Final Report
Student Academic Records
Management Consultation – Phase II
for
West Virginia University
March 30, 2009
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 520
Washington, DC 20036
Table of Contents
I. Project Summary……………………………………………………..
Page 3
II. AACRAO Consulting Team………………………………………….
Page 3
III. Report Overview and Organization…………………………………
Page 3
IV. Undergraduate Record Review………………………...…………...
Page 4
V. Executive MBA Record Review……………………….…………….
Page 5
VI. Conclusions…..……………………………………………………….
Page 6
VII. Additional Recommendation.……………….………….……………
Page 7
AACRAO Consulting West Virginia University Report – Phase II
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I.
Project Summary
West Virginia University (WVU) engaged AACRAO Consulting to conduct an
analysis of WVU’s policies and procedures for the management of student
academic records. This analysis, which was to become Phase I of the overall
consulting project, culminated with the delivery of a final report on February 2,
2009.
During the course of the Phase I analysis, WVU became aware of a number of
cases in which undergraduate and Executive MBA (eMBA) degrees had been
awarded for which the associated student academic records did not indicate
sufficient hours to meet the credit requirements stated in the university catalog.
As it fell outside the scope of the Phase I project, AACRAO Consulting did not
conduct a detailed review of those cases.
Between October 2008 and January 2009, separate groups internal to WVU
conducted reviews of the undergraduate and eMBA cases in which central
academic records reflected fewer credit hours than the number required for the
degree conferred. While these reviews were conducted as professionally and
thoroughly as possible, they were limited by the academic records management
deficiencies identified in the Phase I report. For this reason, WVU asked
AACRAO Consulting to conduct a detailed review of these student records. This
detailed review constituted Phase II of the overall consulting project.
II.
AACRAO Consulting Team
The AACRAO consultants for the WVU project were:
III.

