Tag: Prior

  • HBCUs Establish Credit for Prior Learning Models

    HBCUs Establish Credit for Prior Learning Models

    Adult learners often come to higher education with a variety of skills and experiences that aren’t directly reflected in their academic transcripts. Credit for prior learning (CPL) is one way colleges and universities can recognize education outside of the classroom and expedite a student’s degree completion.

    An April 14 webinar hosted by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning highlighted effective strategies for implementing credit for prior learning at four historically Black institutions: Elizabeth City State University, Atlanta Metropolitan State College, Morgan State University and Delaware State University.

    Campus leaders shared the value of CPL policies, described how they’ve collaborated with various stakeholders at their institutions and provided logistical details for making CPL accessible for students and manageable for faculty.

    Understanding the need: The administrators spoke of the importance of offering credit for prior learning to working adults seeking a credential.

    “What we realized is that if you really want to continue to grow your enrollment, high school graduates cannot be the only population you serve,” said Farrah Ward, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina.

    One of the signature programs at her institution is a bachelor’s degree in aviation science. A significant number of students who enroll in the program already hold a private pilot’s license, but in the past they had to take repetitive courses to fulfill degree requirements. By offering CPL, the university is now able to recognize aviation students’ licenses and reduce redundancies in their course load.

    Gaining buy-in: Before launching CPL, leaders at Elizabeth City State held an event for faculty and staff to talk about how to better serve adult learners in all departments and areas of the student experience.

    The university also leveraged the expertise of various campus departments, including faculty, admissions professionals, military and veterans’ affairs staff, and student affairs leaders, Ward said.

    Partnering with faculty members is key to a successful CPL process, Ward said, and can mean rolling out CPL in small measures to ensure frameworks are supported by professors and aligned with the respective learning outcomes for the discipline.

    Atlanta Metropolitan State College has a CPL committee, which includes four faculty members to maintain the faculty voice in decision-making, said Kokila Ravi, director of online and specialized programs.

    State policy also drives the implementation of CPL. North Carolina uses a performance-based funding model, and Elizabeth City State is evaluated on how it increases the adult learner population on campus, tying CPL directly to institutional health and funding.

    Similarly, Maryland state law requires higher education institutions to offer some form of competency-based learning or credit for prior learning, said Nicole Westrick, assistant vice president and dean of Morgan State University’s College of Interdisciplinary and Continuing Studies.

    Creating early awareness: Alerting students of CPL opportunities is key, panelists said. “Most times [the admissions team] is the first point of contact, and when they are having those conversations with potential students, we let them know that CPL is an option,” said Rolanda Harris, director of adult and continuing education at Delaware State University.

    Elizabeth City State is piloting an adult learner orientation tailored toward students ages 25 and over this fall, Ward said, during which staff will specifically talk about CPL.

    Morgan State hosts intensive advising appointments with incoming students, in which advisers discuss CPL and the university’s transfer evaluation system.

    Easing access: College leaders also shared innovations their campuses have implemented to reduce barriers to access for learners interested in taking advantage of CPL.

    Morgan State offers students the option to enroll in a two-credit elective course to help them create a portfolio. “They participate in a peer review, practice their writing, preparing the portfolio, and when they’re finished, there’s a staff review of the portfolio to make sure that they’ve done a good job of aligning that prior learning experience with the learning outcomes from courses at Morgan State,” Westrick said.

    Morgan State also creates digital rubrics for faculty members reviewing the portfolio, “so that it eases the cognitive load for our faculty in finding what they’re looking for; it always follows the same format,” Westrick said.

    Some of the colleges offer a wide range of applications for CPL, requiring the students to earn a certain number of credits from the institution for their degree while allowing CPL to take the place of general education and major courses.

    Funding CPL: Morgan State received a $5,000 grant from the American Council on Education to standardize and scale CPL on campus. Atlanta Metropolitan State received a $25,000 grant from the Adult Learning Consortium and the University System of Georgia to kick-start the process.

    Some panelists said they charge a fee for portfolio assessment, for which the average student pays between $150 and $250. A few campus leaders said they provide a stipend to faculty for reviewing portfolios, while others offer the service pro bono.

    Being mission-minded: For institutions considering implementing CPL, Ward said it’s important to start somewhere, even if it seems daunting. In the same vein, remaining flexible and understanding that CPL policies may have to pivot is important, said Harris. “I would just say, ‘Stay open.’”

    Westrick said starting with the institutional mission in mind is critical, because that helps ground the process in understanding who will benefit from the policy and how it can make meaningful changes in their educational goals.

    Utilizing faculty champions to advertise the offering and encourage students to take advantage of CPL is another lesson to learn, Ravi said. “We are still struggling to get the word out and get students to know about it. That’s why we are relying heavily on our faculty to promote the process.”

