Post on 23-Dec-2015
Total Integration: Prior Learning Assessment, College and Corporate Articulation
2012 CIAC Annual Conference
Western International
University of Phoenix
April 27, 2012
ABOUT WESTERN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Today: Campuses are located in Phoenix, Chandler, and Scottsdale, Arizona and
wherever you are with our West Interactive Online campus
The West Story
Phoenix, AZ Chandler, AZ
1978
Western International University was founded in
Phoenix, AZ
1984
Accredited by The Higher Learning Commission
2002
Launched Interactive Online Program
2010
Became part of Apollo Global, a consolidated subsidiary of Apollo Group, and joined with sister schools in the United Kingdom, Chile,
and Mexico
Scottsdale, AZ
Why Students and Corporations Choose to Go West
Global Perspective
Inspiring Teachers
Online ClassesReplicate Campus
Experience
International Curriculum
Maximum Flexibility
Support ServicesSmall
Class SizePrior Learning Assessment
CORPORATE ARTICULATION
Why Implement Corporate Articulation:• To build a skilled and knowledgeable workforce
• To increase productivity and employee retention
• To grant their employees college level credit for corporate trainings and certifications
• To strengthen employee loyalties and aid in succession planning, retaining employees who are eager to improve their skills with educational development
• To add value to internal training programs by giving the reward of college credit as an extra benefit
• To help control corporation’s overhead on educational costs.
How West Partners with Corporate Organizations
• Our dedicated Corporate Education Department:– Creates and grows strategic relationships – Fosters integrity and social responsibility – Focuses on partnering with corporate organizations that change lives through education
• Through discovery meetings our Corporate Education Liaisons work in concert with the organization to identify which opportunities will benefit the partner organization the most– Opportunities may include:
• Providing services onsite• Educational attainment surveys• Community workforce development events• Workshops• Benefits fairs
Corporate Articulation Workflow
Develop list of corporate organizations who would benefit from
West’s services
Schedule discovery meeting with organization
Create original proposal based on meeting outcomes
Upon corporate approval, West creates and presents service
agreement
Service agreement tracked on SharePoint
site
All departments are alerted about the new
agreement
PLA begins the evaluation process
Accomplishments14 service agreements that reach an employee
base of 76,000 employees52 discovery meetings took place between our department and prospect organizations
The CEL department participated in 218 onsite service opportunities and 93 community
events
What We Learned
Discovery meetings are essential to creating meaningful partnerships.
• In particular, it is important to research and specifically address:
• What are the organization’s particular needs?• What benefits are most appealing?• How can we help reduce tuition costs?• How can we help apply college level learning
towards degree programs?
We needed a secure internal platform where we could store and share the partnership agreements with other
departments.
• Created a SharePoint site where we could house the agreements and send alerts to the various departments as the partnerships are approved.
PRIOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT
• Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is:– An alternative way to evaluate college-level knowledge which students have acquired outside the
traditional college classroom– Two Services: Professional Training and Experiential Essays
• Opportunities for credit may include (and are not limited to): – Licenses– Professional certificates– American Council on Education – National College Credit Recommendation Service– And more…
What is Prior Learning Assessment?
• To recognize working adult students’ accomplishments outside of the classroom via potential credit that can be applied towards a degree
• Studies have shown that offering PLA may increase graduation rates and help with student retention
• It is a service to students that is tangible and can truly assist them
Why Implement PLA?
How PLA Was Implemented at West
Developed overarching strategy for the
department
Obtained buy in from Deans, Faculty,
Academic Affairs staff, and other decision
makers
Researched how other schools are using PLA
with their students.
Aligned West’s PLA standards with
Admissions Department policies
Met with other departments to assess how PLA would affect
them
Mapped out process and standard operating
procedures
Tested systems and procedures
Developed communication plan
and training materials
Program was released
In the first year West had 4% of their students use PLA
Pre-evaluations for potential students and current students.
Incorporated Bloom’s Taxonomy into the evaluation process. Developed robust faculty training program.
Began a series of monthly online student workshops and onsite workshops at the
companies in order to promote the program.
Accomplishments in Year One
What We Learned
Having properly educated faculty and evaluators is critical to the success of the
program.
• Quickly implemented a robust training program for faculty evaluators.
