Credit by Examination and AACSB. Need opinions

Hello,

My name is Nicole. I am a student at the state University which is
certified by AACSB – The International Association for Management
Education. I am a senior in MIS. I currently take 9 credit hours, I work
in the computer lab on campus and have held jobs in the Information
Technology.

I requested to take a few classes Credit By Examination. I went to each of
the instructors for the courses and no one had any problem with
administering the exams. We discussed how to do the exams and what would
be covered. For one programming class the instructor wants me to write a
program in addition to taking a test as a project.

I submitted the paperwork to the Dean of the college. I received the
following email from him:

Thank you for your email concerning your multiple applications for credit
by examination. While credit by examination can be a valuable option to
students under some circumstances, it is not always an effective or
appropriate mode of education. There can be several reasons for this
including the nature of the material to be covered, the value to the
student of the classroom experience, the fact that sole reliance on a
single test may not be a good way to measure student learning for some
subjects, and so forth. Further, there is no requirement that this option
be made available for all courses. With this in mind, we have reviewed you
applications with the respective department chairs. The chairman of the
Marketing Department, <snip name>, supports your application for Marketing
301. <Snip Name>, chair of the Finance Department is not willing to support
your application for credit by examination for Finance 301. Also, <Snip
Name>, chair of the Management Department, can not support your
applications for credit by examination for the MIS 210, MIS 377, MIS 380,
or MGT 480. I have signed your application for MKT 301 and left it along
with the unsigned applications in BEH 214 for you to pick up at your
convenience. Should you have any questions about these decisions, I suggest
you talk with the respective department chairs. Sincerely, <Snip Name>

Something very weird is going on. One week ago all of the chairs had
ABSOLUTELY no problem with me taking these classes by examination. I have
taken 5 other classes by examination and the University will allow up to 30
credit hours to be taken this way.

I strongly feel that I am being discriminated against. I have taken a good
portion of these classes but have been unable to complete them due to
serious medical conditions (last semester I was hospitalized for a few
weeks and then placed on strict bedrest). The Dean knows all of these
things.

I can not stress that all of the instructors have NO PROBLEM with credit by
examination. Most schools have programs such as these or CLEP etc. This
decision seems to be completely arbitrary. I happen to study better on my
own and with very little direction from others. Which is why I prefer
distance/online education. After looking at the AACSB website I noticed
that there seems to be not guidelines for credit by examination. Is there
anything else I should consider.

I plan on appealing to the provost and Office of Diversity Initiatives. I
feel that the Dean had greatly overstepped his duties as administrator.
Any guidance would be appreciated.

Nicole
(Who knew she should have gone to University of Massachuets Online to
finish her last 60 credits)

 

Nicole,

While there is a slight possibility of some type of action against you, I strongly urge you not to jump to that conclusion. There may be a number of reasons for the denial. I would suggest you focus on that aspect of the situation. Going the other route will not help your case.

I graduated from an AACSB school (San Jose State U, MBA- Global Business). When I first enrolled, they were going to disallow several of my business courses. I had a knee jerk reaction, but when I calmed down, I called the school to ask the reasons. It seemed the only reason what the names of the courses did not correlate to courses in SJSU's undergrad program. So, I asked what I needed to do, they told me, I went down with a friend that also received a letter. We headed down to campus with the information (basically course descriptions), and voils- issue solved. However, there were still 2 courses I had to take, but for reasons clearly outlined in the catalog. I tried to test out of the one, but was unsuccessful.

The reason I am telling you this is that, aside from some exercise, all jumping to conclusions will do is raise your blood pressure and possibly ruffle some feathers. The reason for some of these denials may be anything from the profs not having a test ready, to not realizing the requirements for a test till some point later and not wanting to give up time, to the time in the semester, to changing their minds. Other reasons may be that you tried to test out of too many at one time, to some of the courses you want to test out may not be ones the school feels are appropriate, or perhaps there are some limits on upper and lower division tests.

One other thing I would like to caution you about. AACSB has additional requirements as part of their accreditation program that is above what a regional accreditor requires. It does not surprise me there is no mention of placing out of courses. If there were mention of this type of credit, it may well be a statement of MAXIMUM allowable credits, not that it is a right of the student to be able to have a test process.

Don't give up the fight. If the school has a policy, and if you fit into it, then by all means follow up. But do so with a win-win attitude. Take the attitude that you want to understand, NOT that the professors owe you. You will find that most profs are willing to work with you, but they do need to work within a framework. When you put in for so many tests, you may have inadvertently raised a red flag.

Good luck,

Russ

 

Thank you very much. I agree with what you are saying. I have requested to test out of 5 classes at one time. I'm graduating during the summer and wanted to complete them as soon as possible.

If there were not so many other factors I might not have such a bad feeling about the situation. Everyone one of the department chairs told me 1 week ago that they would have not problem with me doing this.

I will definately try the win-win suggestion. Perhaps it will work. I just hate these situations. But they seem to be rampant at the University I attend, which is way I take an equal number of classes at the local community college...because I will need actual skills to get a job...not just a bunch of theory.

Thank,

Nicole