§ Rules §
(2009, latest update July 2010)

Animal Behavior Therapy

Requirements—admission, graduation, and other rules for the following programs in Animal Behavior studies: BSc in ABT, ACPAT, CPAT, CPDT, and Post-graduation (Exam ABT) in Animal Behavior Therapy.

1. Students

1.2 A DE (Distance Education) student is a part-time student studying the theoretical issues at home and participating at his or her discretion, except for the mandatory courses, in the on-campus courses, offered by the Ethology Institute.

2. Enrollment and sabbaticals

2.1 A distance-education student (DE) can enroll at any time, the enrollment date being the date of the payment of the first fee.

2.2 The necessary enrollment time for a DE student to graduate, as a BSc, is normally three years and can be no less than 1.5 years.

2.3 Sabbaticals—A student, who is forced to interrupt his/her studies for some major reason, may continue them later, and will keep the obtained credit points, provided that they have been obtained no longer than three years before the student resumes his/her studies, the three years commencing the day the student interrupted his/her studies. The student will have to comply with all the requirements in the program, which may have taken effect since the student left.

2.3.1 Students may take sabbaticals with a maximal length of one year (12 months).

2.3.2 A student may only take one sabbatical during his/her study period (BSc or Exam ABT), unless the student can prove that the application for the extra sabbatical is due to a serious health condition (or parental leave).

2.3.3 All sabbaticals must begin at the end of a term (the last semester a student signed up to). The Institute does not grant sabbaticals in mid-term. A sabbatical is only valid if it is granted in written form.

2.4 When a student resumes his/her studies after an interruption, the student receives credits for previous semesters, if and only if the student has passed a test, an exam, or has had an assignment approved, in that semester.

2.4.1 Semesters where the student has not passed a test, an exam, or has not had an approved assignment, do not confer credits. Thus, we advise students to make sure they have the necessary approved tests, exams and/or assignments before they consider taking a sabbatical.

2.4.2 Students coming back to write their final project, after having been absent for any period, will have to enroll for at least one semester paying the fee effective at the time of the re-enrollment.

2.4.3 Students coming back to their studies, after having been absent for over three years, will have to enroll for the remaining number of semesters, though at least two semesters, before writing their final project. In addition, they will have to retake all the mandatory tests and exams.

2.4.4 Students who have finished a program, e.g. CPAT or ACPAT, and come back to take a more advanced program must comply with 2.4.3.

3. Admission requirements

3.1 The Ethology Institute provides applicants with all the relevant information for any student to decide upon enrollment or not. It is the responsibility of the student, prior to enrolling, to gather the necessary information for him/her to decide upon enrollment. After enrollment, no student can hold the Institute responsible for his/her own choice to enroll.

3.1.1 All applicants are encouraged to sign up for an on-campus course or Summer Camp before enrolling.

3.2 Admission requirements for all students to enroll in the BSc program are equal to High School graduation as required by their countries of origin, or equivalent.

3.3 High School graduation is not required to enroll in the CPDT, CPAT, and ACPAT programs.

3.4 Students with a college degree may receive credits (merit) for accomplished exams. A transcript and syllabus for each subject matter and/or a copy of diplomas must then be sent to the Ethology Institute with the application for admission.

3.5 Students may also receive credit (merit) for other accomplished education programs and work experience.

3.5.1 Students wishing to earn credit points due to merit must send a written application, before enrollment, to the Director of Studies with a description of courses, name of lecturers, copies of diplomas and certificates, or other relevant documentation.

4. Study programs—All students are offered the same program and it is at the student’s discretion to choose the preferred topics. Upon completion all students receive the same diploma; their specialization can be seen on the transcript of records for all exams, assignments, and attended courses (Student Credits Chart).

4.1 There are four program options: BSc in Animal Behavior Therapy (Exam. ABT), Advanced Certified Professional Animal Trainer, Certified Professional Animal Trainer, and Certified Professional Dog Trainer.

4.1.1 The BSc in Animal Behavior Therapy (or Exam ABT) takes normally three years and the student must collect 130 credit points (including mandatory courses, tests, six exams with animals of three different species, final project and final exam).

4.1.2 For the Certificate as Advanced Certified Professional Animal Trainer (ACPAT) a student must study at least two years and collect 80 credit points (including mandatory courses, tests, and six exams with animals of three different species).

4.1.3 For the Certificate as Certified Professional Animal Trainer (CPAT) a student must study at least one year and a half (three semesters) and collect 45 credit points (including mandatory courses, tests, and three exams with animals of three different species).

