Let’s Talk Transfer: Highlights from the second discussion

Training transfer credit evaluators

On Tuesday, May 21, CollegeSource hosted the second session of Let’s Talk Transfer, our community series in which we invite all transfer professionals (regardless of whether they use our products) to share their expertise and chat about transfer-related topics.

The attendance cap we experienced in our first session was resolved, and over 236 of the 535 registrants joined us live on Zoom. Based on feedback, we changed the session format and, after 45 minutes of larger group discussion, opened four breakout sessions based on topic. General discussion also continued in the main room. The event spanned over an hour and a half to ensure that everyone had ample time to talk with their peers.

Breakout on the topic of prior learning assessment (PLA) at the May 21, 2024, session of Let’s Talk Transfer.

Topics of discussion

To learn more about our attendees, the meeting started with three poll questions:

1. What office is responsible for processing transfer credit at your institution?

• • • 65% of respondents reported that transfer credit was processed in the Registrar’s office.
    • 20% reported that processing occurred in Admissions.
    • 15% reported processing occurred elsewhere (i.e. Academic Advising, Academic Affairs, or a dedicated transfer office).

2. Do faculty or staff make course equivalency decisions at your institution?

• • • 75% of respondents reported that decisions are made by a combination of faculty and staff.
    • 22% reported decisions are made solely by faculty.
    • 5% reported decisions are made by staff alone.

3. How long do evaluators have to review a course for equivalency?

• • • 17% of respondents reported evaluators may take up to one week to review courses.
    • 19% reported they may take up to two weeks.
    • 7% reported evaluators have up to three weeks.
    • 58% provided a different timeframe (ex., 48 hours, 1-3 days) or reported not having a deadline for evaluations.

Training transfer credit evaluators

The main topic of discussion was best practices in training transfer credit evaluators. We received permission from Jenna Olson at the University of Nebraska–Omaha to share her TES training guides with the larger community. Many of the attendees mentioned that they have used her resources in the past and hope others will in the future. We had some great conversations on best practices for training regarding:

• • Navigating statewide transfer projects (a future session topic?)
  • International transcripts
  • Collecting course syllabi

Attendees went on to join breakout groups based on the topics of evaluation workflow, syllabi requests, military credits, and prior learning assessment (PLA). As not everyone may have been able to attend in person, breakout sessions were recorded and will be shared with registrants, with the exception of the session on PLA (we apologize, but we missed the beginning!).

Watch the recording

Register now to access the May 21 recording, including the transcript, chat log, and breakout session recordings.

Join us again in July

The next session of Let’s Talk Transfer will take place on Tuesday, July 16, at 1 p.m. ET and will focus on storing transfer credit equivalencies. We will start with another round of poll questions, and because two of them involve numbers, we thought we’d give you a heads-up:

How many transcripts does your institution process per year?
How many staff support this effort?

Series registration

If you previously registered for the series, the Zoom link provided can be used to access all future sessions in 2024, 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.