An Evaluator’s Primer

Academic Integrity in the ACE

Review Process

militaryed@acenet.edu

American Council on Education Leadership and Advocacy

www.acenet.edu

Guiding Philosophy

“What an individual learns is more important than when, where, and how the individual learned it.”

www.acenet.edu/CLLL

Center for Education Attainment and Innovation

The Center for Education Attainment and Innovation

• College and University Partnerships • Military Programs / Evaluations • Corporate Programs

College Credit Recommendation Service (CREDIT)

Toolkit for Veteran Friendly Institutions www.vetfriendlytoolkit.org

Evaluation Activities

Evaluate formal courses and occupational specialties

Publish course and occupation

descriptions and academic credit recommendations

Transcript and registry services

Value of an ACE Review

• Academic institutions

• Learners

• Organizations • Military

About Military Evaluations

• The Military Evaluations Program provides institutions with a basis for recognizing military educational experiences in terms of civilian academic credit.

• Since the early 40s, MEP has reviewed and made credit

recommendations for thousands of college-level courses offered by the military services.

• Since 1974, MEP began evaluation of military occupational

specialties as well.

Overview: Process for Military Programs

• DoD contract

• Course and occupation materials submitted

• ACE’s Content Review Committee (CRC)

• Review Team Selection Committee

• Pre-site visit telephone conferences

• Team site visit and recommendations

www.acenet.edu/militaryprograms

About Military Evaluations

2012 Fiscal Year • 41 reviews • 452 courses / occupations • 2,557 SH of credit recommended • 235 teaching faculty members • 165 academic institutions

represented

Military Programs Does Not Evaluate

• Air Force courses transcribed by the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF)

• Military schools with degree-granting status

• Courses outsourced to colleges and universities

• Coast Guard additional skill identifier / qualification codes

Overview: Process for Corporate Programs

• Organizations contact ACE to determine eligibility to participate

• ACE’s Content Review Committee (CRC)

• Review Team Selection Committee • Pre-site evaluation visit • Team site visit and recommendations

www.acenet.edu/credit

Corporations

Government

The National Guide www.acenet.edu/nationalguide

www.acenet.edu/transcripts

ACE Transcript

• Recognized by colleges/universities, state credentialing authorities, and employment agencies

• Learners can maintain their own accounts online

Reflections or Questions?

On to the Evaluation Process

The General Review Process

• 90-60-30 day project cycle • Conduct pre-meetings with points of contacts

• Travel to training locations

• Review materials (conduct interviews for occupations)

• Document evaluation and write descriptions

• Final reports

Overview: The Evaluation of Courses

• Formal military instruction and military occupations specialties; courses approved by a central authority

• Correspondence courses with proctored end-of course exams

• Distance learning/online courses

with documented rigid control test conditions and firm identification of the student.

The Program of Instruction (POI)

• POI parallels a syllabus

• Official course documentation

• Must be maintained at ACE

• All services use POIs • Branch specific

supporting documents

Review Committees

Content Review Committee (CRC) Role • Determines the appropriate content and academic disciplines for

courses and occupations • Reviews discipline alignment by the Classification of

Instructional Programs (CIP) • Determines the scope of the team

Review Team Selection Committee Role • Reviews evaluators nominated for the team • Approves nominations

Evaluator Diversity

University51%

4-Year College27%

Community College

19%

Practitioner or Other

3%

• Accrediting agencies • Types of institutions • More than 7,000 faculty on

military teams (since 1954)

Evaluative Criteria for Courses

Content

Learning Outcomes

Depth and Breadth of

Material

Level of Difficulty

Applicability to Postsecondary

Programs

Assessments

Evaluative Criteria for Courses

Content, scope and rigor must be at the post-secondary level!

Types of Credit

• Graduate

• Upper Division

• Lower Division

• Vocational / Certificate

No Credit Recommended

Course is too limited in scope or too narrowly focused to be comparable to college courses.

Course content lacks academic rigor expected in college-level courses.

Evaluation and assessment methods are inadequate to support learning outcomes and course content.

Material presented for review is insufficient to allow team to make judgment.

Course Review Process Summary

Content, Scope, and Rigor are the key elements of the faculty review.

The review team gives primary focus to course content and learning outcomes.

The final recommendation is a team decision as well as internal oversight prior to any release of credit recommendations.

No magic elixir or secret formula.

Reflections or Questions?

