Thomas Edison / FEMA / Credit Banking

Thomas Edison State College / FEMA Independent Study Courses

Credit Banking

I received my credit bank transcript today from TESC. I would like to share one section of my transcript relating to FEMA Independent Study Courses with the forum.

I had FEMA send a copy of my Independent Study Course transcript direct to TESC. I sent no copies of my certificates, not even notarized copies. My FEMA transcript had 46 courses listed and I received credit for 37 courses. All courses were worth one credit, except for IS-009, which was worth 2 two credit hours.

My credit bank fee at the military rate was $250, giving me the credits at $6.58 per credit hour. It would be lower if I figured in the fact that I had other courses that were not FEMA related on the transcript.

Credit (37)
001, 002, 003, 005, 007, 008, 009, 010, 011, 015, 111, 120, 139, 195, 208, 230, 235, 240, 241, 242, 244, 271, 275, 279, 288, 292, 301, 324, 346, 386, 393, 394, 513, 600, 630, 631, 632.

No credit (9)
022, 055, 100, 200, 317, 340, 362, 650, 700.

Have Not Taken (yet)
253, 330, 331, 336, 800.


Credit Level of the 37 Courses
100 level - 19
200 level - 16
300 level - 2
400 level - 0


*** The figures above do not count the two US Fire Administration (FEMA) self-study courses, Q118 & Q318, for which I got one credit each. One was a 300 level course and the other a 400 level course. The two US Fire Administration courses were ACE evaluated for college credit, while the FEMA Independent Study courses were not ACE evaluated.



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USFA

Good Morning, Did TESC take the USFA credits without a transcript from the ACE? Your post is a great point of reference and I hope can somehow make it to the front page of degreeinfo. These courses are a great way to kick start a college career. Have a good week. Hille

 

US Fire Aministration / National Fire Academy (NFA)

I had a transcript sent from the National Fire Academy directly to TESC. I sent no copies of certificates. I have an account at the American Council on Education with these courses documented at ACE, but did not have it sent. TESC worked directly from the National Fire Academy transcript and gave me credit for Q118 & Q318.

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It would be interesting to know which courses were 100, 200, 300 and of the USFA which was which level.

 

Thomas Edison Course Descriptions
http://www.tesc.edu/plasearch/

EDM 101 - IS001
EDM 102 - IS002
EDM 103 - IS007
EDM 107 - IS230
EDM 120 - IS120
EDM 121 - IS324
EDM 122 - IS288
EDM 123 - IS195
EDM 124 - IS275
EDM 126 - IS208
EDM 130 - IS279
EDM 140 - IS393
EDM 154 - IS005
EDM 155 - IS346
EDM 172 - IS301
EDM 190 - IS008
EDM 191 - IS010
EDM 192 - IS011
EDM 193 - IS111
EDM 200 - IS292
EDM 203 - IS139
EDM 207 - IS240
EDM 208 - IS241
EDM 209 - IS242
EDM 210 - IS244
EDM 221 - IS630
EDM 222 - IS600
EDM 223 - IS015
EDM 224 - IS235
EDM 225 - IS631
EDM 232 - IS386
EDM 240 - IS009
EDM 241 - IS394
EDM 242 - IS271
EDM 290 - IS632
EDM 303 - IS513
EDM 399 - IS003

FIS 391 - Q118
FIS 461 - Q318

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USFA

Good Morning, Did you try and have the two one credit courses moved out of the Fire Science area? According to the description on the USFA page they can be classified as something else. My daughter is wrapping up her second BA and this would be great information to have. Thanks. Hille

 

Add on Question in reference to FEMA

Good Morning, I am looking for course descriptions that match course work for IS 240,241,242 for portfolio purposes. Thank you. Hille

 

<<Did you try and have the two one credit courses moved out of the Fire Science area?>>

I did not ask for it to be classified one way or another. TESC gave Fire Science and I didn't ask for it or ask for it changed. I am working on a degree in Criminal Justice and one in Emergency Management and the Fire Science works for me when I consider the non-Fema courses I have on my transcript.

Q118 - ACE Recommendation: In the vocational certificate or lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 1 semester hour in Fire Science, Adult Education, General Education, Public Education, Public Health, or Safety Studies.

Q318 - ACE Recommendation: In the vocational or lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 1 semester hour in Personnel or Human Resources Management, Business or Public Administration, Behavioral Science, Fire Science, Fire Administration, Law Enforcement, or Criminal Justice.

<<IS 240,241,242.>>

On my TESC transcript...

IS 240 = EDM 207 Leadership and Influence, 1 hour.
IS 241 = EDM 208 Decision Making & Problem Solv, 1 hour.
IS 242 = EDM 209 Effective Communication, 1 hour.

I am not aware of any other descriptions that might be used. If I come across any I will email you and post here.

