LEARNINGAGREEMENTMANUAL

LearningAgreement–whatisthat?

All students who study abroad for a semester as a part of their education at StockholmBusiness School (SBS) should complete a Learning Agreement. This manual outlines andexplainstheLearningAgreementprocedure.PleasereadthroughtheentiremanualbeforeyoustarttofillinyourLearningAgreement.

The Learning Agreement, henceforth referred to as LA, is a document that ensures therecognition of the courses that the student takes while studying abroad by SBS. Moststudents study abroad through one of the SBS exchange agreements, but there are alsomany students who receive exchange placements through the central bilateral exchangeagreementsadministeredbyStockholmUniversity.Somestudents,so-called“free-movers”,choosetomakeallthearrangementsforasemesterabroadbythemselves.

Completion of an LA ismandatory for students who study abroad through the Erasmusexchangeprogramme,whichincludesexchangeagreementsthatSBSshareswithEuropeanpartneruniversities.However,weencourageall studentsgoingabroadtocompleteanLA.Thereareseveralreasonsforthis:

• WithanapprovedLA,studentsareensuredthatthecoursesthatarelistedontheLAcanbetransferredtowardstheirdegree fromStockholmUniversity.Therearethusnounpleasantsurpriseswhenstudentsreturnfromasemesterabroad.

• TheLAoutlinesthenumberofcreditsthatstudentsneedtotaketocompleteafullsemester of studies. Thus, students do not have to be concerned about the creditconversion.

• The credit transfer application process is facilitated for students who have anapproved LA. Since an evaluation of the courses has already been carried out, thecredittransfercanbecompletedinafastandefficientmanneroncestudentssubmittheirapplicationforcredittransferalongwiththeirapprovedLA.Studentswillthenhavetheircreditstransferredwithoutanydelay.

Pleasenote that an approved LAmust be submitted alongwith the application for credittransfer following the completion of the study abroad semester. The credits are nottransferredautomatically;thestudentmustsubmitanapplication.

TheLAshouldbeconsideredasacontractandmustbesignedbythreeparties:thestudent,thehomeuniversityandthehostuniversity.SincetheLAisanofficialdocumentit isquiteimportant thatallpartiessignthedocument.BysigningtheLA, thesigningpartyconfirmsthathe/shehasread,understandsandagreeswiththeinformationontheLA.

WhosignstheLAatthehomeandhostuniversity?

Thehomeuniversity is referred toas”Sending institution”on theLA.ThesigningpartyatSBS is usually theDirector of Studies but it could alsobe anAcademicAdvisor signingonbehalfoftheDirectorofStudies.

Thehostuniversity is referred toas”Receiving institution”on theLA.Thesigningpartyatthehostuniversity isusuallysomeonewho isresponsible for incomingexchangestudents,suchasanInternationalCoordinatororAcademicAdvisor.

HowistheLAdrawnup?

AtSBS theLA isdrawnup inFastregand is initiallyanelectronicdocument.However, thefinalLAwillbeaprinteddocumentasitistobesignedbythreeparties.

• StudentswhogoonexchangethroughtheErasmusprogrammeareusuallyrequiredto complete two LA’s: one from the home university and one from the hostuniversity.Thereasonforthisisthattheexchangemustbedocumentedbyboththesending and the receiving institution. The LA that students receive from their hostuniversity (receiving institution)doesnot replace the LA in Fastreg. StudentsmustalwayshavetheLAfinalizedinFastregandanychangesmustalwaysbedocumentedinFastregandbeapprovedbySBS.

When you have received an exchange placement, either through SBS or StockholmUniversitycentrally,yourexchangesemesterwillberegisteredintheuniversity-widestudyadministrativesystemLadok.

• Areyougoingabroadasafree-mover?Werecommendstudentstohavetheirstudyabroad semester registered in Ladok as this will provide access to the LA andfacilitatetheadministrationofthecredittransfer.InordertohavethestudyabroadsemesterregisteredinLadokstudentsshouldcontacttheInternationalCoordinatorsat the Office of International Affairs, and inform them of the name of the hostuniversityaswellasthesemesterdates.

