BTAA CourseShare at UO
In 2024 the University of Oregon, along with UCLA, USC and University of Washington, joined the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA). One advantage of joining the BTAA is the opportunity to take part in the CourseShare initiative, which allows students at member universities to join classes in Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs) at other BTAA universities. LCTLs are usually defined in the United States as languages other than Spanish, French or German. So for example, Thai, Farsi, Bengali, Finnish, Wolof and Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) would all be considered a LCTL. Students can take languages that are not offered at the home university with classes taught in online or HyFlex modality.
CourseShare courses are typically long-term agreements between departments at each university, not simply an extension of the university’s course catalog. CourseShare does not have the infrastructure to support every request from individual students.
Some more notes and policies:
Students must be able to demonstrate compelling academic reasons that the language is needed and must receive approval from their faculty adviser, chair, or dean of students.
CourseShare is not available to incoming first-year students (i.e., pre-matriculation students who have not yet begun their first quarter or semester at an institution).
Requests for CourseShare courses must be submitted at least two months before the course begins.
How Does CourseShare work?
Getting Started
Research what BTAA schools offer the language you are interested in. Check their academic schedule to make sure you are available during that school’s dates.
Fill out the CourseShare Petition and send this document to Michelle Hefner mhefner@uoregon.edu.
The first step to participating in a CourseShare is researching online to find universities within the Big Ten Academic Alliance that offer the language you need at the appropriate level and ensure that it is being offered in the coming quarter or semester.
Fill out the CourseShare petition and send to Michelle Hefner (mhefner@uoregon.edu).
Yamada Language Center staff will then contact the CourseShare coordinator at the other institution(s) to inquire about the possibility of establishing a partnership.
Schedules
Students enrolled in CourseShare courses are expected to observe the academic calendar of the institution offering the course. This includes start dates, end dates, and holidays. Please note that nearly all universities in the Big Ten Academic Alliance operate on semesters, with only a few operating on quarters.
Students interested in CourseShare courses should check the academic calendar of the host institution and the times class meetings will be held to ensure they can attend all class meetings.