1. Nicole Kontak Executive Director Transfer Credit & Articulation
ELEVATING TRANSFER: PRIOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
Nicole Kontak
Executive Director
Transfer Credit & Articulation

2. OUTLINE
PLA Types
Credit by Exam
Military Credit
PLA Gap at UA
Information Gathering
Faculty Meetings
Institutional Policy
HLC
Proposal
Faculty Governance
Approval
Current Status, Future Plans, and Recommendations

3. Workforce Training, Certifications, etc. Non-Regionally Accredited
PLA TYPES
Credit by Exam
Military Credit
Workforce Training, Certifications, etc.
Non-Regionally Accredited
Not technically “PLA”, but part of broader conversation

4. Cambridge International Examination Program CIE
CREDIT BY EXAM
Advanced Placement AP
Cambridge International Examination Program CIE
International Baccalaureate IB
College-Level Examination Program CLEP
DSST
In no case may the sum of credits earned through the above examinations exceed 60 units applied toward an undergraduate degree. 

5. Recruit or basic training 1 year or more 8 units 9 months 6 units
MILITARY CREDIT
American Council on Education (ACE) recommendations and university transferability guidelines to assess credit 
Recruit or basic training
1 year or more             8 units
9 months                      6 units
6 months                      4 units
3 months                      2 units
Less than 3 months     no credit
Military Experience (ME) as documented on the JST transcript, and course work on the JST transcript, will be awarded credit based on ACE recommendations and university transferability guidelines.
Max 30 units of ACE-recommended military credit

6. Non-Regionally Accredited
PLA GAP AT UA
Non-Regionally Accredited
Nationally Accredited institutions
System already set up to address this gap
Workforce Training, Certifications, etc.
Portfolios

7. PLA INFORMATION GATHERING
Definitions
Competency based learning
Experiential learning
Prior learning
Literature
Opinions
Research
Articles
Manuals
CAEL
Ohio University System
Colorado Community College System
Lincoln University
Marymount California University
Lone Star College System

8. FACULTY MEETINGS
UA ATF Members: Fall 2017
General Concerns:
Cheating/misrepresentation
Implications for accreditation
College accreditation
Special accreditation
Implications for graduate school
Implications for rankings
Grading
Recommendations
Standardization
3 units max
Not to be used to satisfy pre-reqs
General elective, lower division only
PLA Matrix for ATF meetings

9. FACULTY MEETINGS
Prior Learning Task Force Fall 17/Spring 18
Define
Standards for Awarding
Transcript Process
Evaluation
Course equivalent, requirement, and/or Elective credit?
Student Process
Cost?
Content needed

10. FACULTY MEETINGS
UA ATF Members: Spring 2018
PLA
6 units max
No gen eds
No pre-reqs
NRA
12 units max
Faculty evaluation
CHEA

11. Non-Regionally Accredited Courses
Institutional Policy
Institution
PLA
Non-Regionally Accredited Courses
Indiana University Purdue University Indiana
Life and work experience only given for degree in General Studies
Regional
University of Central Florida
Unclear: Possible petition
UCF is generally unable to accept credits from non-regionally accredited institutions with the exception of limited courses from the list below.
Oregon State University
By Petition:
University of Kansas
Unclear: No vocational
Regional only
Georgia State University
Unclear
University of Colorado, Boulder
Non-transferrable/Case by case
If course work was completed at a school not regionally accredited, a student may specifically request that their course work be considered for transfer. The University of Colorado Boulder will utilize the recommendations of American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) when making its decision.  These recommendations include, but are not limited to:
Seminole State College of Florida
Case by case: Prior Experiental Learning:
individual basis at the request of the student
University of Idaho
University of Texas, Arlington
must request to transfer coursework from those institutions, as well as provide course descriptions and syllabi for all courses requested. The courses submitted will be reviewed by faculty in the academic department most closely related to the content.  
Austin Peay State University
Case by case using form
Weber State University
Petition
Plattsburgh SUNY
Case by Case
Boise State University
Must be verifiable:
Case by case-college approval
University of Missouri
Unclear: Possible appeal
Appeal
University of Louisville

