Student Business Process Analysis
Transfer Credit Evaluation
Current State Document with
Banner work flow appendix
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TRANSFER CREDIT EVALUATION ............................................................................. 2
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Business Process Analysis
Transfer Credit Evaluation
Transfer Credit Evaluation
This text documents the process of processing transfer credit articulation for transcripts that have been submitted by
transfer students. Transfer credit articulation is defined as the process of reviewing courses taken by students at other
colleges to determine whether they meet specific Monroe Community College program and course requirements, or if
they can be used to satisfy elective credits.
A work flow process that indicates how the current Admissions data will processed in Banner has been added as an
appendix to this document.
Business Objectives:




To review the processes involved with receiving, recording and tracking the receipt of transcripts that are received
from students wishing to transfer to Monroe Community College.
To review the successive stages of the work flow needed to move the transfer transcript from the student to the
various offices and personnel who review and articulate the completed college work.
In the case of veterans, to review their military experience and educational credits and award appropriate transfer
credit.
To provide academic advisors with information about the transfer credits which their advisees have accomplished.
This information can then be used for determining admission and program advising requirements.
Process begins: when Admissions receives transcript from applicant or student
Input: Transcript from previously attended institutions of higher education.
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Business Process Analysis
Transfer Credit Evaluation
Process ends: (1) Admissions office sends evaluated transcript back to Registration and Records.
(2) Registration and Records then notifies student of their completed evaluation.
(3) The Veterans’ Office sends input to be entered into SIS.
(4)The original evaluated transcript is returned to the Admissions support staff.
(5) The Admissions support staff record in SIS that the evaluated transcript was sent to Registration and
Records. Finally, the evaluated transcript is imaged and linked to SIS.
Output: Completed evaluations; Student informed of completed evaluation; Registration and Records receive the
evaluated transcript; Admission support staff updates SIS; the evaluated transcript is imaged and linked to SIS.
Process Actors:
 Admissions support staff
 Admissions counselors
 Registration and Records
 Students
 Academic departments
 Veteran’s Office
 Other colleges
Process Owner:
 Assistant Director of Admissions
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Business Process Analysis
Transfer Credit Evaluation
Process Stakeholders:
 Academic Services
 Graduation Office
 Counseling and Advising
 Athletics
 DCC Student Services
 Financial Aid
Metrics:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
100 applications per day.
10 Transfer credit evaluations per day.
3000 transcripts evaluated per year.
Transfer evaluation is 25% of the work load of one processor and one counselor.
Improve turnaround time.
More uniform processes. – Use transfer articulation process.
Electronic review (workflow)
Key feeder schools include:
a. Brockport
b. Genesee Community College
c. RIT
d. FLCC
e. AP/CLEP
Timeframe: 2 weeks
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Business Process Analysis
Transfer Credit Evaluation
Process Hindrance with cause:
Need for review of programs/courses/requirements from foreign institutions
Need for evaluation of military training and experience
Process Hindrance without cause:
Improvement wish list: Streamline process and expedite the required transfer of information
from one office to the next in a more timely manner.
Data Considerations: Need to set up policies and procedures to send letters to notify students to have their foreign
transcripts evaluated. The accepted practice will depend on the number of foreign students who request transfer credit
evaluation.
The process outlined below assumes the student wants to have his/her
transfer transcript evaluated against their program.
Current Process tasks:
1. Admissions receives transcript from student
2. Records transcript in SIS
Is student an applicant?
Student wants to have transcript evaluated.
3. Check if application is on file. If the application is not on file, scan the transcript
into the imaging system.
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Business Process Analysis
Transfer Credit Evaluation
4 .Send transcript to Admissions counselor.
Evaluate (Y or N) if this is a Veteran’s transcript. Call school with questions.
If this is a veteran’s transcript, it is sent to the Veterans’ Office.
5. Place into transfer credit queue (electronic).
Does it have a WES evaluation form? Is the school from which the transcript is submitted an accredited institution?
6. Transcript is evaluated by counselor.
If the transcript has military credit it is forwarded to the Veterans’ Office.
If it is an international transcript and it has a WES report with it the evaluation process continues.
Otherwise, a special letter is generated and the process end.
Counselor hand-writes equivalents on the transcript.
7. Send transcript to department for evaluation.
8. Get course description if required.
Department then evaluates transcript.
9. Department sends evaluated transcript to Admissions.
Admissions receives the transcript, does further processing, and sends it on to Registration and Records.
10. Registration and Records records the evaluated transcript in SIS.
R&R sends letter to the student to check the web for the transfer evaluation or to come into the office to get a
hardcopy. Counselor may call student if there is a problem with the evaluation. This is an exception rather than the
rule.
11. Registration and Records notifies student of evaluation.
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Business Process Analysis
Transfer Credit Evaluation
12. Evaluated transcript returned to Admissions support staff.
13. Administrative support staff record on SIS that the evaluated transcript was sent to
Registration and Records.