• Added the use of Bloom’s Taxonomy in order to add rigor and consistency to the evaluations.
There are specific reporting needs that should be addressed in order to validate
PLA services.
• Via a SharePoint site, we have created a workflow and ticket system to track all requests and processes.
• This has given us the ability to track the number of files processed, pre-evaluations, phone calls, credits awarded, grad team submissions, and turnaround time
• This validates the use of PLA, which counselors or Grad Teams are using it, and any trends we notice.
Training is essential for those staff members charged with promoting the
program.
• Implemented training for frontline counselors so that they are able to intelligently educate students on the PLA service.
• Deployed a series of monthly workshops that our counselors can refer their students to in order to get pre-qualified and learn more about the service.
QUESTIONS?
College ArticulationPrior Learning AssessmentCorporate Articulation
19
Maximizing Learning to Support Credential Attainment in a Diverse Market
Suzanne Toniny and Felicia NepomucenoWorkforce SolutionsUniversity of Phoenix
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
Associate of Arts Seamless Transfer
www.phoenix.edu/communitycollege
Associate of Arts Seamless Transfer: Effective for new students applying to University of Phoenix on or after 09/01/2011, students who have earned an Associate of Arts degree from a regionally accredited community college will be able to transfer their AA in its entirety for a block credit transfer, instead of assessing the credits on a course by course basis. This policy is applicable towards programs with our standard 54 credit General Education block.
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
UOPX College Articulation: Occupational Education Student Service
• Transfer Pathways exist for Applied Science students or other Associate Degree types that are traditionally considered terminal –meaning not leading to further post-secondary studies to complete baccalaureate degrees
• Credit maximized through Transfer Programs with higher interdisciplinary and elective credit requirements such as the Bachelor of Science in Management or Bachelor of Science in Psychology
• Acceptance of courses that may have vocational/professional content providing they are taught, offered, and applicable at the Associate’s Degree (Freshman) Level from the Previous Institution
For more information about our on-time completion rates, the median loan debt incurred by students who complete a program and other important information, please visit our web site at phoenix.edu/programs/gainful-employment.html
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
UOPX College Articulation: Bucket System
• Instead of requiring a specific course-to-course match for general education and elective transfer credits, student fulfill the majority of these credit requirements in content areas or “buckets” per the degree requirements.
• Benefits of a bucketing system include:o Allows for more flexibility in the acceptance of previous activity in
transfero Creates a transfer pathway that accommodates more degree build
designs and philosophies from multiple institution typeso Doesn’t restrict students to one set of lower division general
education curriculum requirements
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
UOPX College Articulation: Going Beyond a 2+2 With Course Waivers
• The University defines a waiver as the substitution of a UOPX required course with a course of the same level listed on an official transcript from another institution.
• Students may fulfill required course of study units with coursework completed at a community college when requirements are met.
• Students requesting course waivers must:– Make formal written requests to the central Office of Admissions &
Evaluation– Utilize the Request for Course Waiver Form citing the courses they
request to be waived, the courses to be transferred into the required course of study, and the university where the courses were completed
– Provide an official catalog course description and an official transcript
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
Course Waivers Sample on Transfer Pathway Document
Community College Center of Excellence
Vision To build a world class, globally competitive workforce through community college partnerships
Mission
1. To increase nationwide baccalaureate attainment by providing access through University of Phoenix and community college alliances
2. To form Transfer Pathways supporting community college completion and University enrollment
3. To create market-based Advisory Teams uniting business, academic, and diversity leaders for performance-based outcomes
4. To provide resources allowing students to make informed workforce and education decisions through workforce CLEAR pathway events
5. To integrate diversity and community college partners to improve student retention through student support
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
UOPX Community College Center of Excellence Alliance Benefits
• Tuition reduction* for University of Phoenix transfer students who complete an associate’s degree at an alliance community college
• Tuition reduction* for employees of alliance member colleges who enter into Bachelor’s level and above University of Phoenix program
• Student Transfer Trends and Outcomes Reporting to measure student success and transfer credit trends
