1. Welcome Credit for Prior Learning: Mobilizing to Attract Adult Learners 
Marsha Danielson
Vice President Economic Development
South Central College

2. Life Happens Wedding Excited and Exhausted
That’s how our Adult Learners come to us daily because life happens
Need extra care and handling
CPL tools perfect fit for Adult Learner

3. Importance of Credit for Prior Learning
Personal Experience
Adult Learner Perspective
Industry Perspective
Institution Perspective
1980’s MSU Women’s Center ahead of its time
Personalized Service, registered over phone which means they had someone walk thru the punch card line for me
Educated me about CLEP and arranged for a proctored exam for English and Math to accelerate my progress

4. Adult Learner Perspective
Accelerates Completion*
Reduces Duplication of Learning
Lowers Investment in Education
More Likely to Graduate*
* Council for Adult & Experiential Learning (CAEL): Fueling the Race, 2010
10.1 months more quickly on average according to CAEL: Fueling the Race, 2010
* 2.5 times more likely to graduate than those without PLA credit; 8.1 times more likely for Hispanic Students

5. Jennifer's Story Jennifer Epper, Marketing Management Student
Marketing Director for company owns several Restaurant Chains more decade
Looking for opportunity marketing director non-retail entity
So great, asked her to do her internship to develop CPL campaign for SCC

6. Jordan’s Story
In MN we have an incredible website so military can match occupations and education to courses within MN State System
Called Veterans Education Transfer System (VETS) site
Gina Sobania, system expert for Military CPL
Jordan Computer Integrated Maching Student with previous military experience utilized VETS online CPL system

7. Institution Perspective
Recruit Adult Students Who May Not Otherwise Enroll
Students Persist at Higher Rate Than Non- CPL Students
Results in More FYE’s*
Higher Completion Rates*
* Council for Adult & Experiential Learning (CAEL): Fueling the Race, 2010
PLA Students will register for and earn institutional credits at a higher rate, 53.7 credits, than non-PLA peers, 43.8 credits.
(CAEL: Fueling the Race, 2010)
Note: Baseline report -Degree-earning rates for students who received PLA credits
were 2.5 times higher than they were for students who did not receive PLA credit, (CAEL, 2010)

8. Guiding Principles Applicable to SCC course or award
Assessment sole responsibility of credentialed faculty
Students document how their learning achieves course competencies
CPL credit approved after non-successful course completion will be recorded as a repeated course
Only college-level learning that balances theory and practical application will be awarded CPL credit
Credit: Rochester Community and Technical College
Fear – giving away credits, CPL lacks integrity, etc. Adopted many of Guiding Principles from RCTC,
Establishing Guiding Principles and Standards helped to encourage faculty buy-in
CPL credits will be applicable to a course or academic award offered at South Central College.
Assessment of prior learning, including the course criteria, is the responsibility of credentialed faculty in the academic discipline of the course(s) or academic award.
Students initiate the CPL process by documenting how their learning achieves course competencies.
While CPL is typically pursued prior to enrolling in a course, if additional learning has occurred after the non-successful completion of a course, CPL may be pursued. If CPL credit is approved after non-successful course completion, it will be recorded on the transcript as a repeated course per SCC Repeating a Course policy.
CPL credits should be awarded only for college-level learning that balances theory and practical application.
Current best practices will be used in assessing prior learning.
CPL assessment will be officially documented to ensure academic integrity, consistency and transparency.
Information, criteria and processes for CPL will be available and easily accessible.
Students and faculty will evaluate the CPL process in support of continuous improvement; results will be publicly available.
CPL assessment may be limited by availability of credentialed faculty, space, lab, and materials.

9. Guiding Principles
Current best practices will be used in assessing prior learning
CPL assessment will be documented to ensure academic integrity, consistency and transparency
CPL information, criteria and processes will be easily accessible
The CPL process will be evaluated in support of continuous improvement
CPL assessment may be limited by availability of credentialed faculty, space, lab, and materials

10. Standards CPL credit awarded only for learning and not for experience
CPL credit awarded only for college‐level learning
CPL credit awarded only for learning that matches competencies in student’s declared program of study
CPL credit awarded only by credentialed faculty in the academic discipline and approved by academic deans
CPL credit awarded only for non-credit learning which has occurred outside of college coursework
All material submitted for CPL review will remain College property
Credit CAEL standards for Assessing Prior Learning
Adopted from CAEL standards for Assessing Prior Learning
Participating faculty, program leaders and division chairs will use the following standards for
assessing CPL credits:
CPL credit will be awarded only for learning and not for experience.
CPL credit will be awarded only for college‐level learning.
CPL credit will be awarded only for learning that matches the competencies of a current course in a student’s declared program of study.
CPL credit recommendations must be made by credentialed faculty in the academic discipline of the course(s) or academic award and approved by academic deans.
CPL credit will be awarded only for non-credit learning which has occurred outside of college coursework.
All material submitted for review of CPL will be considered the property of the College.