When the registration of the exchange/study abroad semester is done in Ladok theinformationwillbetransferredfromLadoktoFastreg.A linkentitledLearningAgreementswillthenappearinthemenuinFastreg(picture1).

Picture1

In some cases students are requested to submit their course selections along with theirapplicationstothehostuniversity,andatanearlystagetheLAmaynotyetbeavailableinFastreg(theinformationtransferfromLadokhasnotyetbeenmade).Ifso,studentsshouldcontacttheAcademicAdvisorortheDirectorofStudiesatSBSforareviewandpre-approvalofcourseselections.PleasenotethatstudentsmuststillfillinandcompletetheLAonceitbecomesavailableinFastreg,evenifcourseselectionshavebeenpre-approved.

WhentheLAhasbeenmadeavailableinFastregyoucanstartfillinginthedocument.TheLAshould be completed, submitted, approved, and signed by you and the home universitybeforeyouleaveforthestudyabroadsemester.

• As per the settings in Fastreg, the LA is open for editing up until a certain date,usually a few weeks in to the semester abroad. The document is then closed foreditingand itwillno longerbepossibletodrawupanLA. It isvery important thatyoufillintheLAandgetitapprovedontime.DrawingupanLAwhenthesemesterabroadiscomingtoitsendispointless.

ByclickingonthelinkLearningAgreementsinthemenuinFastregyouwillbeforwardedtotheLAselectionpage.MoststudentswillonlyhaveoneactiveLA,butinafewcasesitcouldhappenthat studentsgoabroadmore thanonce.Suchstudentswill thenhavemore thanoneLAinFastreg.Picture2belowshowsthestandardcaseofastudentwithoneLA.Picture3showsthecaseofastudentwithmorethanoneLA.

Picture2

Picture3

The title of the LA refers to the semester when you fill in and submit your LA, ie. thesemester before the actual study abroad semester. The LA in picture 2 above is entitled“V13LearningAgreements” (V=“vår”,spring, inSwedish). In thiscasethestudent is thusgoingabroad the following semester, ie. theautumnof2013 (H13,H= “höst”, autumn, inSwedish).

WhenyouclickonthelinkforyourLA(V13LearningAgreementsintheexampleinpicture2)youwill be forwarded to the actual LA (picture 4). At the top of the page there is someinformationtohelpyoucompletetheLA–pleasereadtheinformation!

Picture4

Whenyouhavereadtheinformation,youcanstartfillinginyourLA.Clickonthelink“Addanewcourse…”(picture5).

Picture5

When you click on ”Add a new course…” you will access the form where you enterinformationaboutacourse(picture6).

Picture6In

In order for us to be able to assess the course the form must contain the followinginformation:

• CourseTitle• CourseDescription• LocalCredits

Werecommendstudentstoenterasmuchinformationaspossibleintheform.

The fieldsallow fora limitednumberofcharacters.Theremaynotbeenoughspace foralongcoursedescriptionintheCourseDescriptionfield.Therefore,werecommendstudentstoalsoaddalinktotheentirecoursedescriptionintheCourseURLfield.

Whataboutcredits?

All universities in Europe (except most universities in the UK) use ECTS credits (or anequivalent system such as Higher Education Credits that are used in Sweden). ECTS is anabbreviation of European Credit Transfer System. 1 ECTS credit equals 1 Swedish credit.Thus, one semester of full time studies at a European university corresponds to 30 ECTScredits. Universities outside of Europe (andmost universities in the UK) use other creditsystems. The student’s home university decides how non-European credits should beconverted intoSwedishcredits.Themodel forcreditconversionusedatSBS isbasedonadegree perspective: the total number of credits/units required for a degree at the hostuniversityisdividedbythenumberofyearsofstudyrequiredtocompletethedegree.Thatgives us an average credit requirement/year, which is to be comparedwith the standardcreditrequirementoftheSwedishacademicyear. Insomecases,youwillreceivedifferentinformation on the credit requirements from your host university. Domestic students orotherexchangestudentsatthehostuniversitycouldalsohavedifferentcreditrequirements.Itishoweverimportanttonotethattheultimatedecisionofcreditconversionlieswiththehomeuniversity.