 

June 2005

National Fire Academy Independent Study Program (FEMA)
IS-534 / Q-534 - Emergency Response to Terrorism Self Study

When I sent my National Fire Academy transcript to the TESC Credit Bank in February 2005 I originally received no credit for Q-534, even though it was on my NFA transcript. No mention from TESC about it when they sent my first transcript.

I then sent notarized copies of my certificates for IS-534 and Q-534 to TESC along with a note explaining that this course matched the course EDM-390 Emergency Resp. to Terrorism: self-Study, that was in their course listing. I also advised them that IS-534, Q-534 and SS-534 have all described the same course at one time or another.

I just got a new copy of my transcript and have been given 1 credit hour for the course EDM-390 Emergency Resp. to Terrorism: self-Study. As usual, no note of explanation.

The FEMA Independent Study Program had a bad habit of not putting IS-534 on a transcript before the course was moved to the National Fire Academy Independent Study Program (FEMA) and renamed Q-534. The NFA does put this course on a transcript.

The bottom line is that I got credit for all my other courses with only transcripts from FEMA, but had to send copies of my certificates to get credit for IS-534 / Q-534 Emergency Response to Terrorism Self Study.

 

June 2005

I applied as a student to Excelsior College. I sent Excelsior a copy of my TESC transcript and asked them to accept the 39 credit hours that were listed on the transcript. Excelsior refused. I fought back. Excelsior accepted the credits based on my Thomas Edison Evaluation of the FEMA courses.

Here are a few emails to show you a little about how the battle went..

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Excelsior
Friday 7/22/2005 10:00 PM
Subject: Status Report Update Notification

Dear Mr. Gates,

I have reviewed your transcript that from Thomas A. Edison State College with a member of their Registrar's office staff. Based on my discussion with them, we are unable to award credit listed below from their transcript.

1) All "EDM" courses are FEMA. In order to evaluate this credit, please submit an official ACE transcript for any ACE evaluated courses. Otherwise, if any of these courses are FEMA EMI Independent Study courses, then you will need to submit an official transcript from Frederick Community College who has assumed responsibility for evaluation of these courses.

Sincerely,

Gretchen
Liberal Arts Advising Team
Excelsior College

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I sent Excelsior an email pointing out that …

* TESC had evaluated the FEMA courses and issued the college credit, so it was not transfer credit.

* That Excelsior was now rejecting Regionally Accredited credits.

* That Frederick Community College has not assumed any official responsibility for evaluation of courses from FEMA.

* That FEMA cannot pick one college as an agent, but advertises all colleges giving credit, that they know about.

* That FEMA has a disclaimer on the link to Frederick stating it does not endorse the site.

* That any college could issue college credit on their own for the FEMA courses.

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Monday 7/26/2005

I received a phone call from the person at Excelsior who wrote the email declining credit. She tried to tell me I was wrong and called me a liar. I hung up on her. She called right back and I hung up on her again.

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I began making plans on what to do next. I will not give this away as I will still be implementing my plans to help make sure others do not have this trouble in the future in getting FEMA credits at a low cost.

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Sent: Wed 8/3/2005 7:08 PM
Subject: Appeal for FEMA credit listed on Thomas Edison transcript was approved
Dear Mr. Gates,

I am writing in follow-up to our recent phone conversation. I am pleased to inform you that the appeal for the FEMA credit which was listed on your Thomas Edison was approved. An updated status report and evaluation summary will be sent to you.

Sincerely,

Gretchen
Liberal Arts Advising Team
Excelsior College

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Now I am simply waiting to see if they record the TESC FEMA courses correctly on my Excelsior transcript.

Michael Gates
August 4th, 2005

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Additional threads.

FEMA EMI credits and TESC
http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=197304#post197304

Excelsior Fema?
http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19795&highlight=fema

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August 5th, 2005

I have my new evaluation from Excelsior and it shows all the FEMA courses I had evaluated at Thomas Edison State College. The Excelsior evaluation shows...

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THOMAS EDISON STATE COLLEGE

TRANSFER CREDIT: FEDERAL EMERGENCY MGT AGENCY (INDEPENDENT STUDY COURSE)

Grade P / Applied Professional

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The evaluation listed the courses by Thomas Edison course numbers (EDM 101, EDM 102, etc.) and still listed the courses that Thomas Edison gave upper level credit, as upper level.

Michael Gates

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hi

how doing guys...i would like to know where i can apply for fema can some one send me the link.like where can i start taking the courses online and pay for them and get my credits..i need lik 34 credits!

 

Has anyone else been successful sending their FEMA credits to EC via the Thomas Edison Credit Bank? More recently, perhaps?

I would love to utilize this option if I felt relatively secure that EC will accept the credits--it would save me over $700 to use the credit bank method rather than FCC.

 

Hey, I'm in the military and just short of some civilian education that I could use for promotion. Is there anyway or idea that you all might have that could benefit me so that I can make it quickly before the promotion list comes out. I have a couple of Fema courses that I have completed already what should I do with them. Because my human resource personnel won't accept them in my company

 

Bump??????????????????????