SPACE Agreement- Download HERE>>> SPACE Agreement (Fillable PDF)
WHAT IS THE SPACE AGREEMENT?
SPACE stands for Study Plan and Course Equivalency. The SPACE Agreement is like a contract between you and BSU. It does two things—the first is that it formalizes a study plan between you and your academic advisor—you're both on the same page about what courses you’re planning to take while away. The second is that it establishes course equivalencies—what those courses will actually transfer back as at BSU.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
You complete the SPACE Agreement before you depart for your program abroad so that once you're away, you just follow the agreement and complete your ourses. Once we get your transcript at the conclusion of your program, we will automatically apply the BSU equivalents to your BSU transcript according to what is on the SPACE agreement, as long as you earn the equivalent of a C or better in the course.
STEP 1: CHOOSING HOST COURSES
We recommend starting with your Degreeworks so that you know what requirements you have remaining. While it is common for study abroad to involve at least one general elective, we want you to identify courses on your degree plan whenever possible. Then navigate to the course catalog of your study abroad/away program. To find it, check the program's digital brochure on the BSU Study Abroad Portal, the website of the program provider, or in the case of an exchange partner or direct enroll, the host campus' catalog on their website. Search for host courses with similar titles, descriptions, and learning outcomes as the BSU courses required for your degree plan. It is highly recommended to keep track in of courses that might be a match; you may want to copy and paste course descriptions into a word document.
STEP 2: CONFIRMING BSU COURSE EQUIVALENCIES
You must have each host course equivaleny authorized course-by-course. We encourage you to obtain approved equivalencies for more courses than you are planning to take abroad so that alternate courses are identified in the event first-choice classes are unavailable upon arrival (or in case you change your mind!).
WHO has the authority to approve an equivalency? Great question! It 100% depends on the course. Your academic advisor or your study abroad advisor can help you find out who is authorized to establish a particular course equivalency, but use this as a rule of thumb:
WHAT can you do to increase your likelihood of success in establishing equivalencies? Our advice is that you do the legwork in advance of identifying courses that really do seem fundamentally similar. We also advise that you make your request directly, professionally, and politely. You might say send an email that says something like, "Hi Dr. _________, I'm studying abroad in TERM of 202X in COUNTRY. I'm working on finding BSU equivalent courses for the classes I'm taking abroad. I've examined the BSU course catalog and the catalog at HOST PROGRAM/UNIVERSITY, and it looks like ZYX at BSU and XYZ at HOST have very similar titles, descriptions, and learning outcomes. Would you be willing to authorize XYZ at HOST as an equivalent course to ZYX at BSU? Attached are screenshots of both course descriptions. If you need more information or would prefer I schedule a meeting to discuss, just say the word. And if you're not the correct person to determine this course equivalency, please let me know. Thank you so much for your consideration."
HOW do they authorize an equivalency? The authorized approver(s) will review the information you provide about the course and determine if it meets the standard required for an equivalent course. Course equivalencies must be documented in writing. The documentation can be in an email to you, an email to your academic advisor, an email to study abroad, a note on departmental letterhead, etc. Alternatively, the authorized approver can assist you directly with filling in the fields on the SPACE Agreement. Make sure that the person indeed has the authority to approve the equivalency.
WHAT IF there's no course equivalency? What if the department doesn't authorize the equivalency you were hoping for? That happens. You can still take the class. The equivalency would be INSA400, International Study Abroad. That course is a general elective for graduation, and any course taken abroad can return as INSA400 as a default. In fact, any courses on your study abroad transcript that don't appear on your SPACE Agreement will come back as INSA400.
HOW MANY courses should I seek equivalencies for? It really depends on the term-- assuming you take the equivalent of 12-18 credits during a fall or spring term, you may want to establish equivalencies for 18-24 hours (in case some courses ae full or cancelled, or in case you change your mind while abroad). For a summer term in which you'll complete the equivlent of 3 or 6 hours typically, you may want to secure equivalents for 6-12 hours.
STEP 3: GETTING A SIGNATURE FROM YOUR ACADEMIC ADVISOR
Once you have all the equivalents authorized and documented, it's time to submit the SPACE Agreement to your academic advisor. Meet with your advisor to discuss your study plan while you're away-- how many of these courses are you planning on taking? Do you need to make any adjustments to your degree plan given this Study Abroad SPACE Agreement? Your academic advisor will help you make adjustments and continue step 2 above as necessary. Your advisor should collect the documentation of the BSU equivalents authorized by the academic units. Then they'll sign it and affirm the number of courses that appear on the SPACE Agreement.
SUBMITTING THE SPACE AGREEMENT
Time to submit! Ask your advisor to email the signed version to studyabroad@bsu.edu and CC you, and we'll get it added here for you. Or if you have the signed version, submit it here or email it to studyabroad@bsu.edu yourself. The Study Abroad Office will eventually share the SPACE Agreement with your academic advisor and every academic unit represented on the form, for all parties' records.
BSU COURSE REGISTRATION
Registration for study abroad courses is handled by the Study Abroad Office. Please do not attempt to register yourself for your BSU equivalent courses. We will register you for a placeholder course according to the number of credit hours you request.
COURSE CHANGES
It is your responsibility to ensure that study abroad course equivalencies on the SPACE Agreement correspond to the courses that appear on your host transcript. If you enroll in host courses not previously approved on the SPACE Agreement, it is the your responsibility to contact your academic advisor and the person authorized to establish a BSU equivalency to approve any changes within 5 days from the start of classes on-site. You must submit approvals secured during the program using the SPACE Agreement Addendum.