Credits from Other Departments or Schools
The Environmental Sciences faculty believes that its four core courses, the mix of Environmental Sciences electives, and the required related work in science and calculus is the minimum preparation needed for a graduate to be a competitive environmental scientist. So that we can be confident that majors have mastered the field, we normally require that all of the courses applied toward the major (or minor) be taught by University of Virginia Environmental Sciences faculty. This refers to EVSC courses and the 5000-level equivalents that count specifically toward the major (or minor).
Recognizing that the major represents a minimum requirement, most of our majors take many more courses in Environmental Sciences. Some of our majors do additional course work both at other U.S. academic institutions and abroad. If we can determine that these courses are substantively similar to courses taught by our faculty, credit toward the major may be granted. That decision is made on a case-by-case basis by the Undergraduate Academic Review Committee (UGARC). All appeals for transfer credits must be approved in advance, prior to the start of classes.
DOMESTIC TRANSFER CREDITS
Up to six credits may be transferred into the major. These credits must be pre-approved prior to matriculation. For the course to be approved, it must be comparable to an existing EVSC course or be the type of course that would be taught within UVa’s Environmental Sciences Department. Courses that are not approved as transfer credits include topics such as environmental law, planning, architecture, etc.
If a course has been used in the past as EVSC transfer credit, it may be on the “Transfer Credit Analyzer.” Please go to the following website to determine equivalencies: Undergraduate Transfer Credit Equivalencies for U.S. Colleges and Universities
For complete details about domestic transfer credits, refer to the UVA College of Arts & Sciences Transfer Credit Website and Student Forms (last item on the page).
For questions related to domestic transfer credits, contact Bob Davis (red3u@virginia.edu). When completing the "Request for Transfer of Credit" form in DocuSign, please list the Department Contact as "Robert Davis", email: red3u@virginia.edu. He will process your request once it has been transmitted to him in DocuSign. Note that this approval only applies to environmental sciences credits (major credits)—courses like physics, chemistry, or calculus are not EVSC credits and so Departmental approval is not required.
FOREIGN TRANSFER CREDITS
If you are considering a semester abroad, please take 10 minutes to view the following video:
Click to View / Download <Study.Abroad.mp4 (20.8 MB)>
Students planning to study abroad must first contact the International Studies Office, Education Abroad Division. After identifying a potential institution, you should first check the international “Transfer Credit Analyzer” (Transfer Credit Equivalencies for Select Study Abroad Programs) to determine if the courses you intend to take have been used for EVSC transfer credits in the past.
In many cases, the courses you intend to take during Study Abroad have not been previously vetted by the EVSC faculty and UGARC. Therefore, to make a decision regarding credit transfer, please try to gather as much information as you can about the class. Syllabi, course descriptions, reading lists, web addresses, etc. are essential information to allow us to make a decision regarding transferability. This information can often be from a recent semester. The advantage of this pre-planning is to avoid a situation of taking a course overseas and subsequent finding out that it will not count toward your major. Please note that this process can often take one or two weeks, so advanced planning is very important if you hope to complete your application on time.
You may count up to six transfer credits toward the Environmental Sciences major. For the course to be approved, it must be comparable to an existing EVSC course or be the type of course that would be taught within UVa’s Environmental Sciences Department. Courses that are not approved as transfer credits include topics such as environmental law, planning, architecture, etc.
For questions related to international transfer credits, please contact Bob Davis (red3u@virginia.edu).