4.1.4 For the Certificate as Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT) a student must study at least one year and collect 33 credit points (including mandatory courses and tests and one exam with a dog).

4.1.5. Students can see their credit charts on-line at any time when logged in.

5. Responsibility—It is the student’s responsibility to choose courses compatible with the professional life the student has in mind. It is also the student’s duty to achieve a significant degree of proficiency. The diploma of the Ethology Institute certifies a minimum level of knowledge and skills. The Institute is not liable for how a graduate will fare.

6. Fees—general rules for all students

6.1 A student is only enrolled for the period covered by the paid fee, normally one semester at a time, and is free to leave whenever he/she wishes.

6.1.1. A student may also choose the options to enroll for one or three years in which case the student must pay the corresponding fee.

6.2 The fee for a semester must be paid before the beginning of that semester.

6.2.1 The student’s logon and password expire automatically at 24.00 hours GMT (midnight) on the last day of the paid period. Reopening of an account costs EUR 100.

6.3 The fee includes (during the period of the student’s enrollment):

6.3.1 Although courses and seminars given by guest speakers are normally free of charge to the students, the Institute may, when necessary, charge a special fee for a student to participate in these courses or seminars.

6.4 Books, other material, and accommodation and meals on-campus are not included in the fee.

6.5 A student who earns all credit points in less than six semesters must have paid the whole fee corresponding to six semesters before the final project is submitted to approval.

6.5.1 Whenever a student needs or wishes additional time to complete his/her studies, other than the normal six semesters, the student is entitled to buy tuition, and the right to participate in classes, for the fee of one semester at a time.

6.5.2 Whenever a student resumes his/her studies after a sabbatical, the student is entitled to keep paying the original fee at the time of enrollment.

6.5.3 Whenever a student resumes his/her studies after having been absent for over 12 months of approved sabbatical, the student re-enrolls and must pay whatever fee is valid at the time of re-enrollment.

6.5.4 Whenever a student returns to write his/her final project, after having been absent for any period, the student must enroll for at least one semester paying the fee effective at the time of re-enrollment.

7. Fees—for all students and particular programs

7.1 The fee for six semesters’ tuition including all necessary tests and exams to obtain the final diploma as BSc, is EUR 10,800 in 2010-11.

7.2 Students paying one semester at the time, pay EUR 1800 per semester (six months from the day of payment).

7.2 Students paying one year (two semesters at the same time) obtain a discount of 15%, the fee being then EUR 3060 for one year (12 months from the day of payment).

7.3 Students paying for the whole education (three years at the same time) obtain a discount of 30%, the fee being then EUR 7560 for all three years (six semesters, 36 months).

7.4 Paid fees are not reimbursable under any circumstances.

7.5 A student with fees overdue by more than 10 days cannot log in to his/her student menu and records on our database and cannot, therefore, participate in classes, or take tests and exams, and will be removed from the students' mailing list.

7.6 Students enrolled in the CPDT program pay one semester of tuition, which covers all tests and exams necessary to obtain the diploma as CPDT.

7.7 Students enrolled in the CPAT program pay two semesters of tuition, which covers all tests and exams necessary to obtain the diploma as CPAT.

7.8 Students enrolled in the ACPAT program pay four semesters of tuition, which covers all assignments, tests, and exams necessary to obtain the diploma as ACPAT.

7.9 All fees must be paid on-line, either directly or by means of bank transfer.

8. Grants—The institute will confer upon approved application two grants yearly to students complying with the necessary requirements.

8.1 The Professor Paulo Abrantes Grant will be given once a year to one student born and resident in Asia or Africa. The student must send a written application to the EI and attach proof that he or she lacks the necessary funds and has a true wish and realistic possibility to work full time as a BSc ABT after graduation. The grant covers all expenses concerning tuition, assignments, tests, and exams for the BSc program, except accommodation, meals, equipment or other necessary material related to participation in on-campus courses.

8.2 The Engineer Antonio Abrantes Grant will be given once a year to one student born and resident outside the EU, USA, Canada, Australia, and Japan. The student must send a written application to the EI and attach proof that he or she lacks the necessary funds and has a true wish and realistic possibility to work full time as a BSc ABT after graduation. The grant covers half of all expenses concerning tuition, assignments, tests, and exams for the BSc program, which means that the student pays the total fee of EUR 5400.