12. Institutional Policy ABOR Peers
PLA
Non-Regionally Accredited Courses
All University of California Institutions
Not awarded for any UC institution
Reviewed on a case by case basis
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Not awarded
Regional or National
University of Iowa
Career-Technical Credit: Up to 16 semester hours as elective credit toward a degree in the Colleges of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Education, or Business. Does not count toward the 24 transferable hours needed for admission
Accept recommendations by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers or the American Council on Education
University of Maryland-College Park
Michigan State University
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Ohio State University-Main Campus
Regional or National (recognized by CHEA)
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
The University of Texas at Austin
University of Washington-Seattle Campus
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Florida
Regional or National (recognized by Dept of Ed)
Texas A&M
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Spring 2018

13. For non-regionally accredited coursework:
HLC
For non-regionally accredited coursework:
HLC Policy: Publication of Transfer Policies, Number: FDCR.A states:
“Each institution shall determine its own policies and procedures for accepting transfer credits, including credits from accredited and non-accredited institutions, from foreign institutions, and from institutions which grant credit for experiential learning and for non-traditional adult learner programs in conformity with any expectations in the Commission’s Assumed Practices. An institution’s periodic review of its transfer policies and procedures should include evaluation of their clarity to those who administer them, to the students who follow them, and to employers and other stakeholders. It should also include the consistency of their interpretation and application throughout the institution, as well as their responsiveness to new types of learning opportunities outside institutions of higher education”.

14. HLC Regarding credit for prior learning (PLA):
HLC states that institutions must establish a policy and involve faculty to evaluate any PLA credit. The policy must establish how the credit is being assigned (how PLA is defined), by whom, whether the credit awarded applies to degree requirements as electives or general education towards the major, and what kind of threshold for “academic rigor” is associated with that assignment of credit. Any PLA credit assigned on a transcript does not carry a grade nor does it configure into a student’s GPA.
Core Components (CC) and Assumed Practices (AP):
CC 4.A.2. – You must have formal process to evaluate all the credit you allow on an academic transcript;
AP A.5.d. – You must establish formal policies on acceptance of the PLA credit, with no promises until that credit is evaluated and approved;
AP B.1.b. – There must be a minimum of 15 of the 60 credits earned (associates) or 30 of the 120 (baccalaureate) earned at the institution itself, that is, not by PLA;
AP B.1.g. – You must establish the ‘maximum allowable credit’ under PLA; this must be documented, evaluated and appropriate for level of degree awarded; and typically, may not be any more than 25% of the degree, as established by common practice;
AP B.1.h – You must establish a minimum requirement for general education, and if PLA is accepted here, how much and according to what threshold of rigor and academic success.

15. HLC LIAISON: PLA Max units Rigor May not be more than 25% of degree
Rubrics and assessment materials
General Education & PLA

16. Proposed Effective Dates
PROPOSAL
14 pages
Background
Rationale
Process
Meetings & Task Forces
Proposed Effective Dates
Policy Draft Language: Undergraduate Transfer Credit
Policy Draft Language: NRA
Policy Draft Language: PLA
PLA defined specifically due to current UA policy on max units for military & exam credit
Management of Policies
ABOR Peers
HLC
People Involved

17. Undergraduate Council Policy Subcommittee Spring 2018
FACULTY GOVERNANCE
Undergraduate Council Policy Subcommittee
Spring 2018
Moved to fall for further discussion
PLA: Overall support
NRA: Concerns about proposed 12 unit max
Questions:
Why aren’t ASU & NAU doing it?
What kinds of PLA has Maricopa proposed accepting?
Among UA peers that review/award PLA & NRA on a case-by-case basis, what are the credit maximums?
Fall 2018
MCCCD Examples of PLA and NRA
Routed NRA syllabi to evaluators
PLA: Approved at 6 units max
NRA:
Revised to 9 units max
Approved at 6 units max

18. Undergraduate Council
FACULTY GOVERNANCE
Undergraduate Council
Proposal narrowed to 1 page
NRA: Request of 2 courses, 10 unit max (approved)
College Academic Administrators Council (CAAC)
Provost Council
Faculty Senate

19. https://transfercredit.arizona.edu/content/credit-prior-learning
APPROVED POLICY
PLA
NRA

20. CURRENT & FUTURE
Currently
2 PLA Submissions
0 NRA Submissions
Next Steps
Collect submissions
Potentially revise policy
Recommendations
Transcript
PLA Guide
Standardization
Rubrics
Assessment materials
Grading
Scores

21. Transfer Credit & Articulation
Questions
Nicole Kontak
Executive Director
Transfer Credit & Articulation