On to Occupation Evaluations

The Military Occupation Evaluation

• Occupation is a job designation by the military service

• Review and assessment are more

experiential in nature

• Teams validate demonstrated and expected job knowledge, skills, abilities by pay grade

Occupation Evaluation (MOS)

• Army Enlisted and Warrant Officer (MOS)

• Navy General ratings, limited duty and warrant officer

specialties, and selected Naval Enlisted Codes (NECs)

• Coast Guard General rates and ratings, warrant officer

specialties, and selected aviation billets (pilots)

• Marine Corps Enlisted ground and aviation MOS

Military Occupation Evaluations: The General Process

Review Committees • Content Review Committee (CRC) • Review Team Selection Committee

Teams • Travel to the military installation • Review official occupation documentation • Interview service members • Develop final recommendations

Military Occupation Evaluations: Official Documentation

• Occupation manuals • Technical guides and training

manuals • Promotion examinations • Study guides • Other official branch specific

documentation

Military Occupation Evaluations: Service Member Interview

• Focus on the representation of the job expectations at the pay grade

• Clarification and validation of the official military documentation

Military Occupation Review: Team Process

• Synthesis of information

• Alignment to current curricula

• Determination of post secondary content and rigor

• Team consensus must be 100%

Serve as an Evaluator

• You must be actively teaching

college-level courses. • When your discipline expertise is

needed, you are contacted directly to serve on the ACE team.

• ACE pays all evaluators an honorarium and travel.

www.acenet.edu/evaluators evaluators@acenet.edu

Faculty Evaluator Database

• Online application • Academic institution

affiliation • Degrees / credentials • Current teaching position • Short biography • Resume or CV required • CIP codes identified • Routinely audited

www.acenet.edu/evaluators

Evaluator Handbook

• Clarifies the review process • Demystifies expectations • Tools, resources, veteran

evaluator tips

www.acenet.edu/evaluators

Reflections or Questions?

On to Transcript Overview

Transcript Services

Validation of credit recommendations

Value of Transcripts

• Degree completion • Training and certification

verification • Employment • Job advancement • Skills documentation

• Advanced college placement

• Courses in certification programs

• State credentials verification

• Resume development

Transcript Complexity

The Transcript

Service member’s record

ACE Database (Military Guide)

Registrar System

(Service specific)

The Military Guide www.acenet.edu/militaryguide

The Joint Services Transcript (JST)

42

https://jst.doded.mil jst@doded.mil

43

Benefits of the JST Expands Return on Investment (ROI) Savings of tuition assistance funds ACE – Servicemembers Opportunity College (SOC) – academic

credit earnings

Uniformity and centralization Modeled after SMART Centralized operations center Single source (Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard)

Alignment of service specific information Branch of service seal Occupations Service guidance and information Centralized web based information for each service

44

Key Components of the JST

Transcript Core Course Completions Military Experience College-level Test Scores Other Learning Experiences (OLE)

Summary Page Displays ACE credit recommendations only SOC Transferability Codes

Academic Institution Page College courses (Coast Guard, Marines, Navy) Certificates, Degrees, Licenses and Apprenticeships

Supporting Service Members and Veterans

No more DD295 Streamlined corrections and update procedures Online access to request official copies Unofficial copies any time Updates or corrections ~ service specific

Timelines Navy / Marine Corps > launched Army > Wednesday, 2/27/13 Coast Guard > TBD

45

Supporting Colleges / Universities

No more DD295 Free transcripts online Delivery turnaround 24 hours

Technical assistance for online accounts Multiple accounts available per institution Secure; PDF format

Limited “mail outs” Feedback opportunities for transcript improvements Error reporting via email

jst@doded.mil

46

JST Key Contacts

JST Operations Web: https://jst.doded.mil Fax: (850) 452-1909 Email: jst@doded.mil

(respond within 24 hours, first work day if holiday or weekend)

Laurine Anderson, Program Manager

Loueen McGrath, Application

Lead/Subject Matter Expert

DANTES Dr. Sandra Winborne,

Manager, Military Evaluations Program sandra.winborne@navy.mil

ACE Military Programs Email: militaryed@acenet.edu Michele Spires, Director

mspires@acenet.edu

Eve Howard, Associate Director ehoward@acenet.edu

47

Transcript Support

JST Frequently Asked Questions https://jst.doded.mil/faq.html

JST Video and Resources

http://www.jointservicetranscript.com/

DANTES Programs http://www.dantes.doded.mil

ACE Military Transcripts Portal

http://www.acenet.edu/militaryprograms/transcripts

48

American Council on Education One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 250

Washington, DC 20036

Toll Free: 866-205-6267

Military Programs 202-939-9470 or militaryed@acenet.edu

www.acenet.edu/militaryprograms

Corporate Programs 202-939-9434 or credit@acenet.edu www.acenet.edu/programs/CREDIT

Lifelong Learning Resource Center

NEW