ORION/ADAPT
Transfer Credit
Project Plan
TRANSFER CREDIT OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
August 28--- Provost will appoint the "Undergraduate Transfer ‘Credit Evaluation Process’ Project Team". This project team will become commonly known as the PeopleSoft TRANSFER PROJECT TEAM
August 29--- Provost will briefly discuss project with the Council of Deans and designate the Council of Deans as the Transfer Project oversight committee.
C. September 1--- In a subsequent two-hour meeting on Sept 1, the Provost will discuss project details with the Deans who have undergraduate degree programs.
TRANSFER ‘CREDIT EVALUATION PROCESS’ PROJECT TEAM
The
Transfer Project Team (TPT) will be expected to have the initial meeting before September 8, 2000 and to complete work before April 1, 2001.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the Transfer Project Team (TPT) will be to focus on the transfer credit evaluation process that allows transfer students to apply for admission to the University of Louisville, submit all transfer transcripts, and have a complete credit evaluation including transfer equivalencies done in a timely manner. This will allow a degree audit to be available to the transfer student and advisor for advising purposes at their initial meeting before the student’s initial registration.
Note: The Degree Audit component in People Soft is officially known as the ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT MODULE.
TRANSFER PROJECT TEAM (TPT) Membership
Chair------Administrator/ Curriculum------------
Co-Chair--Student Services/Admissions---------Jenny Sawyer
Member---Faculty Representative----------------
Member---Advising Representative--------------
Member---Student Representative----------------
Member---Information Tech. Rep.---------------Marla Thomas
Member---Degree Audit Team Rep.-------------Kathy Otto
Ex-officio(non-voting)-Consultant----------------Ms Donna Fontanese
Ex-officio(non-voting)-Provost Rep--------------Dr. Dave Howarth
Ex-officio(non-voting)-Student Services Rep.---Dr. Ronnie Sutton
WORK GROUPS
The chair, with concurrence from the Transfer Project Team, may appoint small Work Groups as needed to focus on specific tasks as they arise. Work Groups will involve two-five individuals. In each case, a Work Group will focus on a single task, investigate the issue, develop a proposed solution, and recommend a course of action to the Transfer Project Team. Several Work Groups may be appointed to work on several issues simultaneously to expedite the overall progress of the Transfer Project Team.
In addition, each college/school dean will designate a representative to serve as a liaison between the Transfer Project Team and the Work Groups established in the respective colleges/schools. Each Rep will be the ‘go-to’ person in the college when specific action is needed.
FUNCTIONAL ANALYST
The chair shall appoint appropriate functional analysts as needed to assist the TPT with its work. The functional analysts may attend meetings of the TPT as considered appropriate by the TPT Chair.
RELATIONSHIP
It is important for the Transfer Project Team to be fully aware of the requirements in PeopleSoft of the Academic Advising Module (commonly known at U of L as the Degree Audit system). It is necessary for the transfer transcript evaluation process to fit into the overall admission process for undergraduate transfer students as well as be the foundation for running the PeopleSoft Academic Advising Module (degree audit).
TIMELINE
The broad timeline presented below shall be more fully developed by the Transfer Project Team and may be altered as needed to have timely activities and reports to assure completion of the project by April 1, 2001.
- August 14 - Project officially begins
- August 28 - Project Team appointed by the Provost (in consultation with Dr. Dave Howarth).
- August 29 – Project introduced to the Deans and Vice Presidents
- August 30 - Initial Project Team meeting arranged by Dr. Howarth.
- September 1 – Project discussed with the Deans who have undergraduate degree programs in a special two-hour meeting. Dr. Dave Howarth will arrange the meeting.
- September 8 – Charge given to Project Team by Provost and Dr. Howarth at first meeting that will occur before Sept. 8.
- Sept 11 – 15 – Chair, co-chair, and functional analysts will participate in PeopleSoft training for four days in Chicago in an effort to fully understand the product and its capabilities/limitations.
- September 22 –Kickoff meeting conducted to educate the Project Team and all other potential participants as to the requirements and conditions that must be met with respect to transfer credit for the PeopleSoft Academic Advising Module (Degree Audit System) to function effectively at the University of Louisville. Note: This will include faculty, staff, advisors, and administrators from all sectors of the university community. Also participating will be the Cambridge consultants.
- Sept 25-Oct 19 – Prototyping and gap analysis sessions conducted by Cambridge transfer credit consultant for the Transfer Project Team, the functional analyst, and staff from academic units who will participate in workgroups and rule writing. Tentatively these sessions are scheduled for 1:00 – 4:00 PM on Monday through Thursday each week.
- November 1 – Equivalency approval process established.
- January 24 – Final report due to ADAPT.
- Jan 25 – March 30 – The code will be written, system and processes will be implemented, and extensive testing will be completed to assure completeness and accuracy.
- April 1, 2001 – Transfer Credit Module in production for new transfer students entering the 2001 fall semester.
NOTE --- A determination will be made at a later date as to whether currently enrolled students in the 2001 fall semester who have previous transfer work will be able to begin using the Degree Audit System in Sept. 2001. It may be necessary for this group of students to begin using the new system for spring 2002. This determination will be based on the time needed to bring forward all past transfer work into the new PeopleSoft Information System during the summer of 2001.
Appendix: Transfer Credit Additional Considerations
Assumptions:
- Degree Audit (Academic Advisement module) cannot be successfully implemented without a successful transfer credit system.
- Transfer credit evaluations and equivalency decisions must happen in a TIMELY manner with defined roles for Admissions staff, Registrar’s staff, faculty and advising center staff. Since the nature of transfer students is to apply sixty days or less before a term, much of this work is consolidated into a short time period.
Prerequisites to Transfer Credit Implementation:
- Responsibility for conducting research and developing course equivalency recommendations across the university in colleges/schools should be the responsibility of the Office of Admissions. However, final approval will remain with the faculty approval structure in each college/school and department. The admissions staff will use guidelines established by the instructional units in researching and developing recommendations. These new business processes must be in place by November 1.
- Delivery by Peoplesoft of customizations done for SMU is critical. It has been determined that these customizations are required for the module to work and these are probable upgrades in future releases. If PS will not deliver these customizations, in-house technical resources will need to produce these by November 1.
- Additional staff to do data entry and make equivalency recommendations will be required.
- A determination will need to be made as to whether currently enrolled students in the 2001 fall semester who have previous transfer work will be able to begin using the Degree Audit System in Sept. 2001. It may be necessary for this group of students to begin using the new system for spring 2002. This determination will be based on the time needed to bring forward all past transfer work into the new PeopleSoft Information System during the summer of 2001.
- Transfer Credit module should integrate admissions data in module in a way that will automate admissions decisions.
Training Requirements:
- At least four staff from Office of Admissions will need to participate in prototyping sessions to learn capabilities of the system and become familiar with setting up models.
- At least two staff will need to attend the SR PS training.
- At least two staff will need to attend degree audit prototyping to understand relationship between transfer credit and academic advisement module.
Keys to Successful Implementation:
- Staff who currently evaluates transfer work will need to be released from some other functional responsibilities during implementation.
- Project team members must have authority to make decisions or have access to key academic/department decision makers when needed.
- Generic course equivalencies will work in some cases however should not be utilized as a shortcut to making course-to-course equivalency decisions.
- One functional analyst with minimal other admissions responsibilities will need to be dedicated to the project during implementation.
- Consultants who have experience with a successful PS transfer credit implementation will need to be assigned to the project.
Document prepared by:
Jenny Sawyer, Executive Director of Admissions
Dr. Ronnie Sutton, Asst Vice President for Student Services