Policies & Procedures Manual

146

Policy No: 401.4

Policy Contact: Vice President for Instruction

Policy Title: EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING CHALLENGE EXAMINATION POLICY

East Central Community College (ECCC) believes it is important to recognize that learning takes place both inside and outside of a formal classroom setting, especially in the workplace and the military. In order to provide instructional credit for students who have previously mastered outcomes required in a given course, a Course Challenge Examination Policy has been developed to allow students an opportunity to pass a challenge examination on the subject matter being taught for which prior experiential learning has occurred (with supportive documentation). Credit awarded for such Course Challenge Examinations will be posted to a student’s transcript subject to his/her meeting admission requirements and enrolling at ECCC. The Course Challenge Examination must be administered by a qualified faculty member or college administrator in accordance with the following: 1. The candidate for the Course Challenge Examination must be eligible for admission to East Central Community College as a student. 2. The candidate must have discussed his/her interest in taking a Course Challenge Examination with the appropriate faculty member and document/demonstrate to that faculty member’s satisfaction that he/she has achieved subject matter mastery through some prior learning experience (substantiated by documentation). 3. The candidate must complete a Course Challenge Examination Request Form. 4. The request must be approved by the instructor and Vice President for Instruction before the examination is given. 5. Course Challenge Examinations shall be comprehensive in scope covering content taught in the entire course and based on the student learning outcomes established for the course. 6. If the course being challenged has a laboratory or skill component, the Course Challenge Examination must have a performance component which authenticates the student’s comprehensive mastery of the skills required in the course. The total credit that may be earned by Course Challenge Examinations for any individual program of study may not exceed 15 semester credit hours. Students may take the Course Challenge Examination at a cost of $50 per Course Challenge Examination (plus materials and/or certification fees when a skills authentication component is required). Each Course Challenge Examination will be administered on pass-fail basis only. The successful completion of the Course Challenge Examination will result in the posting of a “P” grade to the candidate’s transcript. The unsuccessful attempt of any Course Challenge Examination will result in the student receiving no grade of any kind. A student may only challenge a given course one time. No quality points are granted for credit earned through Course Challenge Examinations and credits granted are not used in computing grade point average. Refer to POLICY 413.1 REQUIREMENTS FOR DEGREES and POLICY 413.2 REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATES for graduation requirements. Credit granted by ECCC for Course Challenge Examinations may not transfer to other colleges or universities. Students should contact transfer institutions directly for their current Course Challenge Examinations acceptance and scoring policies.

(Added 9/10/13; Reviewed 4/12/16; Revised 12/12/17)