Transfer Credit Process Redesign and Change Management

Anna Hawkey Jablonski, University of La VernePatricia Hernandez, University of La Verne

One University, Multiple Identities• Founded in 1891 by the Church

of the Brethren as a small, private liberal arts college in La Verne, CA.

• Over the years it has also become:– A graduate professional school– A system of regional campuses– A provider of online degrees and

non-degree courses• 8500 total student population

– 2000 traditional undergraduates – 3500 adult students

POINT A (2008): Turnaround Times

We had a 90-Day Turnaround Time on admission evaluations for students in the continuing education programs.

This created problems in various areas:• Financial Aid• Academic Advising• Appeals

POINT A (2008): StaffingThe Evaluations umbrella included the following areas:• UG admission evaluations• UG transfer work• UG major course substitutions and adjustments• UG Graduation evaluations (aka degree progress checks)• UG, Grad, Doctoral grade changes• UG, Grad, Doctoral degree postings

Evaluations staff was made up of (almost) seven employees:• 1 FTE Evaluator for all traditional undergraduate evaluations (no degree posting)• 1 FTE Evaluator for all graduate degree postings and graduate grade changes• 2.4 FTE Evaluators for all other evaluations and degree postings• .5 FTE Articulation Assistant (student employee)• 1 FTE Asst. Registrar/Articulation Officer• 1 FTE Assoc. Registrar (overseeing evaluations, articulation, degrees and policies)• 1 vacant FTE Evaluator not approved for replacement by “Vacancy Management”

2 Populations + 2 GEs = 2 Processes

• Evaluations for MC students were performed one or two times, depending on how many in progress courses were completed prior to matriculation.– Turnaround time ranged from 1 to 6 weeks.

• Evaluations for RC students were performed a minimum of three times.– Turnaround time ranged from 1 to 3 months.

This is going to take a while…

This is going to take a while…

This is going to take a while…

This is going to take a while…

This is going to take a while…

This is going to take a while…

2 Processes = ∞ Policies• The only comprehensive transfer policy

that existed on paper was a hard copy from 1992.

• All other policies were generally documented via photocopied memos pinned to bulletin boards.

• No clear policies existed because the politics that governed the interactions between the main campus and the regional campuses made compromise very difficult.

• The adoption of a new, universal GE was the opportunity we needed to begin implementing change.

POINT B (2013): Turnaround Times• We have a 5 day

turnaround time!– 83% decrease from 30

day turnaround time– 94% decrease from 90

day turnaround time • The time to complete

an admission file has decreased by 55%!– From a 90 minute

average to 40 minutes

POINT B (2013): StaffingThe Evaluations umbrella now includes the following areas:• UG admission evaluations• UG transfer work• UG major course substitutions and adjustments• UG Graduation evaluations (aka degree progress checks)

The Evaluations staff is now made up of (almost) six employees:• 3.5 FTE Evaluators for all undergraduate evaluations (no degree postings)• 1 FTE Articulation & Evaluations Assistant (articulation & evaluation

support)• 1 FTE Assistant Registrar (overseeing all evaluations and articulation

processes and policies)

POINT B (2013): StaffingTraining:• All Evaluators are trained on all

transfer procedures and policies.• There is a fully revised and faculty

approved Transfer Policy Manual and a brand new Articulation Manual for reference and training on Evaluations policies and procedures.

Centralized Communication: • All communication has been

centralized to one main email account and phone extension.

• We are all using the same set of data, so the results are the same for everyone.

POINT B (2013): StaffingEvaluator Daily Report: • Each Evaluator completes a daily report of how their time was

distributed throughout the day.• Overtime is strategically planned and must be preapproved.

One Campus, One Process! Both populations of students

are admitted through their respective admission offices.

The admission packet is received and audited for completeness and logged into the admission evaluation log, and placed in queue.

Admission files are logged in the same day they are received, and are processed in the order they are received.

(Mostly) Automated ArticulationAll files are first reviewed using the Banner Articulation Module• Includes over 76,000

courses• 40 articulation

agreements• More courses added

daily – all course decisions are recorded.

Clear Decision Making Process1) If the Evaluator is not

comfortable making an independent decision based on the course outline, it is sent to the Assistant Registrar for review.

2) If the Assistant Registrar cannot make a determination, the course is sent to the faculty.

3) If the faculty does not respond within two weeks, the course is sent to the Associate Dean.

Major Articulation

Major applicability is determined strictly by faculty review• Once the course

decision is recorded in the Articulation Module, it will be applied to all eligible students.

Degree Audit Redesign

• CAPP has been redesigned and WebCAPP is fully implemented.– Web and hard

copy match!– The Transfer

Center no longer runs CAPP reports for transfer updates.

