Assessment of Prior Learning for Academic Credit

PROCEDURE

ASSESSMENT OF PRIOR LEARNING FOR ACADEMIC CREDIT

PROCEDURES FOR UNDERGRADUATE PRIOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT

Matriculated undergraduate students at Ramapo College of New Jersey are eligible to apply for, and may acquire credit for, knowledge that they have gained outside the traditional academic setting through work, training, community service, and other accomplishments. The process of Prior Learning Assessment involves the development of a portfolio reviewed by an identified faculty member who confirms that the prior learning for which the student wishes credit is relevant to a particular program’s or course’s learning outcomes. Credit by PLA portfolio is available to all undergraduate students, but is most commonly used by adult learners[1]. Ramapo follows the standards developed by The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) regarding assessment of prior learning ( The following procedure outlines the steps by which a PLA portfolio review begins and culminates with the awarding of credits.

Reviewing PLA portfolio policies with studentGeneral information about earning credits through PLA portfolio is made available to students at transfer and adult orientation sessions. Any matriculated undergraduate student interested in earning credit through PLA portfolio must schedule a meeting with the Director of the Degree Completion Program (DCP)to discuss courses for which he or she is requestingPLA credits. The DCP Director provides the student with the PLA Student Handbook, as well as the Application Packet and other resources, and reviews the following policies with the student:

• Students may earn a maximum of 16 credits through PLA portfolio in an undergraduate program.
• Credits awarded through PLA portfolio are treated as transfer credits. Transfer credits are comprised of transfer courses from previous institutions, CLEP credits, and PLA portfolio credits. Undergraduate students who have already reached the maximum amount of 80 transfer credits may not earn credits through a PLA portfolio.
• Students must adhere to the College residency requirement and thus may not earn credits through PLA as part of their final 32 credits of degree.
• PLA must address the outcomes of a specific course in the current Ramapo catalog. Portfolios may be submitted for 100-300 level courses only and may not be used to substitute for a capstone course.
• Courses petitioned through PLA must not duplicate transfer credit or any other coursework used to fulfill degree requirements. Students who enroll in a Ramapo course and do not earn a passing grade may not petition to earn credit for that same course through PLA portfolio.
• The credit request for a PLA portfolio must match the amount of credit normally awarded for the course being petitioned.

Applying for PLA portfolio credits

Once the meeting is complete, the DCP Director directs the student to the appropriate dean to discuss the portfolio option as it relates to a specific course. If the dean determines that earning credit through PLA portfolio is appropriate for the identified course, he or she, in consultation with the convener, will identify a faculty member to act as the portfolio assessor.

The student then meets with the designated faculty assessor to discuss the requirements and expectations of the portfolio. Together they determine how the student can best demonstrate in a portfolio the kinds of knowledge, competencies, and skills acquired through prior learning. The student and faculty assessor come to a clear understanding of the portfolio requirements, the criteria that the assessor will use to determine if the student has met the course learning outcomes, and the timeline for completing the portfolio. This information is documented on the PLA Portfolio Contract which is signed by the student, the faculty assessor, and the dean. The student is responsible for obtaining the dean’s signature on the PLA Portfolio Contract.

Once all of the above approvals have been obtained, the dean’s office forwards the completed PLA Portfolio Contract to the DCP Director, who posts the assessment fee to the student’s account. The assessment fee must be paid before the portfolio can be reviewed.

Assessing the PLA PortfolioThe student submits the completed PLA portfolio to the faculty assessor by the agreed deadline. The faculty assessor reviews the completed PLA portfolio and meets with studentif a meeting ispart of the assessment. The faculty assessor then completes the PLA Portfolio Review Sheet and either: 1) approves awarding credit for the portfolio; 2) denies awarding credit for the portfolio; or 3) requests a revision and re-submission of the portfolio by a specified date. Requests for resubmission are at the discretion of the assessor, not the student. Failure to resubmit a revised portfolio by the specified date will result in a denial of credit for the portfolio.

The faculty assessor notifies the studentin writing of the assessment result, and submits the portfolio and completed PLA Portfolio Review Sheetto the DCP Office. If credit is awarded, the DCP Director confirms that the student has paid the PLA assessment fee. If confirmed, the DCP Director, who poststhe PLA course fee to the student’s account and requests that the Office of the Registrar post the awarded credits to the student’s transcript. The DCP Office forwards all portfolios approved for credit to the Office of the Registrar for inclusion in the student’s official academic file. If a portfolio is not approved for credit or if re-submission is requested, the DCP Office returns the portfolio to the student.

Processing an assessor stipend

The DCP Director processes all necessary paperwork for faculty assessor compensation.

