A presentation by Scott Ziolko of Columbia College of Missouri
On Tuesday, November 18, 2025, CollegeSource hosted another session of the Let’s Talk Transfer community discussion series, where all transfer professionals (regardless of whether they use CollegeSource products) are invited to share their expertise and ask questions on transfer-related topics. Over 230 staff from institutions of higher education attended a special presentation on evaluating military credit by Scott Ziolko, CollegeSource Client Advisory Board member and Senior Evaluator in the Office of the Registrar at Columbia College of Missouri.
Host Tim Horzmann introduces guest Scott Ziolko to discuss military credit evaluation.
Military credit in Higher Ed
Military transfer credit has been a much-requested topic for the Let’s Talk Transfer series. Policies and practices vary by institution, and the evaluation process for military occupations can be nuanced. Scott shared best practices for reviewing coursework and occupations from a Joint Services Transcript (JST) and from the Community College of the Air Force/Air University. He also touched upon his institution’s policies and practices for awarding credit to students with a DD-214 and evaluating course/training certificates.
One of the challenges that institutions face in evaluating a Joint Services Transcript is understanding its structure and contents. Scott helped institutions better understand how to identify the types of learning experiences documented on a JST and how to find and evaluate these learning experiences using American Council on Education (ACE) credit recommendations. Attendees left the session with a better understanding of how to interpret credit recommendations (especially those that contain recommendations for different levels of service) and the importance of awarding credit for course equivalents, where possible, to help students fulfill degree requirements. It also provided the opportunity to clear up the misconception that the hours within a credit recommendation are listed in contact hours. ACE recommendations are calculated in terms of semester hours.
This month’s discussion, which took place a week after Veterans’ Day, reaffirmed the importance of supporting military students in their academic journeys and awarding credit for prior learning experiences.
Breakout rooms
After our guest presentation, attendees headed into the breakout rooms hosted by the CollegeSource Client Advisory Board and CollegeSource staff to discuss the following topics:
- Diving deeper into evaluation
- Transfer rule encoding best practices
- Military credit policies
- General discussion (Main room)
Watch the recording
Register now to access the November 2025 recording, including the transcript, chat log, and breakout session recordings.
Upon accessing the recording, please see the sidebar transcript for the link to view breakouts.
See you in January!
Let’s Talk Transfer will return for its third year, with the next session scheduled for January 20, 2026. Don’t miss out as we discuss the topic of reverse transfer.
If you previously registered for the series, the Zoom link provided can be used to access future sessions. If you haven’t registered yet, please see the link below. Recordings will be available for those unable to attend.
Help shape the 2026 series
CollegeSource wants to ensure that Let’s Talk Transfer continues to meet the needs of the transfer community. Tim and Sarah are looking to you to help shape the future of the series. Registrants are invited to suggest a topic for discussion or volunteer to be a guest speaker and share their experience.
We look forward to seeing you in 2026!
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