Registrars’ Module Request to Revisit a Portion of MCR 27—Coding for Multiple Majors/Degrees, Simultaneous Degrees, Additional Degrees, and Additional Majors

The registrars’ module is forwarding this document to MOCC to request that the issue of recording additional majors be revisited. Basically, we request that additional majors be clearly recorded on the transcript as additional majors rather than as additional degrees. Our rationale is briefly laid out below. For clarity, this request is rather brief. We will gladly provide additional information as requested by MOCC.

Rationale for this request:

1. The current practice of recording an additional major (completed after the original graduation date at either the same or a different Regental university) does not accurately reflect the academic history of the student. Earning an additional major is not academically equivalent to earning an entire additional degree. This is problematic at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, both of which are covered by MCR 27.

2.The recording of an additional degree at a later date appears on the transcript and in the database system in the same way as an additional major under MCR 27 (see MCR 27, pg. 5-6). This causes our credentialing to be inaccurate and unreliable. Employers and other institutions of higher education cannot look at our transcripts and tell what our students have really earned.

3.IPEDS reporting is distorted by MCR 27 according to the ruling received from the IPEDS Completions Survey Director at NCES. “After consulting with . . . the Completions survey director at NCES, we believe that it would be acceptable to report these additional majors earned after the original degree. They would, of course, be reported as ‘second majors’ and thus would not artificially increase the number of degrees awarded by your institution . . . we believe this to be the most accurate way of capturing that educational activity, even though it occurred at a later date” (emphasis added; see MCR 27, pg. 20-21).

4. We understand that students returning for a subsequent major at the UG level or for a subsequent area of emphasis at the GR level must be identified as degree-seeking students for financial aid purposes (e.g., they cannot be shown as spec.spec or specg.spec). However we are concerned that listing them as degree-seeking only for financial aid purposes distorts our IPEDS and Clearinghouse reporting and may misrepresent a student’s actual intentions.

5. We posed the question of best practice to the UMACRAO (Upper Midwest Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers) listserv. Eighteen responses were received. Of those responses, not one institution records the second major as an additional degree. A brief recap of regional practices is as follows:

a.If anadditional major is completed post-baccalaureate, the major is placed on the same transcript along with the previous major earned with the date the additional major was achieved (6 institutions & 1 system):

IowaState

Lake SuperiorCollege

Minnesota State College and Universities (all of them)

MSU Moorhead (included in item above)

PillsburyBaptistBibleCollege

The University of Iowa

WilliamPennUniversity (list both first & second major on the transcript)

WinonaStateUniversity

b.If an additional major is completed, it is added to the same transcript but as a text comment (9 institutions):

CoeCollege (simply put on their transcript; courses taken are listed as post-baccalaureate)

GrandViewCollege (added as a transcript note within the semester in which the additional major is earned)

JamestownCollege (don’t add a date when the second major is earned; the work just appears after the date of the original degree/major)

North DakotaStateUniversity (placed on the transcript after the semester in which the major requirements are completed along with the date; do not add additional areas of emphasis at the GR level)

St. Mary’s University of Minnesota

University of North Dakota (put on the transcript as transcript text; also done this way at her former institution)

University of NorthernIowa (append a statement to the end of the semester record; do not change the original degree entry)

ValleyCityStateUniversity (major and date completed added in a free form text box on the transcript)

c.If anadditional major is completed, a new transcript is created with credit totals and GPA reverting to zero for the additional portion. The new major is listed as “Post-Baccalaureate Major” (1 institution):

AugsburgCollege

Recommendation:

1.We propose that a pseudo degree of ADDMJ be added to Datatel. For instance a student returning for a marketing major only would be coded in Datatel as x.ADDMJ.MKTG. While this would not make a student eligible for financial aid, it would allow us to properly track and transcript the student’s goal.

2.We recommend that the additional major be recorded at the top of the transcript with the original degree and major(s) (as in 4.a. above).

3.Additionally, we recommend the following:

a.Students will be in the catalog in effect when they return to begin their additional major program.

b.A minimum of 50 percent of the requirements for the additional major must be completed at the major-granting institution.

c.Students will not be given a second diploma.

4. If a student truly wants an additional degree and to be eligible for financial aid, the student would need to meet all the criteria listed in MCR 27, 3. (pg. 5) for an additional baccalaureate degree. In this case an additional degree would be listed on the transcript and an additional diploma would be issued.

We will be glad to supply any additional information that is needed to review this request. Thanks for your attention to this matter.

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