9. Graduation requirements

9.1 All students must earn 100 credit points to be eligible to write the final project for the BSc diploma (see also paragraph 11).

9.1.1 The necessary 100 credit points must be earned at least six months prior to the date for the final exam (typically by January 31 when students go to the finals in August the following year).

9.1.2 When a student has earned the mandatory 100 credit points, the student is entitled to write the final project after appointment with the tutor designated to him/her by the Institute.

9.1.3 After approval of the project the tutor signs up the student for the final exam.

9.2 Tests—All tests require a 75% score of right answers for the student to pass.

9.2.1 A student has a maximum of five attempts to pass a test.

9.3 Exams—All assignments, tests, and exams must be graded with at least an E (2.0) to be approved.

9.3.1 A student has a maximum of three attempts to pass an exam.

9.3.2 Re-examinations are subject to a fee determined by the Institute Council (EUR 50 in 2010-11).

9.3.3 Students may submit a video clip of their practical exams for reviewing, grading, and approval. These video clips must comply with particular requirements, e.g. format, form, and standard to be eligible as exams. Students must contact their tutors for permission to submit a video exam and for more information on eligibility and requirements for the submission of video exams.

9.3.3 Transfer students, who only miss their final CPDT, CPAT, or ACPAT tests or exams, pay a fee of EUR 100 to take all necessary tests and exams to complete their studies (only valid up to August 31, 2011).

9.3.4 Transfer students, who only miss their final BSc exam, pay a fee of EUR 100 to take the exam and earn their BSc diploma (only valid up to August exams, 2011).

9.4 Assignments—All assignments must be graded with at least an E for the assignment to be approved. A student has two attempts to correct an assignment.

9.4.1 Failed assignments, submitted by a student for a third review upon correction, are subject to a fee determined by the Institute Council (EUR 50 in 2010).

9.5 Grades—All assignments and exams, when graded, will be graded after the following system:

Table showing all subjects, courses, assignments, tests, exams, and credit points

10. Courses, tests, exams, and assignments—Students earn credit points by attending courses, writing assignments, and passing tests and exams.

10.1 Course attendance is mandatory. We schedule two-weeks mandatory on-campus courses once a year. The students must attend three mandatory courses for the BSC degree, and two for the ACPAT program.

10.2 Tests are assessments of a multiple choice format and confer two or three credits points whenever a student passes.

10.2.1 To pass a test, a student must score of at least 75% right answers.

10.3 Exams are assessments of the knowledge and skills of a student in a specific area. The student has to show satisfactorily a series of skills in a fixed program known in advance. There are two types of exams: (1) traditional exams, and (2) video exams. Passed exams confer three credit points in the first year and seven points in the second year.

10.3.1 Traditional exams are held on a fixed day and location, which must be announced at least 30 days earlier. The student must be present at the allocated time for his/her exam or he/she will fail the exam.

10.3.2 Although the majority of exams may be video exams, traditional exams will be held whenever the EI finds it necessary. Students will be chosen at random to participate in these exams.

10.3.3 After signing up for an exam, a student's absence will equal failing the exam, unless the absence is due to serious illness properly documented in writing by a medical doctor.

10.4 A student may submit a video exam to his/her tutor whenever the student wishes, provided the tutor has given permission for the student to submit a video exam on a specific subject-matter.

10.4.1 Video exams must comply with the following requirements: (1) the whole exam must be taken in one shot (clipping and editing is not permitted), (2) the picture must show the student and the animal clearly and at all times (for example, no zooming showing only the animal), (3) the video format must be mov, avi, mpg, mpeg, flv, or mp4 format, (4) the video must start with a ten seconds recording of the video exam data sheet correctly filled in, and (5) the video exam file must not exceed 50MB.

10.5 Assignments are written essays answering several questions.

10.5.1 All assignments must be written on a standard page format and comply with the required minimum and maximum length for that specific assignment.

10.5.2 Students must write assignments in a language agreed upon between tutor and student. English is the EI's official language. The EI tries to give the students some choice of language for their assignments by having faculties proficient in several languages. However, students must not expect the EI to be able to accommodate all language wishes for all subject matters. Tutors will be lenient, to a reasonable extent, when reviewing and grading assignments written by students in English as their second language.

11 Syllabus—The syllabus for all programs consists of a series of subject matters of theoretical and practical character.