When you enter information about a course you should complete the Local Credits field,unless your host university is located in Europe and uses ECTS credits. In that case youshouldcompletetheECTScreditsfieldinstead.Alwaysenterthenumberofcreditsstatedonthecoursedescription/syllabus.Theconversion intoECTS/Swedishcredits isdonebyus inconnectiontotheassessmentofthecourse.StudentswhocompletetheLocalCreditsfieldcanthusleavetheECTScreditsfieldblank.IfyouwishtoobtaininformationaboutthecreditconversionfactorforyourhostuniversityyouarewelcometocontacttheAcademicAdvisorortheDirectorofStudies.

Whenyouhaveenteredallinformationaboutthecourse,clickon”Save”(picture7).

Picture7

Whenyouhaveclickedon”Save”youwillbedirectedbacktotheLA.Thecoursethatyouhave entered and saved now appears on your LA (picture 8, next page). The course is“Editable”; at any timeyoucangobackandmakechanges to the course formby clicking“Change”.Thatwilldirectyoubacktothecourseformandyouwillbeabletoedit.Whenyou havemade changes you should always click “Save” in the course form. You can alsodeleteacoursefromyourLAbyclicking“Delete”.

Picture8

You add more courses by clicking ”Add a new course…” and repeating the procedureoutlinedabove.Youshouldaddenoughcoursestocoverafullsemester(correspondingto30ECTS/Swedish credits). It is alsopossible toadda fewextra courses; thiswill allow forsomeflexibilityincaseofconflictingschedules,cancelledcoursesetc.However,pleaseaddonlyafew(approximatelytwotothree)courses–donotaddtheentirecoursecatalogueofyourhostuniversity!

YoucanedityourLAaslongasyoudonotclick“Sendin”(pleaseseebelow)andyoucanlogoutofFastregandcontinueeditinglateron.YoursavedcourseswillstillappearonyourLAthenexttimeyoulogintoFastreg.

Whenyouaresatisfiedwithyourcourseselectionandhaveaddedallyourcourses,clickon“Next”(picture9).

Picture9

Thiswilldirectyoutoapagewithanumberoffieldstobecompleted(picture10).

Picture10

Thefield“Nationality”referstothecountrytowhichyoubelongadministrativelyandthatissuestheIDcardand/orpassport,e.g.yourcitizenship(forexample“Swedish”).

The“Fieldofeducation”only applies tostudents in theSwedishBachelor’sprogramme inBusinessAdministration (Kandidatprogram i företagsekonomi). Ifyouareastudentof thatprogrammeyoushouldenteryourchosenspecialization,e.g.“Marketing”.Studentsofanyotherprogramme,orfree-standingcourses,donotcompletethisfield.

“Language”referstothemain languageof instructionofthecoursesyoutakeatthehostuniversity.MoststudentsstudymainlyinEnglish(regardlessoftheirhostcountry)butotherlanguagescouldoccasionallyapply. If youare takinga languagecourse in the languageofthehostcountrybuttakeothercoursesinEnglishyoushouldselectEnglish.

Inthefield“Leveloflanguage”youshouldassessyourownlevelofcompetenceinthemainlanguageofinstruction(thelanguageyouselectedinthe“Language”field)atthestartoftheexchangeperiod.PleaserefertothedescriptionoftheEuropeanLanguageLevels(CEFR)at:https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/resources/european-language-levels-cefr

Inthefield“Universityaddress”,enterthepostaladdressofyourhostuniversity.

