FEMA EMI CREDITS BANKED at TESC useless?

Received this reply today:
"Mr. LaFerney:

According to Thomas Edison, they have not evaluated the FEMA EMI courses. These courses are not among those for which the American Council on Education recommends credits. The evaluation of these courses has been done by Frederick Community College. The fee that Thomas Edison charges is apparently a per-credit charge they require in order for them to transcript the credit recommendations of Frederick Community College, if the student wants them on a Thomas Edison transcript. If someone presented a Thomas Edison transcript to us with these credits, they would be credits that Thomas Edison accepted in transfer. We would require a transcript from Frederick Community College.
Sincerely,
Patricia Derech, Registrar"

So it appears that the Banking of FEMA credits at TESC has little value if other colleges use this logic. It makes me wonder how the respondents of this site got these courses to be put on TESC transcript if they didn't go through FCC. (and have no ACE approval) It seemed too good to be true -getting 40 college credits through TESC for 350 dollars rather than through FCC for 2400 (at 60 dollars a credit) and I guess it was.

 

While it is unfortunate Charter Oak does not accept FEMA (via TESC credit bank), I think it's well established that both TESC and Excelsior awards credit for these (for the $380 fee via TESC credit banking).

In short, I think some people may disagree with your assertion that the TESC credit bank is useless (with regards to FEMA).

Greg

 

I did not credit bank these credits through TESC. Instead, I actually enrolled with TESC and earned an associates degree from them with a concentration in emergency management. I then sent my transcipt to COSC to have my credits applied to a degree plan and was refused. I tend to believe that TESC HAS evaluated the credits, otherwise, why would they issue a degree for that concentration without the Fedricks College transcipt?

 

I got a TESC credit bank account for a $250. I sent them my FEMA transcript. TESC put the courses on my transcript. I transfered the courses to Excelsior.

Any college can give credit for the FEMA courses if they choose to do so, ACE evaulated or not. TESC worked great for me, but if someone wants to go to Frederick Community College (FCC) and spend more money for the same credit they are free to do so.

 

Agreed. Just because COSC rejected them does not mean other colleges will/won't do the same. Every college is free to accept or reject credits from other institutions, period. I'd look at another school rather than giving up on the FEMA credit. Why not just chase a TESC degree?

Pug

 

Patricia Derech does not see to know what she is talking about. The credits on my TESC transcript have nothing to do with Frederick Community College and are TESC college credits and are not credits transfered to TESC from any other college. The TESC evaulations are on the TESC website. I was not charged a "per-credit charge...in order for them to transcript the credit recommendations of Frederick Community College" on my transcript.

 

I agree. I did not transfer the credits from Fredrick College either. In fact, I have never even spoke with that college. I told Charter Oak that too. Charter knows that I received a degree from TESC with these credits and still refuse to accept my credits from TESC. It will take me longer to achieve a bachelor degree with TESC, but I may have no other choice than to go that route since it would be very expensive to pay $60.00 per credit that I have already received through TESC. Unless I get this resolved with Charter Oak, I will not be graduating in December.

 

Switt - Out of curiousity, which AAS degree option at TESC allowed you to use 40 FEMA credits? Occupational Studies?

Pug

 

I feel for you Switt

I think Charter Oak's policy is ridiculous because they are essentially saying that the degree you earned from a respected RA is invalid. While a school should be able to reject any transfer credits that they choose, in this case I find the reasoning (or lack thereof) to be absurd. Having said that, I think there are a number of issues that contribute to there being a problem with the whole FEMA to Charter Oak transfer situation:

1. From the information on the FEMA site, FEMA has at least given people (and schools) the opportunity to believe that only FCC can grant credit for FEMA coursework. The truth is, any school can award credit for this work. Although I'm sure FEMA doesn't care and would probably never make the effort, they should state on their site somewhere that any college can award credit for this coursework. I simply do not like the idea of the Government allowing it to appear that FCC is the only channel that one can go through... its a recipe for confusion.

