the instructor/coordinator for permission before attempting to register for it.
If you need advice on whether you need to take an off-campus course, if you have troubles finding the right course or if you want to know whether the course you selected is a smart choice, there are four sources you can consult:
Tutor
It is always important to consult your tutor when making decisions regarding your curriculum. Your tutor can guide you through the procedures you have to follow when registering for an off-campus course and can give you useful advice.
Fellows
Fellows are University College Utrecht’s track supervisors. They know what the college offers within their discipline and what not, what is offered at Utrecht University and what is needed to enter a good Master’s programme. They are your best source of information if you want to find out the best way to enrich your curriculum within a specific discipline.
Master’s programmes
Since off-campus courses are a good way to increase your chances to get into and be successful in a master’s programme, it is good to know what courses you are required to have taken.
You are responsible yourself for registering for an off-campus course. Utrecht University has specific periods for course and exam enrolment, please follow the instructions as indicated on the UU course registration pages. For any questions you can contact the Student Information Desk for the faculty that offers the course.
To add an off-campus course to your UCU degree programme, it must be approved by your tutor and the Exam Board before the UCU semester begins. Please ensure that an off-campus course request is submitted at least two weeks before the start of the UCU semester in which you would like to take the off-campus course.
If you want to withdraw from a UU off campus course you need to do the following:
1. Discuss with your tutor how this will affect your UCU curriculum.
2. De-register from the course with the respective department/faculty at Utrecht University where the course is offered.
3. If you received approval from the UCU Exam Board for this off-campus course, you should send an email to the Senior Tutor team and the Registrar's Office, adding your tutor in cc, that you would like to withdraw from the off-campus course.
If you do not do these things, any Non-Complete (NC) grade you receive at UU will be interpreted as an F at UCU, as per the attendance requirement regulations.
Different semesters
While University College Utrecht’s academic year is divided into two semesters, the Utrecht University year is divided into four quarters (‘blocks’). The UU academic calendar can be found on the Utrecht University website. Note that the second and fourth quarter end a few weeks later than the University College Utrecht semesters, which allows for a bigger spread of the workload, but might on the other hand conflict with plans in the winter and summer breaks (you might even have to arrange alternative housing because the 4th quarter sometimes runs beyond the deadline for leaving campus!). Furthermore, you might not be sure about placements in off-campus courses in quarter 2 or 4 before the start of the semester at University College Utrecht.
Timeslots
At Utrecht University the week is divided into timeslots to allow students to make their own schedules. Timeslots at UU do not overlap with timeslots at UCU, and students taking courses off campus may be recommended to leave the entire letter timeslot free to avoid being late for classes when travelling between campuses, please discuss this further with your tutor while selecting courses. You can find information on the UU timeslots here.
Language
Many Utrecht University bachelor's courses, including language courses, are taught in Dutch. On the UU course planner and the UU bachelor's site you can search for bachelor's courses taught in English.
Assessment
The UU uses the Dutch grading scale (1 - 10) instead of the University College Utrecht's letter grading scale. The final grades of a course are usually rounded off to half scores (e.g. a 7.7 will become a 7.5). The University College Utrecht grade that will appear on your final transcript is based on this final grade and is converted according to a conversion table that can be found on this page. Additionally, the final grade of a Utrecht University course can be based on one exam that counts for 100%, which means that there is no other test to compensate for one insufficient grade. On the other hand, the retake policies for the UU faculties apply to your off-campus courses as well. Information about that can be found on the website of the respective faculty (note that retake periods are often scheduled in the first week of January or the third week of August).
Teaching format
At Utrecht University, classes usually meet in two different formats: lectures (‘hoorcolleges’) and tutorials (‘werkgroepen’). During lectures, large groups of students usually listen to the lecturer without interaction. During tutorials, students usually make assignments in small groups and can interact with the teacher.
Workload
Due to shorter duration of most 7.5 EC UU off-campus courses (10 week blocks), weekly workload may be higher than that of a UCU course.
Locations
The Utrecht University courses take place at a variety of locations, distributed throughout the city. You can find the location of your lectures and tutorials on the ‘Schedule’ page of OSIRIS. To know where to go to, see UU buildings.
Off-campus courses are courses that students take at other institutions than University College Utrecht. In practice, most off-campus courses are taken at Utrecht University, but students can also take off-campus courses at other Dutch universities, or even abroad.
Not all such courses are formally considered off-campus courses; exceptions include exchange courses, courses of a fixed program (e.g. TLP, China) and law courses for the double degree program in Liberal Arts & Sciences and Law.