converting CEU's to college credit

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Abner, Oct 22, 2008.

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  1. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    Hello,

    I am looking for some information on different articles/links on converting CEU's to college credit. I suspect it is usually through enrollment/assessment to private colleges/universities via portfolios, etc. I sit on an Employer Issues Board and a collegue is looking to write an article on this topic. I am looking for some info. to point him to.

    Thanks so much,

    Abner
     
  2. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    10 or so years ago, I did an experiment, in which a true but fairly complicated CV was submitted to ten credential evaluation services (a person with home schooling in india, night school in Guyana, a Chartered Accountant in Canada, and a Heriot-Watt MBA, among other things, including a bunch of CEUs.

    While the formal evaluations were all over the map (leading to my recommendation that one shop around among the services if you don't like your first one), not one recommended any credit for the CEUs.
     
  3. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    That sounds right. Here is the situation. We have labor law attorneys and college professors that give workshops/classes to Human Resource professionals who are members of our organization. Each class is worth 2.75 CEU's. I pointed out that CEU's can be converted to college credit mostly in the case of private schools via schools enrollment, portfolio assessment by the schools themselves, etc. I am wondering if there are some links I could send him to help write a small blurb on the subject. The reason? It is a good selling point to members attending these workshops.

    Thanks,

    Abner
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 22, 2008
  4. RBTullo

    RBTullo Member

    The only school I recall that does this as a matter of policy is Ft. Hays, but I don't know if that will work for you. You might consider shopping this idea to a local college and possibly develop a formal agreement with them for acceptance of the CEU's.
     
  5. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    About twelve years ago I took a course in Failure Investigation put on by Cal Poly at my employers facility. I earned ten CEUs. I asked why not regular college credit. Answer was the cost came out of the company's training budget, not its education budget (in other words a direct cost, not a overhead cost). Still a great course that I use on a regular basis (I still have the course material and books).
     
  6. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Why CEUs instead of college credits?

    The Institute of Police Technology and Management (IPTM) is under the University of North Florida and IPTM gives CEUs to officers who attend their esoteric police courses. Many years ago, when I asked an IPTM representative why I couldn't get college credits instead of CEUs, she explained that IPTM was ineligible to give college credits (even though they are a division of the University of North Florida) because they don't have enough instructors with doctoral degrees. The regional accreditors require that an institution must have a certain percentage of instructors with doctoral degrees for the institution to be authorized to issue college credits for their courses. She further explained that cops with masters degrees are a dime-a-dozen and it's easy to find and recruit them to be instructors, but finding cops with doctoral degrees is just about impossible -- and they certainly can't find enough cop-doctors to authorize IPTM to be able to issue college credits instead of CEUs for their courses.

    Just about all of the IPTM instructors are sworn officers with specialized police experience, which is what makes IPTM so successful with sworn officers. IPTM isn't going to start replacing sworn officers/instructors with doctoral holders who don't have police experience. You can go to a college class for that. ;)

    Specialized IPTM courses include:
    - kinesic interviewing
    - interviewing and interrogations
    - rape investigations
    - death investigations
    - advanced techniques for unresolved death investigations
    - advanced traffic crash investigations
    - criminal street gang investigations
    - et al
    These kinds of courses are taught by successful professionals who've done it for YEARS and they pass along these esoteric skills to other officers to practice-in-the-field. Replacing these skilled instructors with non-police doctoral holders would be a disaster for the law enforcement profession.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 22, 2008
  7. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    >>

    What might be a smaller mountain to climb is trying to get the classes ACE evaluated. This is a common practice for a lot of businesses doing exactly what you describe. (even McDonald's!) That way, you are not responsible for arranging articulation agreements, contacting colleges, or making promises. If you can get ACE to write the recommendation, then it is up to the participant to make the next move. Trying to be the credit provider is going to be too complected. (my son is enrolled in a program called ALEKS that is set up exactly that way- he completes ACE evaluated classes, but he must find a college to accept them if he wants credit)

    BUT....if it were me, I would do something else too. I would look at my local community college and find out if they have any type of HR certificate or AAS degrees in place. If they do have one, you could try and set up an articulation agreement for "a course" that would be accepted into that program (provided it was ACE evaluated). Keep in mind that the college doesn't necessarily want you in their sandbox (taking tuition $ away from them), but if you can demonstrate the potential for a flow of program applicants as a result of your class, you might get somewhere. The program I teach in does this with high schools- we let the high school teach sanitation (using a teacher we approve), and if the student passes the course - and then enrolls in our program after high school, we give them 3 credits of sanitation. (This is an articulation, not a transfer)

    All this would START with the department chair, not the dean or student services, and I wouldn't start until I had ACE evaluated curriculum.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 22, 2008
  8. sentinel

    sentinel New Member

    I face the same situation meeting requirements of the various professional associations in that they either grant CEUs or require CEUs from other educational/seminar/conference providers. Too bad these CEUs cannot be applied directly to any degree, diploma or even certificate at the college or university level.

    The suggestion to have them evaluated by ACE sounds like a good idea for your situation.
     
  9. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    Thanks for all of your thoughtful responses, as well as your time. I will take all suggestions into account.

    Thanks,

    Abner :)
     

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