2. Because of #1, schools are ignorant of the fact that there is no such restriction on who can and cannot award credit.

3. Overall, even if schools are aware of the facts, I doubt that many schools would be willing to allow students to start in with 40 credits for free. Schools would rather students spend the money with them in order to gain credits, and quite frankly it is understandable from a business standpoint... it sucks for students, but it is about business and we are all aware of that reality. BUT, if you have already earned a valid credit-bearing degree in the field from an RA like Switt did, then Charter Oak's policy has no sensible leg to stand on other than something weak like, "Well... err... ummm... because we said so!"

I've finished 13 FEMA courses now, including the Professional Development series; I've learned a lot and I've retained a great deal of the knowledge from it. I plan to attempt to transfer these credits to the RA AAB program I'm currently in. I will go through TESC's credit bank first before I try, because I know that they won't accept the credits in raw form. If the school doesn't accept the credits from TESC, I'm transferring out of there and going someplace else.

Sure, it's the schools right to reject the credits if they wish, but we have a right to go someplace else, and the school loses out because they lose our money. Because we know what to do, the power is really in our hands in this case. For me, the information gained from FEMA is viable, I learned valuable information, and I refuse to let these credits be cast aside when there are other options out there for me.

 

FEMA has hired a seperate company that manages the Independent website. I understand it is that company that has made the deal with FCC and a for a while Clackamas Community College. I asked for TESC to be added to the list and they said "no", as it seems these schools are paying the company that manages the website in order to have the appearance that they control the FEMA courses. It raises some interesting legal questions.

 

Wow. You aren't kidding. That sounds even shadier.

Well, I guess it wouldn't be the first time that FEMA had poor control of something

 

The degree was in occupational studies and the fema credits were credited in the field of emergency management. Since I do work in this line, it is not unusual for me to have taken these courses. Also, I have already paid my fees to Charter, so only Fredricks College would benefit from the $60.00 per credit, not Charter Oaks State College. I just do not understand their reasoning.

 

I am not in the EMS field but am considering the TESC AAS degree/Occupational Studies. If I am looking at the requirements correctly, 39 of the 60 necessary hours can be FEMA? (21 in the concentration and 18 electives). Is that what you did?

Pug

 

I used the 21 FEMA credits for my concentration. I already had other 18 credits that were for the electives.

 

I'm looking for the test questions for FEMA IS-513 Professional in Emergency Management. They're revising that course but it's the last one I need and they say on the website that if you have the questions you can still submit the answers.

Any help would be appreciated. You can email me direct at [email protected]

Thanks!

 

FEMA IS-513 Professional in Emergency Management

http://www.geocities.com/vajoewebsite/IS-513Complete.pdf

All materials.

 

You guys rock! Thank you so much.

FYI, I live in Washington state but moved here from Ohio. How odd is that that I get the document I need from where I moved from?

Thanks again!

 

I applied to TESC and got 38 credits for my FEMA EMI courses . So I guess I've decided they're not useless! I'll post them on my resume. At 10 dollars a credit they were too good to pass up!
I also appealed to COSC the way another poster here did to Excelsior for thier consideration in accepting the credits listed on the TESC credit bank. Their initial reply to me was:"
According to Thomas Edison, they have not evaluated the FEMA EMI courses. These courses are not among those for which the American Council on Education recommends credits. The evaluation of these courses has been done by Frederick Community College. The fee that Thomas Edison charges is apparently a per-credit charge they require in order for them to transcript the credit recommendations of Frederick Community College, if the student wants them on a Thomas Edison transcript. If someone presented a Thomas Edison transcript to us with these credits, they would be credits that Thomas Edison accepted in transfer. We would require a transcript from Frederick Community College."

I have applied for a 2nd BS degree At COSC based on submission of my FEMA credits and have made the case that :
1.They are refusing to accept RA credits.
2.Their "competitors do -Excelsior and TESC which means they are losing business as there are people who would apply to COSC if they accepted them. COSC highly markets their programs yet they are losing "customers"
3. Besides FCC other universities and colleges as APUS, the American Military university, the Community College of the Air Force, and TESC grant credit without going through FCC.
I'll let you know how they respond to my appeal.

