Regents Bachelor of Arts Degree
Assessment Plan
I.
Program Description and Goals.
The Regents Bachelor of Arts Degree (RBA) is designed for the adult student.
The program permits students to apply life and work experiences, standardized
examinations (College Level Examination Program (CLEP), DANTES Subject
Standardized Tests, etc) along with college credits, toward a baccalaureate
degree. Implemented in 1975 as the first statewide program for adults, it differs
from other baccalaureate degrees in several respects: 1) it allows college credit
to be awarded for training or work experiences which can be equated to college
level learning; 2) gives greater flexibility in course requirements; 3) limits
admission to students who graduated from high school at least four years prior to
entering the program; 4) and has a minimum residence requirement of only 24
semester hours.
The basic intent of the RBA is to make a bachelor’s degree available to adults
where other responsibilities preclude their pursuing a traditional resident degree.
The goal is compatible with the University’s mission of continuing to serve the
needs of the region through expanded offerings geared particularly to the adult.
To ensure that students in the program receive an education suited to their
professional and educational goals, the RBA staff, through strong and consistent
academic advising, helps students develop a curriculum plan to achieve their
goals. In many cases the plan is based on existing departmental curricula
published in the undergraduate catalog.
A special feature of the program is the evaluation of life and work experiences for
college credit. The central principle underlying this assessment is that what a
student knows is more important than how it was learned. In other words, adult
students may have acquired the same knowledge and skills as students who
have attended college classes. If students can demonstrate that this is true to
relevant faculty, college equivalent credit may be recommended. Marshall
University procedures for seeking credits via the portfolio process are as follows:

Students submit a comprehensive justification for credits along with along
with appropriate documentation for their request.

The RBA office requests the assistance of qualified faculty to evaluate
students’ requests. Where faculty competence is not available at
Marshall, other coordinators may be asked for assistance of experts on
their campuses. In some cases, existing state and/or national-established
guidelines are used to award credit (Military training, American Council of
Education approved training programs, etc).
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
After a thorough review, which may include interaction with the student,
the faculty recommends to the RBA office the hours and level of credits to
be awarded.

In the case of a challenge by the student or the RBA office the matter may
be referred to a committee of the faculty.

The awarding of College Equivalent Credit is made by the Dean of the
School of Extended Education upon written recommendation of the
coordinator.