Pleasenotethatallfields,except“Fieldofeducation”,aremandatory.Asmentionedabove,studentsintheSwedishBachelor’sprogrammeinBusinessAdministrationmustalsocomplete“Fieldofeducation”.

YourLAisnowalmostcompleted.ThefinalstepistosubmittheLAforassessmentbyclicking“Sendin”(picture11).Pleasenotethatonceyouclick“Sendin”yourLAwillbelocked!MakesurethatyouhavefinalizedyourcourseselectionbeforeyousubmityourLA.

Picture11

• ItispreferablethatyouenterupdatedandcurrentcourseinformationwhenyoufillinyourLA.TheLAshouldnotbesubmittedandthenchangedseveraltimesbeforeyou go abroad. You should therefore make a well thought-out course selectionbeforeyousubmityourLA.

When you have submitted your LA for assessment the appearance of the course list willsomewhat change and the status of your courses will be “Processed”, indicating that anassessmentisinprocess(picture12).YouarenowunabletomakechangesandshouldawaitaresponsefromtheDirectorofStudiesortheAcademicAdvisor.

Picture12

Whenacoursehasbeenapproved,thestatuswillchangeaccordingly(picture13).Youwillalsobeabletoseeifacoursehasbeenrejected.LocalcreditsforallapprovedcourseshavenowbeenconvertedintoECTScredits.

Picture13

If a course has been rejected theAcademic Advisor or theDirector of Studieswill unlockyourLAsothatyoucanedit.Atthisstage,youcanaddnewcoursesanddeleteoreditthecoursethatwasrejected(picture14).

Picture14

YouwillalsobeabletoaccessthecoursethatwasrejectedandreadthecommentfromtheAcademicAdvisorortheDirectorofStudies.Thecommentshouldclarifywhythecoursewasrejected(picture15).

Picture15

WhenyouhavemadechangesandsavedyoucansubmityourLAagain.

WhenyourLAhasbeenassessedandapprovedbytheAcademicAdvisorortheDirectorofStudiesyouwillreceiveanautomatice-mailasconfirmation. Inthee-mailyouwillalsoberequestedtocollectthepaperversionofyourLA.YoudonotneedtoprintyourLA,thiswillbedonebytheAcademicAdvisorortheDirectorofStudies.ItisimportantthatyoucollectyourapprovedLAbeforeyourdeparturefortheexchangesemester.WhenyoucollectyourLAyouwillberequestedtosignthedocument.Wewillkeepacopyofthedocumentandyouwillreceivetheoriginaldocument.Bringtheoriginaldocumenttothehostuniversityandaskfortheirsignature.Keepthesigneddocument!

YouwillfindanexampleofanapprovedandfinalizedLAattheendofthismanual.

ChangestoLearningAgreement

It isquitecommonthat studentsneed tochangeoneor severalof their courseselectionsonce they arrive at the host university. The reasons can vary: a selected course could becancelled, there could be conflicts in the schedule or the host university could deem thestudent ineligibletotakeacertaincourse, forexample.Thestudentmustthenselectnewcourses,andtheLAwillnolongermatchthefinalcourseselectionofthestudent.Allkindsof changes to the course selection must be approved by us and the changes must beformalizedthroughChangestoLearningAgreement,henceforthreferredtoasChanges.

• Pleasenotethatanapprovalofchangesfromthehostuniversityisnotsufficient!The decision of approval of credit transfer lieswith your homeuniversity and it isthus the home university that must approve all course selection changes. Pleasenotifyusassoonaspossibleifyoumakeanykindofchange.

TheChangeswillbecomeavailableinFastregasofacertaindate,usuallyafewweeksintothestudyabroadsemester.TheChangesisonlyavailabletostudentswhoalreadyhaveanapproved LA. It is not a separate form but can be accessed through the link LearningAgreementsintheFastregmenu,justliketheLA.

ByclickingonthelinkLearningAgreementsandthenonyourLA(H16LearningAgreementsintheexample)youwillaccessyourLA,butyouwillnotethattheheadlinehaschangedtoChanges to learning agreement (picture 16). The information will also be somewhatdifferent.

