Considering the Variables and Hypothesizing Solutions for Recognizing Military Experience as Academic Credit MACRAO Summer Summit June 10, 2016 Katie Giardello Director of Veteran and Transfer Initiatives Michigan Center for Student Success Michigan Community College Association

Discussion Agenda Introductions Variables on Your Campus Key Variables and Critical Issues Hypothesizing Solutions Veteran Advocacy What’s Your Hypothesis?

Variables on Your Campus https://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/phBDHNTxX3j6MxB

Key Variables & Critical Issues: The Alphabet Soup of Military Credit DD-214 JST - Joint Services Transcript CCAF - Community College of the Air Force AU - Air University Army U - coming soon! PLA - Prior Learning Assessment CPL - Credit for Prior Learning MOS – Military Occupational Specialty Katie

Key Variables & Critical Issues: National Players DoD - Department of Defense DANTES - Defense Activity for Nontraditional Education Support SOC - Service Members Opportunity Colleges ACE - American Council on Education CAEL - Council on Adult and Experiential Learning MCMC - Multi-State Collaborative on Military Credit Katie

Key Variables & Critical Issues: Regulatory Complexities State Approving Agencies (SAA) SAAs grant approval of VA-eligible education and training programs Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 Federal Aid Regulations SAP/150% rule 90/10 vs. 85/15 rule VA processes can implicate certain bursar practices (i.e. no payment withdraws, etc.) Katie

Key Variables & Critical Issues: VA Assistance for Institutions School Certifying Officials SCO Hotline (ONLY for SCOs): 1-855-225-1159 School Certifying Official Handbook VA ONCE Online enrollment certification MI Education Liaison Representative (ELR) Lisa Cox, lisa.cox2@va.gov; 313-471-3693 MI uses St. Louis RPO – Regional Processing Office Katie

Hypothesizing Solutions: Critical Issues to Explore on Your Campus Priority and capacity for promoting a comprehensively inclusive campus culture for student veterans, starting with intake processes Support for giving credit for competency-based educational structures, such as military training and experience Consideration of alignment of MOS and/or credit recommendations with your academic catalog Faculty familiarity with ACE recommendations Katie

Hypothesizing Solutions: Recommended Areas of Emphasis Application and Registration Processes Transparency of processes- Applications or Veterans, JST Processing, ACE credit evaluations & PLA Consider priority registration for student veterans ACE Credit Recommendations Create equivalencies tailored to your catalog Track credits awarded on a master database (consider making this public) Degree Mapping/Bridge Programming Align military experiences with appropriate academic programs Can result in both direct course credit equivalencies, block credit possibilities for shortening program requirements, or waivers of requirements based on military experience Using Waivers to Recognize Military Experience as Credit Katie

Hypothesizing Solutions: Innovations in Applying Military Experience Global awareness for overseas deployments Foreign Language, if appropriate PE/Wellness for Basic Training Leadership/Management for certain military rankings Waivers vs. credit awards PLA options as supplement to ACE credit recommendations Fast-track/bridge programming in appropriate fields Katie

Hypothesizing Solutions: Get to Know the JST DoD JST Site Introductory video about the JST Opportunities for students and staff to give feedback on the JST ACE Transcripts for Military Personnel Obtain a Joint Services Transcript (JST) Katie

Faculty Evaluation Process Hypothesizing Solutions: Understanding ACE Credit Recommendations Faculty Evaluation Process ACE faculty reviewers must have at least 5 years teaching experience, come from accredited institutions Military Guide Online Search by course or occupation Updated daily Toolkit for Veteran Friendly Institutions Includes a webinar overview of the ACE toolkit Katie

Hypothesizing Solutions: Help others Understand ACE Recommendations Recommended archived ACE webinars – consider using these as training resources on your campuses! JST MOS Review Degree Mapping Katie

Hypothesizing Solutions: Explore Degree Mapping/Bridge Programming LCC’s Military Medic to Paramedic- Nationally recognized! Kirtland CC Military Police Program Central TX College Military Degree Maps Armed Forces Credentialing Opportunities On-Line (COOL) Air Force COOL Army COOL Marine Corps COOL Navy COOL Marine Corps Career Colleges Program (MCCCP) Katie

Hypothesizing Solutions: Transparency for Degree Seekers Resource/reference page for student veterans Examples: Central Michigan University Grand Valley State University Macomb Community College Mott Community College Northwestern MI College Michigan State University Military credit databases MNSCU example Transferology – free to use for military equivalencies! Katie

Hypothesizing Solutions: CMVE’s Next Steps “Rallying the Troops” Outreach campaign geared toward faculty and administrative staff to encourage institutional policy to authentically recognize competencies earned through military service by awarding direct credit toward relevant academic programming. 4th Annual Conference Submit a session proposal to keep people talking about these efforts and get support from your peers! Katie

Advocates for Freedom Katie

Shameless CMVE Plugs: Connect for information-sharing and virtual networking Join CMVE’s listserv to share information and events, ask questions, etc. New website coming soon! Former site still shares good info! Facebook page Complete our annual member survey (responses due July 1, 2016) Learn thru Professional Development Workshops – 4 2016 Spring regional workshops served 150+ professionals 4th annual conference is September 27-28, 2016 in Lansing, MI Follow the Multi-State Collaborative on Military Credit (MCMC) Provide leadership on CMVE’s Steering Committee Serve/connect on one of CMVE’s 5 subcommittees: Academic Credit, Best Practices/Professional Development, Outreach & Recruitment, Post-Military Career Success, SVA/Student Support Katie

Get in touch! Get involved! Katie Giardello Director, Veteran and Transfer Initiatives Michigan Center for Student Success kgiardello@mcca.org New website coming soon! Connect with CMVE on Facebook!