Faculty at St. Cloud State University are working to become champions of credit for prior learning, so students can turn to them with questions about how to earn course credit for content they’ve mastered through previous learning experiences.
St. Cloud State earned a Pay it Forward grant from Minnesota State to develop Unleash Credit for Prior Learning based on a model of faculty champions developed by South Central College.
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The work on credit for prior learning at St. Cloud State began several years ago under Minnesota State’s Charting the Future initiative to expand credit at the university beyond the traditional methods of the College Level Examination Program (CLEP Exam), Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests, said Raymond Philippot, associate dean and executive director for the School of the Arts.
“Beyond standardized tests, many colleges and universities rely on portfolio development as a means to determine credit for prior learning,” he said. “It requires a great deal of work for the student seeking credit, including guidance from faculty experts in how to make a case for showing one’s learning.”
That’s where the faculty champions come in. This fall Philippot identified three faculty members to be St. Cloud State’s first champions. Kurt Helgeson, of environmental and technological studies; Kerry Marrer, of accounting; and Maureen Tubbiola, of biology are in the process of writing step-by-step instructions for students and faculty to follow on how to seek credit for prior learning for courses within Herberger Business School and the College of Science and Engineering.
The next step is to enhance St. Cloud State’s credit for prior learning website, where instructions will be added about how students can obtain credit for prior learning in the courses for which credit is most often requested.
Unleash Credit for Prior Learning is one of 23 projects at Minnesota State colleges and universities to earn more than $300,000 in grant funding for educational innovations that show great potential for improving teaching, learning and access for students.
The projects are funded through Minnesota State Educational Innovations, which identifies, seeds and supports innovative technologies and talent to drive high-quality experiences for the students of Minnesota State. The innovations address obstacles to student success by using existing technologies, resources or practices in innovative ways.