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  • How one community college helps adult students get prior learning credit

    How one community college helps adult students get prior learning credit

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    NASHVILLE – Entering college with prior learning credits can be a huge boon to students, cutting down on the time and money required to complete their degrees. But the pathways to earning these credits may favor traditional college students from well-resourced high schools.

    Since 2020, leaders from Salt Lake Community College have worked to improve prior learning credit options for prospective and current students, they told attendees Monday at the American Association of Community Colleges‘ annual conference in Nashville. The college put a special emphasis on pathways for adult learners — those aged 25 and older — as the average student on its eight campuses is 25 years old.

    Over the past five years, the resulting cross-campus collaboration has yielded Salt Lake Community College some promising results, including more students receiving credit for their work experience and lowered financial barriers for prior learning assessment exams.

    Then

    In 2019, the Utah Legislature passed a law requiring the state’s higher ed board to create a plan aimed at boosting public colleges’ issuance of credit for prior learning, work-based skills and competency-based assessments.

    Salt Lake Community College — which enrolls just under 37,000 credit-bearing students across eight campuses — began an evaluation of its process for awarding prior learning credits the following year.

    Rachel Lewis, Salt Lake Community College’s associate provost of academic systems, said the existing process turned out to be hardly a process at all.

    “It used to be, if you knew the one advisor who knew the process and could talk to this person in the registrar’s office, we could get your prior learning,” she said. “Good for the students who found it — not good for all the others.”

    The college’s leaders also uncovered a gap in what kind of credits were awarded.

    In 2019-20, about 80% of the prior learning credits that Salt Lake Community College awarded were through pathways typically used by high school students, said Andrea Tipton, the institution’s director of credit for prior learning. 

    For instance, 807 of the 1,291 students who received prior learning credits earned them through Advanced Placement tests offered by the College Board.

    In comparison, only 13 students that year received credit for their professional certifications or licenses, and just one student earned credit for their previous work experience and portfolio.

    Now

    To address this disconnect, Salt Lake Community College standardized its prior learning credit process. That included a new hire.

    “We made a crucial decision to create a position at the college dedicated to prior learning — one person at the college who could be the point of contact to serve in that role,” Lewis said, nodding to Tipton, who was hired for the new role. 

    Salt Lake Community College now emphasizes credits for prior learning as an option through improved communications to students. The institution also works to inform students that it’s free to have their credits evaluated and added to their transcripts.

    Once a prior learning credit is added to a student’s transcript, it is transferable as if they earned it at Salt Lake Community College, according to college policy.

    “When that student goes to the University of Utah, it’s now considered transfer credit,” Lewis said. “They don’t reevaluate it. They don’t look at it.”

    Roughly three-fourths of Salt Lake Community College graduates, 72%, go on to transfer to a four-year institution.

    The college is also highlighting CLEP tests, an exam option offered by the College Board open to learners ages 13 and older.

    The tests can provide a viable alternative to AP tests. But the registration fee — upwards of $95 in 2025 — proved to be a barrier for many students, Tipton said. 

    This year, Salt Lake Community College began directing students to the Modern States Education Alliance, a nonprofit that will cover test costs for students who complete its free prep courses.

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  • Student-Athlete Unionization Efforts Withdrawn Prior to Second Trump Administration

    Student-Athlete Unionization Efforts Withdrawn Prior to Second Trump Administration

    by CUPA-HR | January 21, 2025

    Two efforts to extend collective bargaining rights to college athletes have been withdrawn in recent weeks in anticipation of the Trump administration taking control of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

    On December 31, 2024, the Dartmouth men’s basketball team withdrew their petition to unionize. Members of the team overwhelmingly voted in March 2024 to join the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The vote came one month after an NLRB regional director ruled that the players were employees of the college and were thus eligible to unionize.

    Additionally, on January 10, 2025, the National College Players Association (NCPA) withdrew its case against the University of Southern California, the Pac-12 Conference and the NCAA. In the original complaint, the NCPA claimed the three plaintiffs violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by misclassifying the student-athletes as non-employees. They also argued all three plaintiffs were joint employers of the student-athletes.

    Both of these efforts were pursued after NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum arguing that student-athletes are employees under the NLRA and are therefore afforded all statutory protections as prescribed under the law. The incoming administration will likely rescind the memorandum, halting or at least hindering unionization efforts among student-athletes.

    The decision to withdraw both petitions is likely meant to avoid an unfavorable outcome and precedent from a soon-to-be Republican-controlled NLRB. The SEIU explained in a statement following their withdrawal request that they sought “to preserve the precedent set by this exceptional group of young people on the men’s varsity basketball team.”

    CUPA-HR will keep members apprised of any updates related to student-athlete employment classification and unionization.



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