11.1 Evolution gives the fundamental principles of evolutionary biology.

11.2 Ethology explains behavior, its functions, development and evolution.

11.3 Animal Learning explains the principles of learning and modification of behavior.

11.4 Animal Welfare gives an introduction to this topic and definitions of the key concepts.

11.5 Anatomy and Physiology gives an introduction to these topics focusing on aspects related to behavior.

11.6 Husbandry deals with the care and breeding of animals.

11.7 EFR for Animals deals with emergency first response and first aid to injured animal.

11.8 SMAF gives the student the morphology and syntax of this language enabling them to write plans of action accurately.

11.9 Pedagogics deals with the principles of teaching.

11.10 Canine Behavior reviews all aspects of canine behavior.

11.11 Equine Behavior reviews all aspects of equine behavior.

11.12 Feline Behavior reviews all aspects of feline behavior.

11.13 Problem behavior deals with common problem behavior in canines, equines, and felines and how to prevent and cure it.

11.14 Canine Practice courses deal with the training of dogs, Equine Practice courses with the training of horses and X-Practice courses with the training of other animals, e.g. cats, rats, marine mammals.

11.14.1 For the BSc and ACPAT programs, there are six mandatory exams. The student must train three different species. For the CPAT program, there are three mandatory exams. The student must train two different species. For the CPDT program, there is one mandatory exam with a dog.

11.15 Measuring Behavior and Statistics gives a survey of the principles in measuring behavior and the statistical treatment of data necessary for all students to complete their pilot and final projects.

11.16 Zoology gives an introduction to zoology focusing on the taxonomy of companion animals and marine mammals.

11.17 IT Practice deals with Individual Therapy, the examination of the behavior of an animal, the preparation of a behavior modification program, and the instruction of the owner of the animal. For the BSc program there is one mandatory on-campus course and one mandatory assignment consisting in dealing with six cases of problem behavior and writing six IT-programs.

11.17.1 An IT-program must be written according to the rules and consisting of a cover sheet and max. five pages.

11.18 Internship consists of minimum 60 hours (two weeks) where the students examine, treat, and write IT-programs for IT-cases under supervision. Internships may be scheduled individually taking into consideration each student's situation. Students pay for room and boarding.

11.18.1 Students may also serve their internship with other institutions depending on approval from the Director of Studies. In this case, we may require longer internships than 60 hours.

11.19 Summer Camp is the annual event dealing with various topics, e.g. companion animal behavior, marine biology, diving, where the student travels and lives on-campus together with his/her peers and tutors for 10 days. Summer Camps must cover four aspects, the academic, the social, the cultural, and the challenging. Summer Camp is not included in the normal semester fee.

11.19.1 The team-building course is normally given during Summer Camp.

11.20 Pilot Project is the preparation project for the Final Project and must include all elements of the Final Project, though summarized.

11.21 Final Project is the student's BSc thesis, which is submitted to two external censors and the student defends in a public session held once a year.

11.22 Optional courses—Students may earn credit points when participating in optional courses or seminars.

11.23 The responsibility of the student—Although the Ethology Institute offers all necessary courses and exams on a regular and yearly basis, so planned as for any student to be able to complete his/hers studies in due time, it is solely the student’s responsibility to pick up courses for attendance in each semester, take tests and exams and write assignments according to his/her own plans. The Institute can therefore not be held responsible for any course or exam a student may fail to sign up to, or deadlines the student may fail to meet.

12. Final exam—The final exam consists of two parts: (1) the Final Project and (2) the public defense of the project and a Behavior Consultation. Final exams are held once a year, typically, but not necessarily, in August. Final exams must be announced at least seven months in advance, typically in January each year.

12.1 A student will begin his/her final project after having earned all necessary 100 credit points. The topic is to be agreed upon by student and tutor. However, it must have an experimental character and a length of 30 standard pages (+- 10%). The final project is submitted for final approval to two external professors in a session where the student explains his/her methods, results, and conclusions, and answers questions.

12.2 To earn all necessary 100 credit points, the student must have had his/her pilot project approved by his/her tutor at least six months before the date of the final exams, typically in January.

12.2.1 After having concluded all exams, assignments, mandatory courses, and optional courses and having earned at least 96 credits, the student agrees with the tutor on a topic for the pilot project, which will be the same as the topic for the final project. The student, then, writes the pilot project and submits it for approval. The approved pilot project confers four credit points, and the student achieves the necessary and mandatory minimum 100 points.

12.2.2 After having the pilot project approved, the student is entitled to begin the final project and the tutor signs up the student (preliminary signing up) for the final exam.

