Transitioning Transfer Evaluation: Paperless, Automated, Powerful

Session 2A Ted Cain Reporting & Data Integrity Analyst [email protected]

RMACRAO 2014

Schedule of Discussion

• • • • • • • Profile of UNC History of Transfer Evaluation Process Goals of Transition Procedural Changes What Did We Learn?

Next Steps Q & A

Profile of UNC

• • • • • • Located in Greeley, Colorado Founded in 1889 • • 12,000+ students 9700+ undergraduate 2300+ graduate 100+ undergraduate academic programs among nearly 50 majors 1700+ employees, including 500 full-time and 250 part-time faculty Large population of First Generation students

History of Transfer Evaluation Process Previously Housed in the Office of Admissions

• • • • • All transcripts data was evaluated and entered prior to admission.

During Banner implementation, the report created to communicate information to students and faculty was modeled off the legacy system.

Report was created outside the standard University reporting structure in order to accommodate established process.

Process followed legacy system, as well, which included printing three copies: one for the student, one for the department, and one to keep on file.

Copies to students and faculty were physically mailed.

The “Salmon” Sheet

History of Transfer Evaluation (Cont.)

• • • • Faculty could return physical copy with equivalencies noted, but equivalencies (including approvals to our Liberal Arts Core requirements) were handled via any method available, including undocumented phone calls.

Equivalencies were made by faculty in the department of the student’s major rather than faculty in the department of the course discipline.

Equivalencies were often applied individually, with no consistency from student to student.

Equivalencies were frequently used in place of substitutions/waivers.

Goals of Transition

• Establish a more efficient method of communication.

• Establish consistency at as many levels as possible.

• Establish clear definitions of “transfer equivalency”, “substitution”, and “waiver”.

• Establish the course discipline’s department as the authority to approve equivalencies.

The Transfer Equivalency Report

• New report built within the University reporting structure (using WebFocus).

• Duplicated the relevant info on the “Salmon” sheet, but included several upgrades: • Eliminated page breaks for different institutions.

• Included transfer GPA elements.

• If the student had multiple majors/minors, they were listed.

• Used term descriptions instead of codes.

The Transfer Equivalency Report

Transfer Equivalency Report (Cont.)

• Two versions of the report were created: • Students – When the link is selected, the student ID feeds through from the web portal login and gives the student their own information.

• Faculty/Advisors – When the link is selected, a window pops up prompting entry of the student ID.

Second Step – It Was A Biggie!

Deletion of the transfer course libraries (SHATATR)

• We created backup data for each library, coordinating with IT to ensure that if something went wrong, they could repopulate the data by script rather than manually re-entering all 81,106 records.

• We scanned local job postings.

• We pushed the button.

Second Step – It Was A Biggie!

Deletion of the transfer course libraries (SHATATR)

• Necessary to ensure that all incoming transfer work was treated with transparent consistency.

• We headhunted our biggest feeder institutions (especially the Colorado Community College system) and rebuilt our libraries to encompass their current course offerings.

New Procedure – Administrative

• Transcript evaluation occurs ONLY after student is admitted.

• Upon receipt, transcripts are imaged and the raw course data is entered into the system.

• “Perform Articulation” in SHATAEQ is used to award any equivalents built in the libraries.

• Transferrable courses without established equivalents are manually given a general equivalent (i.e. – ENG 1X, BIO 3X, etc).

Information Sent to Academic Department

• Notification is sent to department of courses without equivalencies (divested of student data).

Institution

CAL State U-Long Beach Cabrillo College Colorado College Danville Area Community Colleg Mills College Mills College Pima Community College Regis University St Mary's College Of Maryland St Mary's College Of Maryland St Mary's College Of Maryland St Mary's College Of Maryland St Mary's College Of Maryland

Inst Code TR Prefix TR Number TR Title

000302 ANTH 120 Intro to Cultural Anthro 000173 000498 ANTHR ANTH 2 208 Intro Anthro:Cultrl Topics in Anthropology 001010 000332 000332 000101 ANTH ANTH ANTH ANT 107 057 058 101 Cultural Anthropology Human Evolution Cultural Anthropology Human Origins and Prehistory 000526 001736 001736 001736 001736 001736 AN ANTH ANTH ANTH ANTH ARTH 204 101 201 202 281 224 Intro to Cultural Anthropology Intro to Anthropology Anthropology Toolkit Archaeology Practicum Archaeology and Pre-History Ancient Amer Art/Architecture

TR Term Course Hours UNC Prefix

200730 3.000 ANT 201150 201050 3.000 ANT 3.500 ANT 200630 201350 201430 201050 3.000 ANT 3.500 ANT 3.500 ANT 3.000 ANT 201230 201250 201330 201350 201350 201350 3.000 ANT 4.000 ANT 4.000 ANT 4.000 ANT 4.000 ANT 4.000 ANT

Academic Review Guidelines

Direct Departmental Equivalency

– Can the course be given a direct UNC course equivalency within your discipline?

General Departmental Credit

– If not a direct equivalent, would you accept the course as a general elective within your discipline?

• Transfer Credit Equivalency Update Form (requested equivalents that fall within the Liberal Arts Core require additional review by the Liberal Arts Core Council)

Other Departmental Equivalency

– Is there an equivalency outside your discipline that you feel is appropriate (i.e. – a Psychology Statistics course (PSY) that should be given a STAT equivalent)?

• Transfer Credit Equivalency Update Forms from both disciplines are necessary (in the above example, notification from both Psychology and Mathematics).

New Procedures – Academic

• Department must specify the time frame that an equivalency applies to.

• If none of those three options, the department can identify the course as “reviewed, not equivalent”.

Transfer Credit Equivalency Update Form

New Procedures – Academic

• Once forms are submitted to the Office of the Registrar, equivalencies and departmental elective credit are built into the library.

• Existing transfer coursework is searched and updated if appropriate.

• Non-equivalent courses are given a course attribute in the library to prevent them from going out for review again.

Procedural Changes – Student

• Once a week, notification is sent to students whose coursework was updated within the last week.

• Includes transfer policy information and instructions on accessing the Transfer Equivalency Report.

• If students want to contest a decision, they can contact the department of the discipline of the course and provide course descriptions/syllabi.

Email Notification to Student

What Did We Learn?

•

Don’t be afraid to rip the bandaid off!

• Transfer coursework had been entered using a single attendance period method.

• Now in the process of manually fixing thousands of records for current students.

What Did We Learn?

•

Does the left hand know what the right hand is doing?

• Degree Works implementation obsoleted an equivalent title solution.

What Did We Learn?

•

Don’t be afraid to speak up!

• New data entry process created attendance periods with null values…which was a problem!

• Bringing it to Ellucian’s attention resulted in a suggested workaround and a patch is in the works!

Next Steps

Upgrades to the Transfer Equivalency Report

• Liberal Arts Core indicators • “Reviewed” indicators

Report Automation via ReportCaster

• New Coursework for Review to Academic Departments • Student Notifications

Questions?

Ted Cain Session 2A