 

Yes, I am very interested in knowing. Please keep us posted on the outcome. Thanks.

 

FYI,
I,ve been asking around about the FEMA courses, just to see what my options will be if I compete all of them. This is the email and response from APUS.


Does APUS give credit for the completion of FEMA courses that have been completed through independent study on the FEMA website? If so, are the credits applied toward a degree path as free electives, general education, or course concentration requirements?
Could these courses be used to fulfill general education and free elective requirements in concentration areas other than a degree in homeland security and emergency management?

Thank You For Your Time,
Robert Goodman









Dear Robert Goodman,

Yes we do award transfer credit for the completion of those FEMA courses which have been evaluated by the ACE and recommended for college level credits. If you have questions about the courses you completed, you may contact FEMA directly to inquire which courses they have had evaluated by ACE and recommended for college level credit or refer to the ACE link below for more information. Generally credit is applied towards the Elective requirements only as long as there is a good fit for the credit to be applied. In order for credit to apply towards an academic degree program at AMU the course/certificates from non-academic institutions, must have their courses evaluated by the American Council on Education (ACE) and recommended for college level academic credits. If the courses/certificates have not been evaluated by ACE then we can not transfer the credit over, because AMU does not evaluate prior learning and experience that has not been evaluated by ACE. We take what ACE recommends as long as the credit is applicable towards the chosen degree program requirements. We must follow the guidelines and recommendations of ACE and our Academic Department for awarding transfer credits towards an academic degree program.

Currently, the university system does not award academic transfer credit based on life experience and training unless it has been evaluated by the American Council on Education (ACE) and given recommendations for college level academic credits. In order for an accredited institution of higher learning to evaluate life experience, it must have a Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) process to evaluate any experience and training that has not been evaluated by ACE. We are in the process of developing a PLA to create a structured format for awarding credit for prior life and work experience that has not been evaluated by ACE. Once we have the PLA process developed and approved, a formal announcement will be made to our student body. We also cannot accept vocational training because it cannot be applied as academic coursework towards our academic programs. Additionally, we can not and do not apply CEU's (Continuing Education Units) towards an academic degree program. While you are correct that we are in institution that focuses on learning and applying the valid learning towards a degree program for students, we still have academic polices set by our accrediting bodies as well as our Academic Staff which we must follow. CEUs and college credit are not the same. According to the International Association for Continuing Education and Training, CEUs are usually awarded for short duration learning events, which are not part of an academic degree program. CEUs can not be awarded for training or education for which college credit is granted. The CEU, however, when included in an individual’s portfolio along with work experience, may be evaluated by some colleges and universities who assess prior learning experience. APUS does not evaluate prior learning and experience that has NOT been evaluated by the American Council on Education and recommended for college level academic credits.

The American Council on Education (ACE) evaluates and makes recommendations on the amount, type, and level of transfer credit that a university should consider when evaluating an individual's prior military or non-military training and experience. ACE evaluates each version of a class and/or school. The evaluations may vary from year to year. ACE formally announces its recommendations on military education and training every two years in its Guide to Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services. Every six months, ACE publishes a Handbook to the Guide to the Educational Experiences in the Armed Forces. The Guide and Handbook are available at military education services offices, as well as many public libraries. Most public libraries also have ACE guides where students can locate specific schools and/or courses to determine any credit value.

LINKS:

# For the American Council on Education homepage, please visit www.acenet.edu.
# For ACE recommendations of military occupations and courses, please visit www.militaryguides.acenet.edu.
# The ACE Guide to Credit for National Training Programs is now in an on-line searchable format. Use this link to search for civilian programs that have been evaluated by ACE and the credit that has been awarded. Go to www.acenet.edu/nationalguide/.

Department of Transfer Credit

[email protected]

10110 Battleview Parkway, Suite 200
Manassas, VA 20109
1-877-468-6268
www.apus.edu