OUTWARD allows us to keep track of how units are used in study abroad programs, the credit awarded and the academic equivalence of units. The potential of credit history information in guiding you in unit selection is obvious.

At its simplest level, the credit history of a unit records whether a unit has been used in a study abroad program at UWA, when it was taken and the home universities of the students who have taken the unit. UWA is endeavouring to record what home credit was awarded for the UWA unit and, where it replaced a required course in the home curriculum, the equivalency of the UWA unit. Until this has been arranged we show in the credit details section for all record, Unit completed - credit details not recorded.

The OUTWARD credit database also shows what courses UWA students have completed at your university and the credit they received for the equivalent UWA unit(s). This information is useful for you in assessing which units you need to complete at UWA that will satisfy the courses requirements in your home degree program.

Search options are:

• Home University: You can select the home university of students that completed units at UWA. This section ONLY shows incoming students and the units they completed. The next section shows the details for outgoing UWA students and incoming students from overseas institutions.

• UWA Units: You can select a UWA unit to show the list of incoming students that have completed the unit, the year and semester of completion, the home university, and details of credit history where this is known. This section also displays the credit received by outgoing UWA students for the UWA unit, what university they attended, as well as the equivalent host university unit they completed.

• Keyword Search: This facility allows you to search using keyword(s) in the unit code and unit title section of the database. You can search by UWA unit code and name, or the name and code of non-UWA units that have been recorded in the database.

With collaboration between UWA and all partner universities, it will be possible to record the credit received at home universities for units students have completed at UWA - in particular unit equivalencies between home and host university. We have developed a unique data sharing system where all contributing institutions will be able to make use of credit data of both incoming and outgoing students on their web site. We are currently working with partner universities to maximise OUTWARD's credit information capabilities.