MI- litary Equivalency Project

1. MI-litary Equivalency Project

2. The GoToWebinar Attendee View Welcome

3. How to Participate Today • Open and close your Panel • View, Select, and Test your audio • Submit text questions • Raise your hand • Q&A addressed at the end of today’s session • Everyone will receive an email with a link to view a recorded version of today’s session when it is available

4. Dr. Erica OriansExecutive DirectorMichigan Center for Student Success Michigan Community College Association

5. Katie GiardelloDirector, Veteran & Transfer Initiatives Michigan Center for Student Success Michigan Community College Association

7. Gina Sobania, M.S.Director of Military, Veteran, & Adult Learner Services

8. Veterans Education Transfer System (VETS) Minnesota State October 11, 2016

9. Veterans, Servicemembers and Families Thank you for your Service to our Country

10. Minnesota State • Student Information System • Degree Audit Reporting System

11. Minnesota State • 53.3% increase of Veterans and Servicemembers since FY2008 • Colleges = 58.8% • Universities = 41.3%

12. Veteran and Servicemember Headcount

13. Creating Infrastructure - 2006 • Veteran Friendly Policies • Academic • Admissions • Deployment Policy • Credit for Prior Learning • Campus Veterans Centers • Finance Policies • Deferrals • Residency Tuition

14. In the Beginning…2008 • Education on… • WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? • State Statutes • Minnesota State Policies and Procedures • Military Transcripts • ACE Evaluation Process

15. State Statute and Minnesota State Procedure • Recognize courses and award credit for military training based on ACE recommendations • 2013 Legislative session: In recognizing courses and awarding educational credits, consideration must be given to academic skills developed in all aspects of the training or service course curriculum, and may not be limited solely to the physical fitness or activity components of the course.

16. Showing opportunities to Veterans and Servicemembers through a widely accessible VETS database • Display “one-by-one decisions” made in the regular transfer process • Complete “military occupation reviews” in partnership with the Minnesota National Guard and college faculty in related programs • 31B - Military Police • 42A - Human Resource Specialist • 63B - Light Wheel Vehicle Mechanic • 68W - Health Care Specialist • Trigger an “occupational evaluation request” based on inquiries from Servicemembers and Veterans

17. Veterans Education Transfer System (VETS)www.veterans.mnscu.edu

18. Veterans Education Transfer System (VETS)

19. Veterans Education Transfer System (VETS)

20. Veterans Education Transfer System (VETS)

21. Veterans Education Transfer System (VETS)

22. Veterans Education Transfer System (VETS) eAdvising – Online Help

23. How can we speed this up? Number of Articulated Military Occupations

24. ACE Occupation Evaluation Overview (1974) • Identify skills, competencies, and knowledge • Examine materials • Official occupation manual, technical manuals, field manuals • Interview Servicemembers • Tasks for evaluators • Identify the learning represented in the occupation • Prepare a description of duties, skills, competencies, and knowledge • Formulation of credit recommendation • 100% consensus Source: ACE

25. ACE Occupation Evaluation Overview Source: ACE

26. SIMILAR MILITARY OCCUPATIONS ACE ACE 3 Credits Human Resource Management

27. Unduplicating Accelerating Unduplicated to about 1,110 unique recommendations Approximately 16,312 ACE credit recommendations 93% reduction in redundant reviews; On average 1 decision addresses 14 repetitions Why unduplicate academic credit recommendations? An academic credit recommendation (e.g., 3 credits in introductory computers) will appear in numerous occupations, levels or ranks (e.g. 75 in this instance).

28. MIL OCCUP TITLE Data Chief Credit 3 Rank E6 Skill Level SSGT ACE ID MCE-0659-002 Credit DescriptionComputer Applications

30. 55 occupations above with the computer applications recommendation 407 occupations below with the computer applications recommendation

32. Accelerated Decision Making • Equivalent to a specific course? e.g., CPTR1104, 3 credits • Equivalent to a specific, department or general elective? e.g., TECHT*** for technical elective e.g., PHILT*** for a department elective e.g., ELECT*** more general elective • Equivalent to a Minnesota Transfer Goal Area? e.g., GOAL1 or SPCH AREA I

33. Accelerated Process Results • 15 colleges have participated • Identified 605 academic courses • To 60,618 credit recommendations from ACE • Associated with 26,178 (2,671 unique) occupations from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard Acceleratedpath to graduation for certificates, diplomas and degrees.

34. CAEL • Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success • PLA Students had better academic outcomes • Graduation rates and persistence • Shortened time to earn a degree

35. How can we speed this up? Number of Articulated Military Occupations

36. Veterans Education Transfer SystemNumber of Evaluated Military Occupations as of June 2016

37. VETS Number of Credits Awarded for Military Courses and Occupations Total: 147,190 credits awarded since FY2009 $27.5 million saved 6 million hours saved

38. Lessons Learned Since 2008 • If I knew then what I know now… • Find Champions • Become an ACE evaluator • It takes TIME

39. Contact Information Gina Sobania 651.201.1654 gina.Sobania@so.mnscu.edu

40. Andrew CosgroveDirector, Veteran & Military Affairs

41. Matt ZeigTransfer Articulation CoordinatorOffice of the Registrar

42. Dr. DeeDeeStakelyDirector, Office of Transfer & Secondary School Partnerships

43. MI-litary Equivalency Project Goals • Build institutional capacity to utilize American Council on Education (ACE) credit recommendations listed on the Joint Services Transcript (JST) to establish direct transfer equivalencies. • Support institutions in articulating military experience to general education requirements and build equivalencies for specific Military Occupational Specialties (MOSs), as appropriate to each campus. • Showcase developed equivalencies in institutional transfer equivalency databases.

44. MI-litary Equivalency Project Scope • Interdepartmental community of practice • Credit evaluation staff • School Certifying Officials (SCO) • Department/College faculty and staff involved with course equivalencies • Veteran allies/advocates, particularly those with the military voice • Supporting resources and ongoing professional development • Information sharing - articles and other publications, best practice policies, relevant data projects, presentations seen at conferences, etc. • Opportunities for cross-institution dialogue on related topics • Webinars and other events on relevant topics • Technical assistance as-needed

45. Recommendations for Successful Participation • Wrap-around student veteran success strategies • Consider using CMVE’s purchased Kognito licenses (read more) • Engaged on-campus workgroup • Active participation in training and dialogue opportunities • Commitment to exploring new policies and processes to improve the campus’s ability toaward direct, consistent credit for military experience • Data and progress monitoring

46. Next Steps • Landscape Assessment • Covers three categories • Credit for Prior Learning • JST and ACE Credit Recommendations • Institutional Capacity • Complete online before 11/4/16 • Click here to take assessment – one respondent per institution is preferred

47. Next Steps • October 2016 • Landscape assessment tool • Assemble campus workgroup • November 2016 • Webinars: • Early November (date TBA) – Building Your Campus Workgroup and Action Plan • SAVE THE DATE! 11/29/16, 1:30-3PM – Council on Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) will present: Talking PLA and Transferability • December 2016 • Campus action planning and utilization of suggested “on-demand” resources – more details on this will be discussed in early November!

48. Q & A