Dr. Bob Bontrager, Director of AACRAO Consulting and Project Director

Dr. Roger Printup, AACRAO Consultant, Lead for eMBA records review

Dr. James Smalley, AACRAO Consultant, Lead for undergraduate records
review
Report Overview and Organization
As with Phase I, Phase II was a consulting project and not an investigation/reinvestigation of the academic records management issues that WVU has
experienced. The AACRAO Consulting Team has not assigned guilt or blame for
any deficiencies in records management. The consultants concentrated on a
review of WVU’s current student academic records to determine 1) the reasons
for an apparent lack of credit hours for degrees awarded, 2) whether any
academic records policy or procedural issues exist other than those identified in
the Phase I report, and 3) whether any policy or procedural changes are to be
recommended, beyond those identified in the Phase I report.
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Overviews and findings for reviews of the undergraduate and eMBA student
records, respectively, are provided in the remainder of the report. Those are
followed by conclusions that pertain to both reviews and a recommendation.
IV.
Undergraduate Record Review
A. For the period 1997-2008, West Virginia University student baccalaureate
degree records were searched for graduates with fewer than 128 credit
hours. The search identified 304 students who matched the criteria. This
represents 0.8 percent of the 36,661 baccalaureate degrees awarded during
that period.
All academic records, including transcripts, folders, forms, checklists and
related materials of the graduates in question were gathered from the
colleges, divisions and departments, and then were transferred by Marilyn
Potts, Interim Director, Admissions and Records, to a secure campus office.
The records review was conducted by AACRAO consultant Dr. James
Smalley along with two assistants, Kent Campbell and Art Craig. This process
occurred during a two week period from February 16-27, 2009.
B. Findings
1. In 75 cases, students were found to have completed the required number
of credit hours, with a portion of their hours having not been recorded on
their official university transcripts for these reasons:
a. In 25 cases, students completed a second WVU degree.
b. In 22 cases, transfer credit was not recorded on the official
transcript.
c. In 18 cases, students pursuing medical, pharmaceutical, or law
degrees applied credits earned in their graduate programs to
satisfy undergraduate program requirements. This “dual
enrollment” is consistent with institutional policy (University
Catalog, pages 38-39).
d. In 10 cases, earned credit hours were not added to the students’
total due to a computer programming “glitch”.
2. In 48 cases, university officials exercised discretion in awarding degrees
with fewer than 128 credit hours, for these reasons:
a. In 15 cases, nursing students were given an exemption for a 3-hour
math course. The current university catalog makes no reference to
a math exemption, while the ’05-’07 catalog states “…completion of
125 hours (or 128 hours if math is required)” will satisfy the degree.
b. In 14 cases, the provost or a dean waived the 128 credit hour
requirement.
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c. In 10 cases, students were allowed to graduate due to
misinformation provided by an academic advisor.
3. In 77 cases, there were clerical errors or misapplication of academic
policy. In instances of apparent errors, it also is possible that additional
information in the form of hard copy documents was considered at the
time, but is no longer available. As noted in the Phase I report, at WVU
“academic record retention takes a variety of forms among different
colleges, schools and departments” (VII.A.10, pg. 8). In the Phase II
analysis, documents prior to 2005 no longer existed in many cases and,
while records after 2006 were more complete, much there was also
missing.
Subcategories of these cases include:
a. In 44 cases, there was a misinterpretation of WVU’s D/F repeat
policy. Both repeat credit and quality point calculations are applied
the second time the student completes the course. If a student
earned a 'D' the first time and an 'F' the second, the previous
earned credit is removed from the totals.
b. In 11 cases, incomplete (I) counted as credit toward the graduation
requirement.
c. In nine cases, an instructor failed to submit a grade (NR), with the
mistake apparently going undetected in the final graduation check.
d. In nine cases, students failed a final semester course, with the
failure going undetected in the final graduation check.
e. In four cases, audit (X) grades were counted as credit toward the
graduation requirement.
4. In 104 cases, a lack of documentation made it impossible to determine
with any certainty why students were certified to graduate with fewer than
128 undergraduate credits. This is due in large part to records retention
practices. While the official academic transcript is retained in perpetuity,
other academic records at WVU have been maintained at the college,
school, or department level, as noted above under #3.
V.
Executive MBA Record Review
A. During the period 1997-2007, there were 780 students enrolled in the
Executive MBA (eMBA) program offered by the College of Business and
Economics (B&E) at West Virginia University. The College awarded a total of
652 eMBA degrees. Of those 652 degrees, 79 were identified by the College
as missing the total of 48 units required for the degree.
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After the 79 records were identified as short units, B&E personnel took a
number of steps to search their paper and electronic records to determine
whether there were record-keeping errors that would account for the missing
units. They also contacted individual faculty members to determine whether
they had retained grade books or other records of students’ attendance in
their courses. In addition, students’ financial records were examined to
determine whether tuition had been paid for the courses.
Records for the 79 cases were reviewed on March 5, 2009 by Dr. Roger
Printup, in consultation with WVU staff Dr. Jonathan Cumming, Associate
Provost for Graduate Academic Affairs and Bonnie Anderson, Associate
Director, Graduate Programs, College of Business and Economics.
B. Findings
1. In 45 cases, documentation existed to prove that students were entitled to
additional units that would reflect 48 units of coursework toward the MBA
degree. The documentation included transcripts from other universities
where units should have been transferred to the WVU degree; credit from
other WVU degree programs that was not being properly credited toward
the MBA program, and I (incomplete) and NR (no grade reported) grades
for which faculty should have reported final grades. When the proper
documentation for these students has been processed, the transcripts for
these students will reflect the 48 units required for the degree.
2. In 20 cases, documentation was found for the academic work having been
completed, but there were issues surrounding the tuition payment for
some of the credit hours. Students had either not enrolled in the course
at all, or they had been enrolled and were subsequently dropped for nonpayment of tuition. Given WVU’s policy of requiring tuition payment, these
20 records do not show the 48 units required for the degree, even though
there is evidence that the students attended those courses and did
satisfactory work. The transcripts for these students show fewer than 48
units, even though the degree has been conferred.
3. In the 14 remaining cases, students’ transcripts do not reflect the required
48 units for the MBA. B&E has been unable to locate documentation in
either hard-copy or electronic form that the students enrolled and passed
the units required for the degree. However, in each of these cases, the
degree was certified by the college at the time of graduation and degrees
were conferred to each of the students involved.
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VI.
Conclusions
The findings of this Phase II consultation, including the reviews of both
undergraduate and eMBA student records, are consistent with the observations
resulting from Phase I. The overarching conclusion from Phase II serves to
reinforce the finding in the Phase I consulting report, page 12, VIII.C:
AACRAO Consulting concludes that the problems with the degrees
awarded and subsequently found to be short of meeting degree
requirements appear to be the result of not following industry best
practices in student academic records management.
AACRAO Consulting also emphasizes that no pattern of favoritism or
malfeasance can be detected in the cases where students appear to have fewer
than the required number of credit hours. Indeed, there were other cases in
addition to those reviewed where students were short units and did not receive
degrees. As noted in the Phase I report, page 13, IX.B:
It is clear that the WVU staff involved in the review of these
undergraduate records were well intentioned and careful in their work.
At the same time, their review was based on a records management
system that has been fundamentally flawed for a number of years.
Consistent with Phase I, it is the overarching conclusion of this Phase II
consultation that if WVU follows the AACRAO Consulting
recommendations, the university should not again experience problems
with the conferral of degrees.
VII.
Additional Recommendation
While WVU officials have expressed their intent to implement AACRAO
Consulting’s Phase I recommendations, many of the recommended measures
will take time to implement fully. Meantime, the university is in the process of
conferring degrees at the end of the Spring 2009 semester. Given the types of
discrepancies found in the Phase II analysis, AACRAO Consulting makes this
additional recommendation.
AACRAO Consulting recommends that a member of the Provost’s staff
be charged with reviewing the Tentative Graduation List for Spring 2009
graduates and working with the Colleges to resolve any apparent
discrepancies. In addition to ensuring that transfer credit, second
degree, and dual credit situations are accounted for on the official
university transcript, this process should ensure that no student
graduates with insufficient hours, including instances of “counting” of a
course with a grade of “F”,” X”, “I”, or “NR”.
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VIII.
Appreciation
AACRAO Consulting wishes to thank WVU staff for the collegial and
cooperative way in which they approached this consultation. It has been
our pleasure to work with you.
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