12.2.3 After having approved a student’s final project, no later than at the stipulated deadline, the tutor signs up the student (final signing up) for the final exam and sends the project to the external censors for reviewing.

12.3 Requirements for the final project—The final project is a natural sciences project. It must include in this order:

1. An abstract in English (max one standard page).

2. A foreword (short with general and relevant information, acknowledgements, etc.--max one standard page).

3. Study objectives (this is the introduction).

4. Study methods.

5. Method for data collection.

6. Analysis of the data.

7. Interpretation of results.

8. References (In academic literature, a reference is a previously published written work, which has been used as a source for theory or claims referred to which are used in the text. References contain complete bibliographic information so the interested reader can find them in a library. You can add references either at the end of the publication or as footnotes).

9. Attachments (if necessary).
There is no theory as such. You’re not writing a textbook. You only mention and define the concepts you use. You must give references to all statements, which are not common knowledge. You may use illustrations, but only if necessary, not to fill in empty spaces.

12.4 It is the responsibility of the student and the tutor to verify that a final project complies with all requirements.

12.5 It is the responsibility of the tutor to ensure that a final project has the necessary quality to be approved by the external censors. A tutor must reject a final project, which does not comply with the minimum standard for a BSc project.

12.6 Consultation—The same day the student defends his/her final project, the student is examined in his/her skills to collect data, diagnose and plan a therapy program for an animal with behavior problems. This exam is a real consultation situation where a pet owner, unknown to the student, and his pet (dog, horse or cat depending on the student's choice) are present. The student may beforehand choose between a dog, a horse, or a cat.

13. The Animal Behavior Therapy program (including sub-programs) is a private education program designed by the Ethology Institute, Cambridge e-Learning, and accredited by the Association Of Animal Behavior Counselors with headquarters in the USA.

14. Diploma—After graduation, all students receive a diploma certifying that they have earned their BSc in ABT, ACPAT, CPAT, CPDT, or post-graduation (Exam ABT), and a stamped, dated, and signed Student Credit Chart (transcript of the records). Although other educational institutions, generally, give our students credits for their accomplished studies at the Ethology Institute, this occurs at their discretion only.

15. The Institute Council

15.1 The Institute Council is the executive body of the Ethology Institute. The Council comprises all full-time teachers, one representative chosen among the part-time teachers, one representative chosen among the administration staff, and one student chosen by and among peers.

15.2 The Institute Council approves all rules, syllabus, and exam requirements hereby.

15.3 The Institute Council has the right, when necessary, to alter, cancel, or adjust any of the rules in this document, as well as introduce new rules, to be effective no earlier than 30 days after they have been approved.

15.3.1 Rules stipulated in paragraph seven (fees), however, will remain unaltered for any given student for a period of three years after enrollment provided that the student does not discontinue his/her studies.

15.4 All students have the possibility to contact the Institute Council through their student representative or directly according to rules specified elsewhere.

15.5 This document has been approved the 1^st of June 2009 to be effective the 1^st of September 2009.

15.6 This document has been thoroughly modified the 1^st of July 2010 to be effective the 1^st of August 2010.

Practical requirements for DE students

E-mail address—All DE students must have a POP3 e-mail address that they can operate off-line. Hotmail addresses and similar are not accepted for this purpose.

Skype—All students must have Skype installed and be able to use it with some proficiency.

Webcam—Students must have a webcam (and computer that can handle it) to attend video courses.

E-mail program—Students must have a mail program able to handle POP3 addresses.

MS Word—Windows users must have MS Word XP or newer. Mac users may use MS Word for Mac or Mac Pages.

Contact between DE student and the Ethology Institute

In distance education, where student and teacher do not meet on a daily basis, it is important to stay in contact by other means. Therefore, we require all students to have access to e-mail. Updated your contact details in your on-line profile in case of changes. We encourage students to sign up on Skype when they enroll to keep in touch with their tutors. Skype is free of charge.

You are welcome to write to us as much as you need and usually we try to answer you within 48 hours, although delays may occur. Reviewing and grading of assignments and video exams may take up to 30 days. Whenever delays are expected, your tutor will contact you.

It is important that you keep in touch with us. Even if you are busy during research, or studying a particularly difficult topic, please keep us updated.

Payment of fees

You pay all your fees on-line either by PayPal or bank transfer. Enrollment in one of our study programs will give you an automatic subscription to all our website and you can read all articles and books and enter the restricted downloads area.

Registration for all students

Before you sign up, you must take the registration test. Click back to registration procedure to take the test.