OLD VERSION

I. Reference

WSU Catalog for specific applications

II. General Policy

Credit for competency gained outside the university is awarded by standard examination such as the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) and the Advanced Placement program (AP), by special examination administered by individual departments, and by petition. These credits are administered according to articulation agreements with other institutions, standard guides, and according to the following constraints.

A. A student must either be officially registered or have an established WSU transcript at the time the request for credit or examination is made.

B. Credit is not awarded if duplicated by previous examinations, petition or course work for which a student received a grade (A-E, I, T, W, UW, CR, NC).

C. This credit is not considered part of the residence requirement.

D. This credit, although graded on a credit/no credit basis, may be used to satisfy major, minor, and general education requirements.

E. Credit by standard examination (i.e. CLEP, AP) is awarded at the discretion of the appropriate department and according to departmentally approved guidelines.

F. Credit by special examination may be awarded at the discretion of academic departments according to the following guidelines.

A student may take a special exam for any course described in the catalog only with the approval of the department chair.

The Application for Special Examination forms are available from the Registrar or departmental office.

The department chair or designee interviews the candidate and determines if the student has sufficient background in the area to justify giving a special examination.

A designated faculty member constructs, administers and scores the exam then sends the results to the records office where the credit is posted to the student's permanent transcript.

The credit which can be earned (overall and in each sitting) will be determined by each department.

A student may not take examinations in more than one subject area at any one sitting.

A student may take an examination for any given course(s) one time only.

A fee will be charged for each sitting.

Veteran's benefits will not be paid for credit earned by special examination.

G. Credit by petition is awarded by the admissions office and appropriate academic departments according to guides published by the American Council on Education (ACE) and according to the following guidelines.

1. Military Credit is administered in accordance with the ACE Guide to the Evaluation of Military Service Experiences and articulation agreements with government agencies.

a. Elective Credit may be applied by the admissions office.

b. Specific course credit may be awarded by the appropriate department chair(s) with the Application for Credit form.

2. Credit for prior experiential learning and industrial or commercial training may be awarded provided that such awarding is carefully monitored and documented.

Departments awarding experiential learning credit must have written criteria which assure its academic equivalence to credit earned by traditional means.

Credit for prior experiential learning may be granted only at the undergraduate level.

Before credit for prior experiential learning becomes part of the student's permanent record, the student must have completed thirty credit hours with a GPA of 2.25 or better to establish evidence of a satisfactory learning pattern.

Credit may be granted with the approval of the department chair only upon the recommendation of teaching faculty who are appropriately qualified and who are on a regular appointment with the college on a continuing basis.

Credit may be granted only for documented learning which ties the prior experience to the theories and data of the relevant academic fields.

Credit may be granted only for documented learning which falls within the regular curricular offerings of the institution.

Credit for prior experiential learning may constitute no more than 25% of the credits needed for a degree or certificate.

No assurances will be made as to the number of credits to be awarded prior to the completion of the institution's review process.

Credit may be granted only to enrolled students and is to be identified on the student's transcript as credit for prior experiential learning.

3. Transfer credit from schools and colleges not accredited by one of the regional accrediting boards may be accepted under the following guidelines.

a. Credit may be accepted only if the course is deemed to be equivalent to a course in the WSU catalog.

b. Specific course credit may be applied by the admissions office if approved by an articulation agreement for specific courses from specific schools such as Ogden-Weber Applied Technology Center, Davis Applied Technology Center, etc.

c. Specific course credit may be recommended by the appropriate department chair with the Application for Credit form under the following guidelines.

1) The student should present such evidence as the department deems necessary which could include an official transcript, a course description, a course syllabus, evidence of work completed, completion of a more advanced course at WSU, or completion of an examination.

2) Credit must be evaluated by a faculty member immediately responsible for said course and a recommendation made to the department chair.

3) The department chair will make the final decision on the credit to be transferred.

4) If transfer work is deemed equivalent to WSU course work, the department chair may grant credit with or without waiver of specific courses.