It’s a whole new world…Consistent Application of policies

and procedures• New Transfer Policies (and those

manuals to go along with them!)Faculty Accountability• Faculty are required to respond

to course reviews within 10 business days.

Fostering Relationships• We have established strong

working relationships with Regional Campuses and Main Campus Admissions.

The long and winding road…

How did we get from here:

To here???

Performance Management Group

2009 – Transfer Process Redesign Project:• Project Sponsors• Project Directors• Steering Committee• Project Team

Shared Goals• Students and prospective students will receive information

they need to make informed decisions in a timely manner.• Coursework from other institutions will be evaluated

consistently and accurately.• Staff will have access to accurate information to help

students and prospective students understand their degree progress and degree completion options.

• Students will have the option to independently access accurate information regarding their degree progress.

• Financial aid awards will be made based on accurate student status.

Sounds Easy, Right?First we all had to agree on a few fundamental ideas:

1) The transfer credit assessment is not a purely academic activity; these assessments are used by students to make decisions about where to go to college.

2) The Registrar is responsible for the academic transcript, so any staff making decisions that will impact the transcription of academic work must report to the Registrar – otherwise accountability is impossible.

3) Adult and traditional undergraduate students all receive the same degree and are all students of the same university. This means they all deserve equal treatment and their records will undergo the same procedures.

The Seven Step ProcessStep 1) Initial Prospective Student contact.Step 2) Send Prospective Student’s academic documents to Registrar’s Office for evaluation.Step 3) Perform preliminary assessment of transfer courses.Step 4) Discuss preliminary assessment with Prospective Student. Step 5) Review completed application file & grant or deny admission.Step 6) Confirm or correct the preliminary assessment & accept the transfer units.Step 7) Complete incoming student processes and register.

The Seven Step Process: Buy In

• Make sure at each level of discussion, people from each impacted area are represented and involved in the decision making.

• Base all conversations on data!!!

• Be ready to make people uncomfortable.

Implementation: Data Driven Decisions

First, we created a spreadsheet of 185,000 courses pulled from five years of transfer credit records.• Any course that appeared with the same GE designation three

or more times was automatically approved for that GE credit.• Any course listed only once or twice, or listed multiple times

with multiple designations, was sent to the faculty for review.

Implementation: Course Coding

Previous coding scheme for transfer work:• Course prefixes used were standard general elective,

vocational, or GE codes – TXXX, TVOC, and TWE1, TMTH, etc.

• Course number was either XXXX for lower division, or 3XXX for upper division

• We entered the course prefix and number assigned by the sending institution in the Title field.– TWE1 XXXX ENGL 110 – TXXX 3XXX HISTORY 325– TVOC XXXX AUTO TECH 2B

Implementation: Course CodingNew Coding Scheme:ENGL 110 College Writing A (CSWA) = WRT 110HIST 325 History of Latin America = HIST 3XXAUTO 2B Brakes, Shocks and Struts = VOC 0XX

Implementation: Course Coding

Implementation: Mass Articulation• We converted catalog data from 40 schools to Excel

spreadsheets (some institutions provided the data). • These spreadsheets were uploaded into Banner to create

full catalogs for each of these feeder schools.• Meanwhile, our Articulation Officer reviewed each course

to determine transferability. – These transfer credit decisions were also entered into the Excel

spreadsheets and input into Banner.

At the time we launched the module, we had 64,000 courses already articulated!

Implementation: Mass Articulation

Implementation: CAPP Redesign

Implementation: CAPP Redesign

Implementation: CAPP Redesign

Implementation: Staffing Restructure

Implementation: Staffing Restructure

Implementation: Staffing Restructure

Passing the torch…

The Devil Is in the Details

Restructuring Staff and Procedures

• Building rapport• Assessing individual

skills• Hiring to fit our

team• New process

training• Streamlining

processes

Accountability All Around• Customer Services Metrics• Business Process Metrics

• Financial Impact Metrics• Learning & Growth Metrics

Implementation – SUCCESS!

• Turnaround Time• Consistency• Pleasant Working

Environment• Collaboration• Advisor Access to

Information• Student Empowerment• Cultural Change

Looking Forward

Still to do:• Preliminary Evaluations• Academic Progress

Worksheet• Tracking WebCAPP Use• Workflow

What we have learned:• Learning & Growth• Strengthening

Relationships• Stepping outside of our

comfort zones

We achieved successful implementation!Or have we?

Contact Information

• Anna Hawkey Jablonski, University of La Verne– Email: aJablonski@laverne.edu

• Patricia Hernandez, University of La Verne– Email: phernandez@laverne.edu