14. Transcript is imaged and linked to SIS.
15. Academic department sends evaluation back to the Admissions counselor.
16. Admissions support person scans the document from the Academic Department.
17. The Admissions Counselor calls the student if further information is needed.
18. The Veterans’ office evaluates the transcript.
19. The Veterans’ office sends the evaluated transcript to Registration and Records.
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Business Process Analysis
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Glossary of Terms:
Accreditation
Articulation table/ transfer code
Course Description
Credit by exam – CLEP, AP, ACE, Dantes, IB, Military
Credit Hours – vary from school to school
Department of Education
Department Evaluation
GPA
Life experience Non-credit course
Non-credit remediation
Quarter hours
Semester hours
Transcript
Transfer guide – articulation table
Tri-mester
WES – World education Services – 3rd party credential evaluation service for students who have foreign transcripts.
NOTES:
1. ECOMS - inquiry system in place until Banner goes live.
2. Life experience articulated by Bill Sigismond, Director, Experiential and Adult Learning
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Business Process Analysis
Transfer Credit Evaluation
3. Military experience, other than health/physical education, is articulated by Veterans’ Outreach.
Steve Wallace does veterans’ credits.
4. Average turn around time is 2 weeks for completion of transfer credit evaluation.
5. Articulation tables need to be maintained each time there is a change in either the MCC catalog or in the catalog of
one of the feeder schools.
6. Donna would like to automate the evaluation process. This may be better served by bringing as much of the evaluation
process as possible under the ownership of the Admissions Office.
7. Shadow databases consist of old policy and procedure manuals. These provide insights into why and how current
procedures and policies have evolved.
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Conclusions:
Hindrances:
1. Points of data entry: Delays may occur because paperwork has to be
moved among several offices: Admissions, Veterans affairs, academic
departments, and Records and Registration.
2. Turn-round time for processing: Current transfer credit evaluation
processing can take up to two weeks. TCE comprises 25% of the work
load for a processor and a counselor.
3. When transfer evaluation tables, institutions, grades, etc. are defined in
Banner, the process will go much more quickly and smoothly. Please note:
It is critical that careful attention is paid to setting up and maintaining the
transfer institution tables, the course articulation tables, and the
associated validation tables. All of these tables need to be reviewed when
system fixes and upgrades are released and applied.
4. Student notification process: Students can come in and check on their
evaluation status. Also, letters can be sent. In some cases a counselor will
call the student.
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5. Any and all shadow databases used to support the TCE process need to
be identified and mapped to Banner. This is critical for data conversion,
data mapping, table definition, definition of rules forms, etc. Where
possible, it is highly recommended that shadow systems be absorbed into
Banner to eliminate process steps as well as the issue of duplicate data.
Having to develop interfaces to shadow systems uses unscheduled
project time and resources and will put the project at risk for missing
critical project milestones and deadlines. This, in turn, will affect the
project calendar and the current schedule for SCT consultants and
trainers.
Areas for Improvement:
1. Processing time.
TCE processing turn around time needs to be decreased. The number of
procedural steps needs to be decreased. Information about the amount of
time that a given transcript requires for review and approval by each office
needs to be tracked. The causes of delays need to be evaluated and
resolved.
2. Need for standardization in how students are notified of the status of their
transfer articulation. Also, time required to notify a student of their TCE needs to
be decreased to insure more timely and useful dissemination of this information.
3. Need standardization on articulation values so that Banner tables and forms
can be defined, tested and put into production to provide consistency in
evaluation, processing and the resulting transfer evaluation. The course
articulation evaluations need to be reviewed and updated. In Banner, default
TCE tables can be built, and then copied and customized for each feeder school.
The TCE work team has to identify the top 7 schools and then build the
articulation tables for each of these schools. You may also set up a separate
institution called “Military” to list courses and other life experience for which
transfer credit will be given.
4. Articulation tables need to be reviewed at least once a year – when the
catalogs of course offerings change at either MCC or at the feeder schools.
Proper table maintenance is critical to the effective use of the TCE capabilities
within Banner. TCA enables users to enter courses, automatically articulate
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Business Process Analysis
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them, and then roll the articulated values into Academic History. At that point the
course information is ready for inclusion in CAPP processing.
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Business Process Analysis
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Suggested Banner processes:
Banner Transfer Credit Evaluation process:
(This initial mapping of evaluation functionality to Banner forms will be
decomposed to more detail and finalized during the actual Banner Student
implementation. The purpose of this mapping is to assist the Banner Student
team in defining tables and rules forms during the implementation phase of the
migration.)
The processes outlined below are high level processes. More detail will be built
into these procedures by the project team members who are responsible for
TCE.
In Banner, setting Banner up for Transfer Credit evaluation is a separate process
from actually doing the TCE process. Preparation for Transfer Credit Evaluation
(TCE) processing is divided into three phases:
1. Set up of transfer institutions and their courses
a. Define the MCC courses in the Catalog module.
b. Make sure that the correct Institution identification codes, i.e. the
CEEB
codes, have been installed/updated in the Source/Background
Institution
Code Validation form (STVSBGI). From the Banner Student users’
manual,
chapter 3, Validation Forms, page 3-86 to 3-87:
“Note: The value 999999 – Miscellaneous Institution must be defined if
you wish
to use this code on the Transfer course form (SHATRNS). Entry of this
code in
the Transfer institution information of SHATRNS allows you to enter a
name for
the institution for the person for whom you are entering transfer work. “
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Business Process Analysis
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The institution is first set up on the Source Background Institution Base
Form.