College Equivalent Credit is recorded, without a grade on students’
transcripts.
The program has neither faculty nor a specific curriculum. Hence it has no
curricular goals other than to ensure a those students who submit portfolios
research and prepare high-quality requests with authentic documentation.
Along those lines, the staff is diligent in providing detailed guidance for
developing a portfolio as well as performing careful review of drafts prior to
submission to faculty evaluators. Portfolio materials were placed on the RBA
web site in 2002-2003. These were revised and updated during the summer
of 2004.
RBA Graduates & CEC's
2000-2004
204
197
186
176
162
42
30
29
03-04
02-03
01-02
Total Graduates
Chart 1
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30
28
00-01
Grads with CEC's
00-99
Over the past five years (1999-2004) approximately 15-20 students per year
have submitted portfolios. The overall “success rate”, that is requested credits to
awarded credits ranged from 55 percent in 1999 to 72 percent in 2003-04 with an
overall rate for the five year period of 60 percent. Conversely, the number of
credits requested declined slightly but with better award results. This may be
attributed to careful screening of portfolios before submitting them to evaluators
and better, realistic preparation of students. (Charts 1 & 2)
Portfolio Requests & Awards 1999-2004
1,010
675
674
582
559
505
374
1999-00
2000-01
370
370
2001-02
2002-03
Awarded
425
2003-04
Requested
Chart 2
II. Assessment Summary
As this program offers no classes and has no faculty with RBA students
taking courses from across the programs on campus as well as elsewhere,
the RBA program cannot use the usual assessment tools to determine
program quality. The students are the beneficiaries of the high quality of
programs offered throughout the university.
Internally, the unit closely follows the academic progress of the students and
monitors graduate satisfaction via graduate surveys and anecdotal feedback.
One of the hallmarks of the program is the focused attention provided by staff
in advising students as they enter and progress towards their goals. Data is
compiled regarding the success of the students seeking credit via the portfolio
process (above).
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Further, the program continues steady growth which reflects on the success
of the program and its graduates. Program enrollment remained stable
(between 370 and 388) with some growth during years one through four. Year
five (2003-2004) experienced a drop of approximately thirty students. Two
factors may have influenced this decline. One was a larger than average
graduating class – 204 compared to 185 – in 2002-2003. (Chart 3) Second,
the activation of large numbers of military reserve components took students,
hopefully, temporarily away from active participation. Certainly the program is
not at risk though there are opportunities that can be pursued to enhance
growth in the future. Early reports for Fall 2005 are promising indicating a
potential rise in enrollment over the previous year.
RBA Enrollment-Graduates 1999-2004
382
388
370
367
341
204
192
185
197
162
1999-2000
2000-2002
2001-2002
Enrolled Students
2002-2003
2003-2004
Graduates
Chart 3
Admittedly, much assessment is informal but it serves to improve services to
students resulting in a steady flow of graduates who self-report satisfaction
with their educational experiences and resulting employment or future
educational opportunities.
RBA students are largely a part-time student population. As a population they
are almost the exact opposite of their counterparts in the University. Sixty
percent are part-time compared to thirty percent part-time in the 4-year
component. (Charts 4 & 5)
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Full-Part Time Distribution
RBA Program
1999-2003
Fall 2003
129
Fall 2002
141
Fall 2001
139
Fall 2000
146
Fall 1999
147
212
229
249
236
220
Full-time
Part-time
Chart 4
Full-Part Time Distributions.
All 4-year Programs
1999-2003
Fall 2003
9,600
Fall 2002
9,549
Fall 2001
9,143
Fall 2000
9,087
Fall 1999
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4,401
4,407
4,279
8,840
Full-time
Chart 5
4,109
4,234
Part-time
Responses from the 2003 graduate surveys confirm both the special nature of
the RBA student body, its successful performance and the success of the
program. Institutional data reflects that RBA graduates represent 14% of
bachelor’s degree awards annually. Forty-seven percent of the respondents
attended only Marshall University in completing their degrees.
Seventy-eight percent of the RBA graduates were above the age of 25. The
single largest age group was between the ages of 30-34 at twenty-seven
percent. Seventy-nine percent were employed while attending, nearly sixty
percent have families (spouse and children) while ten percent were single
parents. Upon graduation forty-seven percent reported having a grade point
average at or above 3.00.
Fifty-eight percent of RBA graduates felt the General Education requirements
were beneficial while sixty-three percent felt they had been adequately
prepared for their current career. Seventy-eight percent were classified as
satisfied with their advising experience. While this leaves room for
improvement it also reflects the challenges faced serving a part-time, offcampus adult population with vastly varying needs and goals. As the only
University program aimed at dealing with this diverse population, continued
efforts to refine and improve services are and continue to be a vital goal
within the program.
Seventy-nine percent would recommend the program to others while only 5
percent would not. Similarly, sixty percent would recommend Marshall
University to others while less than 3 percent would not.
Both the data and informal feedback help the program determine changes in
the manner of service delivery. Informally, we see continued growth in the
use of electronic course delivery resulting in increasing demand for service
and identification of more potential markets. Students express a desire for
some structure and recognition of a focus of studies, i.e. areas of emphasis.
They use off-campus centers and want more offerings and more locations to
facilitate their learning experiences.
III.
Plans for Current Year
General goals:
Re-invigorate an advisory committee by the end of FY 2005.
In response to student and institutional interest, pursue addition/approval of
areas of emphasis for RBA program using the areas developed for the
interdisciplinary studies degree in the College of Liberal Arts.
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Investigate the feasibility of employer satisfaction research. There may be
data available through HEPC on salaries of graduates. If it continues to be
collected there may be a subset for RBA graduates.
Seek to convert one part time employee to a full-time position additional staff.
In order to continue to grow and maintain services to students additional staff
is needed. Action will include working through normal channels to secure
funding and approval for the change.
Increase use of technology to expedite services such as degree evaluations,
routine correspondence, etc. Continue to work with IT staff to implement
Banner’s Degree Audit software. Endeavor to expand use of electronic forms
and document tracking in office setting.
Seek support and resources to expand outreach efforts and advertising
especially to residents of Southern West Virginia and former non-graduating
students to increase enrollment. Revitalizing the Southern Mountain Center
should be explored not only for the RBA program but for the University
overall. Also, initial research reveals a population of former Marshall
Students who attended but did not graduated over a ten year period from
1989-1999. (Chart 6) Well directed outreach efforts could acquaint them with
the RBA program leading to increased enrollment.
Marshall University Non-Grads
by Hours Earned 1989-1999
24,568
8,943
7,348
4,744
3,533
0-15
Chart 6
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16-45
46-90
>90
Grand Total
IV.
Assistance Needed
None.
V.
What one most important thing has the program learned through this
process?
The program continues to serve adults students producing graduates who
report satisfaction with the program.
VI.
Assessment Summary Chart
Two Attached (electronic version) – one for past goals, one for present.
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