Fema EMI Question

independant study courses

I have completed close to 15 of these courses, even applied for the Professional Development Series Certificate of Completion, which is supose to arrive in a month from FEMA. I am wondering if any of the classes could count for science requirments such as hazardous materials, or some of the radiology emergency courses? The ACE evaluatoin only applies to onsite courses not these IS classes. But if these have been accepted at a CC, you can always use them in the portfolio option... I keep waiting for Hille to jump into this thread.

 

I sit corrected. Where were you guys when I was trying to find three more credits for graduation?

 

FEMA EMI - any other schools

This FEMA stuff is very interesting. Anyone have any luck transferring the credit to COSC or any other school other that TESC?


Thanks,

Mike

 

The only evidence I've seen is a post by Tony Schroeder dated 10 October 2002, implying that Excelsior College had accepted his FEMA EMI credits at some earlier time:

FEMA is prompt about scoring the exam and sending the credit application to FCC; however, FCC itself takes "4-6 weeks for processing." http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/downloads/ccrdtapp.pdf

 

I just took a stab at transferring some of these to Excelsior. I already graduated in 98, but I've been knocking out Excelsior, Dantes, and Clep tests in an effort to look better when it comes to Teacher Certification. If they take it, fine. If not, no use worrying, I will list them as "other education" on my CV/resume.

Excelsior has taken everything I sent them, accept Blackstone's School of Law's (yea right)legal assistant diploma, which I did for gee whiz back in 1996. I paid 500 bucks so I could say, "darn it!".

The way I see it, if Excelsior takes this credit after going through ACE or the community college, they really cant ethically say no when given a transcript from FEMA. It must be the security issue, which is really ironic.

 

Please let us know how you make out.

I grant that what Frederick Community College is offering here seems to be "credit laundering"; and that in an ideal world, credit laundering would be unnecessary and useless.

But I don't see why you would single out Excelsior College as being "unethical". What about the zillions of grad schools that will recognize an Excelsior College degree, but will not recognize a bunch of GRE scores etc. by themselves as being equivalent to a Bachelor's degree? Also "unethical"?

I don't think it's "security"; it's that "bureaucratic rules sometimes lead to silly situations."

 

Though unethical may seem a tense adjective, my logic is:

The FEMA class and the work that went into it is no greater whether the credit is on a community college transcript or a FEMA transcript. As long as the transcript is in English and verified authentic, it should work. Therein lies my reference to security, perhaps transcripts from government agencies are less trustworthy than one from an educational institution.

If Excelsior said the credit wasn't acceptable, that would be their right, just as most schools don't accept the GRE.



The issues of degrees are different. Excelsior, COSC and TESC consolidate credit from many sources and apply them to a structural framework that equals a degree. The credit was "changed" because it was fused into a product that means you now have an education, and that education can be compared to other degrees now.

2 cent logic...

 

Perhaps slightly off topic, but Excelsior has no problem with military (government) transcripts. In fact, Excelsior actively pursues government employees as potential students.

I think Marks observation is more astute. However, I would change it to "bureaucratic rules frequently lead to silly situations."

 

I can confirm that Excelsior College still accepts this credit through Frederick Community College. It looks like this on the Student Status Report (which at Excelsior is similar to a transcript):

FREDERICK COMMUNITY COLLEGE
TRANSFER CREDIT: FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (IND STUDY)
TT/01 FEM*113 EMERG PROGRAM MNGR: IS
Grade P
Applied Professional 1.00

 

Further Confirmation

I spoke with my adviser at Excelsior last Friday about this issue.

EMI courses are accepted by Excelsior for credit only if they are listed on a transcript from Frederick Community College (or a prior institution which had provided transcript services to FEMA). The EMI courses have not been independently evaluated by the American Council on Education, and Excelsior requires ACE approval for courses offered by non-regionally accredited institutions or programs.

Good luck,


Tony

(almost a Senior Member, and almost an Excelsior grad!)

 

Tony Schroeder writes:

> almost a Senior Member, and almost an Excelsior grad!

Thanks, Tony.

In a message from March, 2001, you wrote: "I am on track to complete my degree in just over a year, and I take some pride in having (nearly) completed an accredited Bachelor's without stepping foot in a classroom. I am grateful for the opportunity Excelsior provided to me."

May I ask why the "just over a year" thing didn't happen? Was it something in your personal life, or did Excelsior not grant you some credits that you were counting on?

Cheers,
Mark I.

 

Re: Further Confirmation

Considering the nature of Exclesior, I find it ironic that they would be more concerened with process rather than with outcomes.

 

Hi Mark,

The former, not the latter. In fact, Excelsior has been exceptionally helpful in their guidance, making course recommendations when I needed help and offering advice in avoiding duplication of credit.

I am self-employed, and the demands of business kept me from finishing my degree as planned. To me, that's the true advantage of a self-guided education - I've been able to pursue my studies at my pace.

Regards,


Tony

 

In another thread, Mike Albrecht wrote:

Why "approximately"? The course list at http://www.training.fema.gov/emiweb/is/crslist.asp shows the courses as worth anywhere from 0.2 to 1.5 CEUs (plus one discontinued course worth 4.0 CEUs). But the Application for College Credit http://www.training.fema.gov/emiweb/downloads/ccrdtapp.pdf says, "each course is eligible for 1 semester hour unless otherwise indicated."

Can someone confirm that Frederick Community College disregards the number of CEUs whoever-it-is thinks the courses are worth? What about Thomas Edison State College?

 

I was just trying to indicate that they are not all 1 cerdit, there is one two credit course. Also I did not scan each and every course and compare it to an actual FCC transcript, so I could not state absolutely 1 semester hour.

 

The 2-credit course is "IS-9 Managing Floodplain Development Through the National Flood Insurance Program", which "has been discontinued and is no longer available."

 

Not all schools accept these credits. This just in from Western Illinois University:

"I have been informed that no credit will be awarded for FEM 113 Emerg Program Mngr from Frederick Community College. The course is not a degree applicable course at that college. It also has not be evaluated by ACE, American Council on Education, so we would not be able to award credit for the course."

 

So Frederick CC will charge you $60 per semester hour to transcript FEMA courses that they, in some cases, will not accept themselves. What exactly do they do for $60?

 

I need some help here, being a TESC student does it mean that I can get FEMA credits and transfer them to TESC for free?

 

Yes.