Go to the Academic History menu.
Select the Transfer Articulation Menu.
Select the Transfer Articulation Institution Form SOABGTA.
Define the institution code and the term for which you are setting up this
transfer
course articulation screen.
Go to the Transfer Grade Code maintenance form SHATGRD and enter
the
grade schemes for the school that you are setting up as a transfer
institution.
2. Set up of the MCC equivalents of those courses (either courses or electives)
on the
Transfer Course Articulation form SHATATR.
Periodic maintenance and updating of the transfer institution courses and
equivalents. This maintenance needs to be done at least once a year for
those schools that issue a new catalog each year. Also, as the MCC TCE
regulations and requirements change, the transfer institution course
equivalent form will need to be updated for each feeder school.
3. Once you have set up the Transfer Course Articulation From in Banner with
one
default grading scheme and one actual course/grade generic record, and one
actual
school you are ready to test it.
In Banner, Transfer Credit Evaluation processing involves the following steps:
Current process: receive transcript from student.
Banner:
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1. After receipt of the transcript, perform a thorough, extended name and ID
search on the Person Search Detail form, SOAIDNS, to make sure that
the applicant that you are about to put on the system is not already on the
system under a different name, ID, or PIDM. This search from lets you
search on name, address, general student information, birth date, and
other information.
2. If the applicant is not in the system, enter him or her on the system using
the General Person form. In this way you can create the person record
without creating a prospect, admissions or general student record, as
would occur if the Quick Entry form was used.
Current process: Record transcript in SIS.
Banner:
3. Go to the Prior College form, SOAPCOL, and enter the institution from
which the student is transferring. Also enter the date on which the transcript
was received, flag it as official if this is an official document, and then enter
the admission requirement code for college transcript. Once the transcript is
thus recorded, when you set up the application for the student, Banner will
mark the prior college transcript requirement as completed on the list of
admission requirements within the admissions application.
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Business Process Analysis
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Current process; Scan document into SIS.
4 You may scan the document into Banner now if you want, or wait until the
end of the TCE process.
Current process: Sent transcript to counselor.
Banner:
5. Go to the Transfer Articulation Evaluation Form, SHATAEQ, check to make
sure that the student whose name and ID are displayed on the screen match
the student ID and name on the transfer transcript. Enter the id number of the
transfer institution.
Remember: the courses from this institution have to first be articulated to
MCC
courses on the Transfer Institution Catalog Entry form, SHATATC.
6. Enter the courses from the transfer institution.
(You may use a WES evaluation form if you have it; however, make sure
that you have either set up an institution code for the foreign school, or
have a generic transfer school whose course evaluations will be based on
the WES code.)
6. Once the courses have been entered, perform the articulation. The
department can use the web site of the transfer institution to review the
course description.. After the department reviews the evaluation, it will
forward the evaluation to Registration and Records for final evaluation.
Upon review and approval, Registration and Records can roll the
articulation into Academic History. The academic history record is what
the Curriculum Advising Program Planning (CAPP) reads to perform a
degree audit.
Current Process: Registration and Records notifies the student of the
evaluation.
Banner:
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A population selection can be run to select those students who have
completed evaluations. Notification letters for the population selected by the
population selection program can then be generated. The letter generation
process
flags the students’ mail forms that a letter has been sent, and the date on
which it
was sent.
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Business Process Analysis
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Adm. Support Staff
Transfer Credit Evaluation - Current State
Official
Transcript
Received
Record
on SIS
Is Application
on File?
Thursday, April 22, 2004
No
Scan
Transcript Into
Imaging
System
No
“NOEVAL”
Entered on
Screen 207
Recorded on
SIS that
Evaluation is
Done
Yes
Does Student
Want
Evaluation?
Scan Transcript
into Imaging
System
Evaluated
Transcript
Imaged and
Linked
Accreditation
Problem
Letter
Record on
SIS
Process Ends
Process Ends
Yes
Route to
Transfer
Credit Queue
Yes
Process Ends
Has Student
Been
Admitted?
Can Evaluation
Be Completed?
Step #5
Make Copy
of
Evaluated
Transcript
Transcript
Evaluated
No
Is It
Military Credit?
No
International
Transcript?
No
Is College
Accredited?
Student
No
Indicate Not
Accredited On
Transcript
Yes
Yes
Yes
Is There a
WES Report?
No
Generate
Special
Letter
Yes
Yes
Do We Need
Course
Descriptions?
Go To
Step #5
No
Courses
Need to be
Evaluated by
Dept.
No
Go To
Step #5
Evaluate
Transcript
Yes
Input Evaluation
on Screens 141 &
142
Letter
Generated
Process Ends
Yes
Acad.
Dept.
Records
Vets
&
Office
Reg.
Admissions Counselor
No
Counselor
Retrieves from
Queue
Evaluate
Courses
Student Submits
Application
Get WES Report
Go To
Step #5
Get
Course
Description
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