A Common Approach for Common OutcomesNovember 2014

Prior Learning Assessment Process for ASC-Get into Energy Students

Purpose of Today’s Webinar

To provide understanding and a working knowledge of:

•PLA requirements as part of the Arizona Sun Corridor – Get Into Energy TAACCCT Grant•ASC-GIE common PLA policy, process flow and philosophy behind the commonality•Your accountability in assuring a common PLA process for students enrolling in ASC-GIE energy programs

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History of the Grant

• A 3-Year 13.5M Department of Labor grant for energy programs at five colleges: Estrella Mountain, Chandler Gilbert, Northland Pioneer, Pima and Yavapai

• Focus of the grant is to prepare transitioning adults to reenter the workforce in skilled, high paying careers - many with applicable prior learning experience

• Grant requires the implementation of a common prior learning assessment process

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Charge & Commitment

• Charge of PLA Subcommittee: to gain agreement and adoption among ASC-GIE colleges for a common approach to awarding applicable credit for prior learning to ASC-GIE students who enter the energy programs defined in the ASC-GIE project.

• Commitment by 5 colleges: to adopt common practices relative to PLA to assure that students entering the energy programs defined in the grant would have a common experience regarding PLA review, consideration and credit, regardless of which college they attend.

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PLA Subcommittee Members

Name Title SchoolTerra Benson Registrar Pima

Jennie (Scott) Conway Director of Curriculum Pima

William Fee GIEC Project Coordinator Northland Pioneer

Kristen Hepburn College Project Coordinator Estrella Mountain

Sheila Jarrell Registrar Yavapai

Kenny KeithFaculty Chair, IMO and Mechatronics Northland Pioneer

Joanne Kingman College Project Coordinator Pima

Charlie Perkins Mechatronics Instructor Northland Pioneer

Rose RojasDirector of Transfer and Academic Partnerships Maricopa Community Colleges

Greg WilsonCollege Project Coordinator Emeritus Pima

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PLA Subcommittee Philosophy

• There is shared agreement among the five ASC-GIE colleges that the overriding reason for accepting prior learning is to reduce the student’s time to earning a credential or degree. To that end, the five colleges are committed to making PLA credit decisions that are in the best interest of the student’s acceleration to completion.

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PLA Subcommittee Assumptions

The five Colleges will adopt:

•a common submittal and review process for ASC-GIEC students who seek credit for prior learning•a common point in time in the college entry process when students will be prompted to submit prior learning requests•a common definition of prior learning for the purpose of awarding credit to ASC-GIEC students•a common evaluation process for the purpose of evaluating prior learning and awarding credit 7

PLA Subcommittee Actions

• Mapped PLA processes for each college, identified commonalities and developed a common process flow

• Agreed on common evaluation methods for prior learning: CLEP, IB, AP, credit by exam, military credit using ACE guidelines

• Agreed on a common philosophy regarding PLA for students at each college

• Wrote and gained approval at each college for a PLA Policy Statement

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PLA PolicyThe community colleges that comprise the Arizona Sun Corridor – Get Into Energy Consortium (ASC-GIEC)1 recognize that learning occurs in a variety of settings and that incoming students may have significant, demonstrable learning from experience outside the traditional academic environment. Therefore, students applying to enter any of the energy programs provided by the ASC-GIE C may apply for and be granted college credit for prior learning, provided that the learning meets the definition and requirements of prior learning as established by the ASC-GIEC community colleges. Credit received through Prior Learning Assessment2 at any ASC-GIEC community college is transferable among the ASC-GIEC colleges and may be transferrable to Arizona State University, depending on the nature of study pursued by the student.

– 1ASC-GIEC Community Colleges include: Chandler Gilbert Community College (CGCC), Estrella Mountain Community College (EMCC), Northland Pioneer College (NPC), Pima Community College (PCC) and Yavapai College (YC)

– 2Prior Learning Assessment is defined as the evaluation and assessment of an individual’s learning gained outside the traditional academic environment for the purpose of satisfying a requirement and /or earning college credit. In general the following types of prior learning may be admissible for credit in the ASC-GIEC colleges at the request of the student:

– CLEP, AP and IB Testing– Challenge Exam– Credit by Evaluation – Credit for Applicable Military Training Courses

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Process Flow • The purpose of following the process flow is to look

holistically at the student experience and identify possible prior learning opportunities.

• Key to the process is for the college to raise the question of prior learning with the student at the first meeting.

Walk through of accompanying Process Flow Chart

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Role of Career Coach or Academic Advisor

• Be a good steward on behalf of the student in terms of helping them identify possible credits that can help accelerate their time to credential.

• Ask the agreed-upon set of common questions …during the initial contact with the student!

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Questions for Every Energy Student!

Are you pursuing an energy program? If so…•Have you attended any other accredited college and received credits at that college?

• Have you attended another college in this grant?•Have you completed any coursework that might provide credit through the College Level Evaluation Program (CLEP), International Baccalaureate (IB) or Advanced Placement (AP) exams?•Have you served in the U.S. military?

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Evaluation – Unofficial/Official

•Collect and review unofficial copies of prior learning records

• Provide an unofficial review for prior learning credit during first semester of program

• If all transcripts and documents are received in a timely fashion, some colleges will complete the official evaluation process during the first semester.

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Next Steps

• Review today’s materials.• If you have any questions that weren’t covered today,

address them to the member of the task force at your school.

• Starting from this date on, please implement this process to capture relevant prior learning of all new energy program students!

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FAQ

• Refer to FAQ handout sent out prior to webinar

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Questions?

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Equal Opportunity Employer/ Program 

Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. 

ASC-GIEC programs and services are funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. Program materials were created by the grantee and do not

necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/deed.en_US