Picture16

Youwillnotethatitisnowpossibletoaddcoursesanddeletepreviouslyapprovedcourses.

WhenyoufillinyourChangesyoushouldaddanynewcoursesanddeletethecoursesthatyouwillnolongertake.Coursesthatremainonyourcurriculumshouldnotbeeditedinanyway.

WhenyouaddanewcourseyoucompletetheforminthesamewayyoudidforyouroriginalLA,butyoumustalsoprovideareasonforthechange(picture17).

Picture17

Therearethreealternativesinthedrop-downmenu“Väljorsak”,selectreasonforchange(picture18).

Picture18

Ifyouhaveaddedanewcourseasreplacementforadeletedcourseyoushouldselectno.5,“Substitutingadeletedcomponent”.

Ifyouhaveextendedyourmobility(exchange)periodandneedtoaddacourseyoushouldselectno.6,“Extendingthemobilityperiod”.Pleasenotethatthisalternativeisveryunusual,sincetheSBSexchangeperiodsnormallyonlycoveronesemesterandcannotbeextended.

Ifyouhaveaddedanewcourseforanyotherreasonthantheaboveyoushouldselectno.7,“Other(pleasespecify)”.

Shouldyouselectno.7anewfieldwillappear(picture19).Inthisfield,youshouldenterthereasonforaddingthenewcourse.

Picture19

Whenyouhavecompletedtheformyoushouldsavethenewcourse.

TheaddedandsavedcoursenowappearsonyourChangesandthecoursecanbeediteduntilyousubmityourChanges(picture20).

Picture20

Ifyouwanttodeleteacoursethatyouwillnottakeyoushouldclickon“Delete”nexttothecoursename.Amenuwillappearandyoushouldnowindicatethereasonforthechange(picture21).

Picture21

Ifyourreasonfordeletingacourseisthatitwasnotofferedorthatyoudidnotgetaseatinthecourseyoushouldselectno.1,“PreviouslyselectededucationalcomponentisnotavailableattheReceivingInstitution”.

Ifyouhavedeletedacoursebecauseitisofferedinadifferentlanguagethanwaspreviouslyspecified(andyouareunabletotakethecoursebecauseofthelanguageofinstruction)youshouldselectno.2,“Componentisinadifferentlanguagethanpreviouslyspecifiedinthecoursecatalogue”.

Ifyouhavedeletedacoursebecauseofschedulingconflictsyoushouldselectno.3,“Timetableconflict”.

Ifthereisanotherreasonthananyoftheaboveforthedeletionofacourseyoushouldselectno.4,“Other(pleasespecify)”.

Ifyouselectno.4anewfieldwillappear(picture22)whereyoushouldoutlinethereasonforthedeletionofthecourse.

Picture22

Whenyouhaveenteredyourreasonfordeletingthecourseyoushouldclickon“tabort”,delete.

Adeletedcoursewillnotdisappearfromthecourselistbutwillbelabelled“Deleted”(picture23).

Picture23

Whenyouhavefinalizedyourchangesyoushouldclickon”Next”andthen“Sendin”tosubmityourChangesforassessment.

• Normally, changes should only bemadeonce. You should therefore consider yourchanges carefully before you submit your Changes. The submitted and approvedChanges should be your final course selection document. If youwant feedback onpotential course selections before you submit your Changes you are welcome tocontacttheDirectorofStudiesortheAcademicAdvisorbye-mail.

WhentheChangeshasbeenassessedandapproveditwillbeindicatedinFastregandyouwillalsoreceiveanautomatice-mailasconfirmation.Picture24showstheappearanceofanapprovedChangesinFastreg.Itisnolongerpossibletoeditatthisstage.