11. Criteria Admittance/enrollment Types of CPL Type of credits
Number of credits
Grading/grade point average
Transcription
Admittance/Enrollment:
A student must be fully admitted to South Central College before any Credit for Prior learning can be awarded.
CPL credits will not count toward the enrollment of a specific term, nor will credit be counted in determining part‐time or full‐time student enrollment status.
Types of CPL:
Standardized Exams- CLEP, DANTES, etc
Challenge Exams/Credit by Examination-written by college faculty
Individual Assessments- portfolio, demonstrations, skills assessment
Non-college Education and Training-Industry recognized credentials – NIMS, AWS
Type of credits:
CPL may be applied toward courses in certificate, diploma and degree programs only for the purpose of satisfying graduation requirements.
Number of credits:
The maximum number of CPL credits awarded will be determined on a programmatic basis not to exceed two-thirds of the program award requirements.
Grading/Grade Point Average:
Letter grades will be assigned by SCC credentialed faculty for each CPL credit course per SCC Grading and Grade Change Policy consistent with the current grading method.
Credit granted for Standardized Examinations will be recorded as a passing grade (P).
CPL credits are not included in calculating a student’s GPA.
Transcription
No notation for CPL to allow for maximum transferability

12. Criteria Cost/tuition structure Financial assistance Residency
Challenges
Timeframe
Data Tracking and Reporting
Cost/Tuition Structure:
Fees charged for CPL should be based on the services performed in the process and not determined by the amount of credit awarded.
Fees allocated to the maintenance of the CPL program may include costs of administration, marketing, transcription services and compensation for the assessment of the credit.
A fee shall not be charged for analysis and awarding of credit for training delivered by the United States military as found in MnSCU Board Policy 5.11 and Procedure Tuition and Fees.
Financial Assistance:
Assessments completed by institution faculty and recorded as resident credits may qualify for financial aid, according to laws governing federal financial aid.
Residency:
CPL credits awarded through internal assessment will count for institutional residency and toward graduation residency requirements as found in MnSCU Board Policy 3.36 and Procedure Academic Programs.
Challenges:
If the evaluation for competency demonstration is unsuccessful, the student may challenge the decision as soon as the next semester. Students are limited to two attempts at CPL per course.
Timeline
The CPL process may be initiated at any time.
Data Tracking and Reporting
Persistence
Completion
Time to degree
Demographics
# credits

13. SCC’s CPL Journey CPL Education for faculty and staff
SE MN Collaboration Regional Workshop
Military Crosswalks in VETS
CPL CORE Group
AQIP Action Plan
Faculty Compensation Schedule
Faculty Assessment Templates
MinnesotaCPL.com
Education and training for faculty and staff 3x year including advisor training
SE MN Collaborations Regional Workshop – matched faculty/faculty; admin to admin; registrars/registrars – learn from peers
Military low hanging fruit, everyone wants to support military – Day after classes ended, paid faculty 1.2 day, over 20 faculty participated, Most matched courses in the system
CORE group - not official committee
AQIP project – faculty driven – concept map
Faculty compensation schedule - $25/lecture; $50 lab – not fair for portfolio – faculty agreed on student fee schedule and faculty compensation as a stipend
Faculty Assessment Templates- $25K grant worked with faculty mentors to develop 20 courses with pre-packaged assessments, courses promoted on the web as CPL ready courses
MinnesotaCPL.com- student portal where CPL wizard helps prepare knowledge and experience profile, system maintains profile in cloud, student, faculty, CPl coordinator automated interactions, assessment tracking, payment tracking, grade assignment, data dashboards and report generator

14. What’s Next Future Vision:
SCC “Some College/No Degree” Reconnect Campaign
Certification or License Credit Crosswalk Matrix
Ivy Tech Training and Certification Crosswalk
Faculty Workshop for Crosswalk Training
Faculty Re-assess Curriculum Alignment w/ industry recognized credentials

15. Questions? Marsha Danielson Vice President Economic Development South Central College