PLA portfolio fee structure

Students who receive PLA portfolio credit pay a total per-credit fee equivalent to 65% of the total in-seat and in-state per-credit undergraduate tuition and fees for the semester in which a student applies for PLA portfolio credit. Students pay this fee in two installments:

• An assessment fee equivalent to $100 per credit petitioned paid prior to the assessment of their portfolios. This fee is paid by all students applying for credits through PLA portfolio. This fee is non-refundable and must be paid regardless of the outcome of the portfolio assessment.
• A post-assessment fee equivalent to the balance of the total per-credit fee after the review of their portfolios. This fee ispaid only by students who successfully earn credit through PLA portfolio.

PROCEDURES FOR GRADUATE PRIOR LEARNING EXPERIENCE (GLEX)

Graduate students at Ramapo College of New Jersey may receive credit for graduate-level knowledge that they have gained outside the traditional academic setting through work, training, community service, or other accomplishments. (Not all graduate programs accept GLEX. Please review individual program requirements.) The process of graduate prior learning experience assessment involves the development of a portfolio and an interview that confirms that the learning the student has achieved through his/her life experience is relevant to the program’s learning goals.

GLEX REQUIREMENTS

When a graduate student applies to RamapoCollege, he/she is made aware of the opportunity to apply for GLEX. GLEX requirements include:

Prior learning experience may be substituted for up to two (2) courses (not to exceed 8 credits) in the graduate program.

GLEX credit is considered transfer credit; therefore, the combination of transfer credit and GLEX credit may not exceed two (2) courses or eight (8) credits.

A student must successfully complete (2) courses at RamapoCollege before GLEX will be posted to the student’s transcript.

Since GLEX credits are considered 600-level, they must be completed before registering for 700-level courses.

The program director or designee reviews and evaluates applications for prior learning credit and recommends the number of credits to be awarded. The dean makes the final approval.

GLEX credit may be granted for equivalent coursework offered at RamapoCollege.

When the experience does not compare to a Ramapo course but falls within the purview of the evaluator's expertise, credit may be granted as an elective. This type of prior learning credit is recorded on the transcript as GLEX 699 with the course name “Graduate Life Experience.”

GLEX credits are awarded without a grade, so they are not calculated with the student’s GPA.

Once the GLEX portfolio is approved by the director and dean, the student must pay the associated costs.

All GLEX documentation, including the portfolio and interview notes, are kept in the student’s permanent record.

CRITERIA FOR GRADUATE PRIOR LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Criteria for acceptance of prior learning experiences include:

-The experience must be relevant to the program’s learning goals.

-The experience must be comparable to graduate-level coursework.

-The experience must have taken place after the awarding of the bachelor's degree and before enrollment in the graduate program.

-The student must document and apply for credit for the learning experience.

GLEX PROCESS

Below outlines the process by which a GLEX review begins and culminates with the awarding of credit:

Application for approval

A GLEX proposal is presented to the director with the following items:

A current resume.

Documentation supporting the student’s claim to prior learning (i.e., job descriptions and samples of work).

A narrative explaining in detail the correlation of prior learning experience to a specific course.

Initial Assessment

If the program director considers the proposal to be viable, the student is invited to interview with the director. The program director, or assigned faculty member, meets with the student to review the initial documentation and to discuss strengths and weakness of the proposal. The student and the Program Director, or faculty member, come to a clear understanding of the criteria that will be used to assess the specific area of expertise. They determine how the student can best demonstrate in a portfolio the kinds of knowledge, competencies, and skills he/she has acquired in prior experience. A timeline is developed for completion of the portfolio. An agreement of expectations is developed and signed by the program director, or faculty member, and the student.

Submission and Review

The student submits the portfolio for review by the agreed deadline. The program director, or faculty member, conducts an interview with the student. The program director, or faculty member, then completes the form and either approves or disapproves the student’s GLEX portfolio. If approved, the director and dean then approve the posting of the credit and submit the appropriate form to the Office of Graduate and Adult Admissions with a copy given to the student.

If the GLEX portfolio is not approved, the program director, or faculty member, returns it to the student.

Credit Posting

The student pays for the GLEX credit at the Bursar’s Office.The “paid” form is returned to the Office of Graduate and Adult Admissions, and the credit is then posted once the student has met the residency requirement and has paid the GLEX fees.

Procedure 300-H – Revised 4-28-2016

[1] At Ramapo College, an adult student is a student who is financially independent, meaning that he/she is 25 years or older, married or in a civil union,a veteran, has dependents other than a spouse, or is an orphan or ward of the court.