Picture24

JustastheLA,theChangesshouldbesignedbythreeparties:thestudent,thehomeuniversityandthehostuniversity.ThestudentisusuallyalreadyabroadwhentheChangesisdrawnup.TheChangesisthenprintedbythehomeuniversity,signedbytheDirectorofStudies(oranAcademicAdvisor),scannedande-mailedtothestudent.WhenyoureceiveyourapprovedChangesyoushouldprintthedocument,signitandaskthehostuniversityfortheirsignature.TheprocedureisthesameasfortheLA.

• Please note that all three parties (the student, the home university and the hostuniversity)mustsignboththeLAandtheChanges!Whenthedocumentshavebeensignedyoushouldkeepthemandbringthemhome.Thus,ifyouhaveaChangesyoushould bring two documents when you return home: the original LA and theoriginalChanges.Bothdocumentsmustbesubmittedalongwithyourapplicationfor

credit transfer.Do not forget to apply for a credit transfer – the credits are nottransferredautomatically!

YouwillfindanexampleofanapprovedandfinalizedChangesatthefinalpagesofthismanual.

Pictures 25-26 show a finalized and approved LA. Every course has been classified by theDirectorofStudiesortheAcademicAdvisor.There isalsoacommentthatcan includethecreditconversionfactor.Thestudentshouldsignby“Student’ssignature”onallthepages.

Picture25

Stockholm

University ACADEMIC YEAR 2016/2017

KALLE ANKA

LEARNING AGREEMENTField of study and subject area code: 340

Name of student: KALLE ANKA

Sending institution: STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY

Receiving institution: ISC Paris

Enrolled in exchange studies:

Date of birth: 111111-1111

Country: SWEDEN

Country: FRANKRIKE

Coursecode Coursetitle ECTS

Nationality: Svensk

Field of education: Marknadsföring

Gender: Male

Study cycle: Bachelor (SEKOM)

Address: 10 Rue de l'Université, 10000 Paris, France

Language of instruction: English Level of language competence: C1

University address: S-106 91 Stockholm Erasmuscode: S STOCKHO01

Erasmuscode: ISC P

ACCT430 Advanced Financial Accounting FEK GN 6,00

Student's signature:

SENDING INSTITUTION

RECEiVING INSTITUTION

I confirm that the proposed learning agreement is approved and that the student will get a credit transfer after completion.

Departmental coordinator:

E-mail:

Phone incl. country code: + Departmental coordinator's signature and date

I confirm that the proposed learning agreement is approved.

Departmental coordinator:

E-mail:

Phone incl. country code: + Departmental coordinator's signature and date

NOTE that the Learning Agreement is a preliminary approval of credit transfer. The Learning Agreement should accompany your application for credit transfer

upon the completion of the study abroad period.

Commitment By signing this document, the student, the Sending Institution and the Receiving Institution confirm that they approve the Learning Agreement and that they will

comply with all the arrangements agreed by all parties. Sending and Receiving Institutions undertake to apply all the principles of the Erasmus Charter for Higher

Education relating to mobility for studies (or the principles agreed in the Inter-Institutional Agreement for institutions located in Partner Countries). The

Beneficiary Institution and the student should also commit to what is set out in the Erasmus+ grant agreement. The Receiving Institution confirms that the

educational components listed in Table A are in line with its course catalogue and should be available to the student. The Sending Institution commits to

recognise all the credits or equivalent units gained at the Receiving Institution for the successfully completed educational components and to count them towards

the student's degree as described in Table B. Any exceptions to this rule are documented in an annex of this Learning Agreement and agreed by all parties. The

student and the Receiving Institution will communicate to the Sending Institution any problems or changes regarding the study programme, responsible persons

and/or study period.

Louise Faymonville

loh@sbs.su.se

+46 8 162673

Picture26

Pictures27-29showafinalizedandapprovedChanges.Thecoursesthathavebeenchanged–deletedoradded–aremarkedwithanX.Allothercoursesareunmarked.Thereisalsoacolumnwithdigits indicatingthereasonforachange.ThedigitsareexplainedonthefinalpageoftheChanges.

Picture27

Picture28

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