1. 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

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

3. Variables on Your Campus

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Key Variables & Critical Issues: VA Assistance for Institutions
School Certifying Officials
SCO Hotline (ONLY for SCOs):
School Certifying Official Handbook
VA ONCE
Online enrollment certification
MI Education Liaison Representative (ELR)
Lisa Cox,
MI uses St. Louis RPO – Regional Processing Office
Katie

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. Advocates for Freedom
Katie

18. 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 – 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

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