• Transfer Pathways created in focus areas that clearly outline how courses from an associate’s degrees apply to baccalaureate programs at University of Phoenix
• Transfer Pathways are shared with business and diversity leaders through our UOPX P3 Initiative so more students become aware of Transfer Pathways
• Offers the students of alliance community colleges a Prior Learning Assessment fee waiver*
• Bridges the gap between workforce non-credit training and associate’s and Bachelor's degree attainment
*Where available© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
College Articulation: UOPX Community College Center of Excellence
27
Manufacturing ClientDegreed, diverse future leaders exhibiting both technical & managerial skills
University – Master’s Degree
Master of Business Administration/Global Management
University – Bachelor’s Degree
Bachelor of Science in Management/Manufacturing
Community College System – Associate’s Degree
Associate of Applied Science Degree/Welding | Mechanical Engineering | Logistics Management
Community College System - Certificate
Applied Science Manufacturing Certificate | Logistics Management I Basic Electronics
EMPLOYEE AQUISITIONEMPLOYEE RETRAINING
EMPLOYEE AQUISITIONEMPLOYEE RETRAINING
EMPLOYEE AQUISITIONEMPLOYEE RETRAINING
EMPLOYEE AQUISITIONEMPLOYEE RETRAINING
Connecting Pathways with the Workforce Manufacturing Example
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
University of Phoenix Corporate Articulation and Prior Learning AssessmentAligning Workforce Expertise with Academic Excellence
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
Suzanne ToninyUniversity of PhoenixArticulation Specialist
Corporate Articulation
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
Corporate Articulation is the formal evaluation of internal trainings offered at a corporation or training organization. The purpose of the agreement is to define the
amount of credit for which corporate training is eligible when submitted to the Prior Learning Assessment Center (PLA).
Credit Recommendation Guides
A Credit Recommendation Guide is a tool outlining internal training that has been reviewed for possible college level credit.
• Details the training courses that have been pre-evaluated and may be applied for college credit
• Outlines General Education/Interdisciplinary equivalency and the amount or credits recommended
• Eases the PLA submission process
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
Credit Recommendation Guide
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
Transferable Training
Transferable Training Contains Academic Theory
Examples of Transferable Topics May Include:
• Management / Leadership• Health Care / Nursing / EMT• Human Resources• Information Technology / Programming• Finance / Securities / Accounting• Real Estate / Insurance
Defining Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
PLA is the evaluation of learning obtained in a non-traditional format for the transfer of credit towards a credential.
Examples may include:
• Corporate Professional Development
• Professional Training
• Coursework that did not transfer• accredited or unaccredited institutions, continuing education
• Experience-based Learning
Two Main Types of Prior Learning Assessment
• Professional Training Portfolio (PTP): Includes formal training such as licenses, certificates, professional development, continuing education, etc.;• Includes submissions from pre-evaluated training resources
• Corporate articulation (CRG) • Apollo QuickList
• Experiential Learning Essay (ELE): Essay written about life experiences that taught principles discussed in an approved essay topic (students do not earn credit for the experience, but the learning obtained through the experience.)
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
Experiential Learning Essay (ELE)
An essay that demonstrates learning and knowledge obtained through personal and professional experiences. (students do not earn credit for the experience, but the learning obtained through the experience.)
• 1, 2, and 3 Credit Essays• Kolb’s Learning Model• Reviewed by faculty
PLA Credit Potential
Maximum Credit Earning Potential*
Category Bachelor’s Degree Associate’s Degree
Professional Training Portfolio
30 15
Experiential Learning Essay
30 15
National Testing Programs+
30 30
Total 60 30
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
*Some additional restrictions may apply by State of residence or Program selection.+ NTPs do not require a UOPX Prior Learning Assessment evaluation and may go through the standard evaluation process in the Office of Admission and Evaluation
Credits awarded and applied to student program
Posting and Quality Assurance
PTP Evaluation ELE Evaluation
• Essay submissions sent to Faculty Evaluator • Evaluation results emailed to student
• Student academic record reviewed for credit deficiency• Evaluation results emailed to student
PLA Evaluation Process: Professional Training Portfolio & Experiential Learning
Essay
© 2012 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
Student submits online application, submission payment is verified, student receives email from PLA
Submission of any Missing Documentation
Student is given 20 days to submit missing or additional documentation to complete evaluation
Application is placed in PLA workflow until assigned to a Portfolio Evaluator
Application Enters PLA Workflow
Student Submits Application
Questions