Creating transfer and Credit for Prior Learning policies
On Tuesday, January 21, CollegeSource welcomed attendees to the first Let’s Talk Transfer session of 2025. Now in its second year, this community discussion series invites all transfer professionals (regardless of whether they use CollegeSource products) to share their expertise and ask questions on transfer-related topics.
Breakout on procedure and process changes at the January 21, 2025, session of Let’s Talk Transfer.
Topics of discussion
The goal of Let’s Talk Transfer has been to create a community space where transfer professionals can make connections and learn from one another. As such, we were very excited to be joined by two guest speakers who discussed the policies their institutions have been making around transfer and Credit for Prior Learning.
Developing a transfer credit policy at Cornell University
Our first guest was Marie Bosley Gordon, Associate University Registrar for Academic Systems/Technology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. In 2023, with the help of the SUNY Transformation Fund, the Cornell Registrar’s Office started streamlining its transfer processes to increase enrollment and make transfer credit evaluation more equitable across its 16 colleges and schools. A working group was created to write a comprehensive transfer policy, focusing on the transfer and award of credit for college courses, prior learning, and military experience. In fall 2023, a draft policy was presented to Cornell’s Associate Deans and advisors for review.
In addition to policy changes, Marie explained how Cornell has invested in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to process transcripts more rapidly and TES, the Transfer Evaluation System, to evaluate transfer credit. She discussed the formation of a transfer evaluation team that went to college departments to share best practices for equitable review.
The Faculty Senate will hear the final transfer policy proposal this fall. Marie noted the importance of telling faculty the stories of Cornell students’ struggle with transferring credit to help them better understand the need for a comprehensive policy. These will be presented to faculty as “personas.”
Developing a Credit for Prior Learning policy at Heidelberg University
Our second guest was Beth Koop, Associate Registrar of Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio. About a year ago, Beth’s office was asked to create a process to assess and provide credit for students’ prior work/life experience. In talking with the former Registrar, she found that Heidelberg had a prior assessment policy in 2004 whereby student-submitted portfolios were reviewed by a consortium. However, this consortium no longer exists.
Beth’s research, which included reviewing other institutions’ policies and procedures, led her university to adopt the Ohio Department of Education’s guidelines on Credit for Prior Learning. She shared the final policy and noted the next step for Heidelberg is to develop a process for reviewing student portfolios. To be determined are who will coordinate and review the portfolios, what costs students will incur, and whether to award credit or issue course waivers.
Beth noted the importance of inter-departmental collaboration and having decision-makers at the table when deciding on a process. She detailed the institution’s tentative prior learning review process, which Heidelberg will finalize and exercise to help a returning student seeking credit.
Breakout rooms
After the presentations, attendees headed into breakout rooms hosted by the CollegeSource Client Advisory Board. The discussion centered on the following topics:
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- Policy changes
- Adding and onboarding staff
- Procedure and process changes
Sarah and Tim stayed in the main room to take further questions and continue discussion with Marie and Beth.
Watch the recording
Register now to access the January 21 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.
Join us again in March
The next Let’s Talk Transfer session will take place on March 18 and will focus on developing a transfer-friendly culture. Attendees are encouraged to contact Sarah and Tim at ta**********@co***********.com if they are interested in highlighting the work of their institutions’ transfer center.
If you previously registered for the series, the Zoom link provided can be used to access all future sessions in 2025, and you will receive email reminders about the individual sessions. If you haven’t yet registered, see the link below. Recordings will be available for those unable to attend.
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