Accreditation question

Mexdef,

It is good to hear from you again.

This is one of those "yes" and "no" questions at the same time. I will not try to answer the TRACS question b/c I have no experience with them more than just to hazard a guess: if the courses were taken at a TRACS accredited school then my guess is that they will not necessarily be received at a SACS school. But, it might work the other-way-round.

Now let me talk about the little I know!:laugh: One of the major issues for accreditation, especially with the SACS/Regional Accreditation, is that there is an assumed, as well as spelled out "across the board" receiving of courses from school to school.

There is a "BUT," and it is a big "BUT" (no pun intended). The receiving school's course description has to line up "line upon line" as it were with the other school.

We have this incident come up regularly at the little (and SACS Accredited) school where I have taught for 10 years. Sometimes we even have to get a copy of the syllabus, in a specific class, and interview the student as to the course content. Then and only then can we, the receiving school, make the call on a casuistic (for those not knowing anything about rhetoric, that means a case-by-case) basis.

Now an example: for a while we had a hybrid "Communication's Skills" course. It was about 1/3 Public Speaking and a 2/3 Interpersonal Communications. It was designed for our Nursing and Allied Health students. We were always running up against opposition by students who wanted to transfer Public Speaking into our degreed programs b/c many had had a "pure speech' course at a university or community college. Therefore what they sought to transfer would not or could not be used in our degree programs.

It is much more up to the receiving college/university than I had ever thought before I got into these situations. My dean is constantly bringing me catalogs, course descriptions, and course syllabi to examine so that we might receive or reject courses taken elsewhere.

It is not as easy to answer as you might think.

I also know this, a recruiter cannot make these types of decisions. Don't let them tell you they can. Only the Academic Dean or Chief Academic Officer can make these type of decisions. Therefore, please do not listen to some "fast talking salesperson," (Oh, I am sorry I meant academic recruiter) tell you that "that ought to transfer." Talk to the "head man in charge!" and it will save you some money as well as time in the long run.

I hope that this has not been too wordy and that it is understandable.

Let me know if I need to clarify anything.

sdg!:thumbs:

rd

 

Mexdeaf Response

Hello Brother,

I hope the information helped. No, we do not have a psych degree. We are a small Baptist college that is a health care institution. We are a niche college with only 7 majors in nursing and allied health.

If your son is going to get his feet wet at a local community college that is accredited then he should probably stick to courses like general psych, sociology, speech (maybe?), English or World Lit. and just the general intro stuff.

Then maybe he will not have to do any work over. Make sure you impress upon him the need to even do his best when he is taking these intro subjects.

He may want to go to grad school later and they look at all of the academic records. A "2.0" early on even in community college might make them pass him by. Also, when (if) he transfers to a state u. or other university, some allow the student to "import" their GPA from the smaller or other community college schools. Some, however, do not. So it is vitally important that he do his very best and establish a good academic record from the "get go!"

I hope this has helped. I am always available for these kinds of conversations.

sdg!:thumbs:

rd