trip report: cuesta college transfer credit business

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September 27, 2016

Edgar Coronel, Senior Consultant

Monica Crawford, Senior Consultant

John Crispino, Senior Consultant

Barbara Gylland, Senior Consultant

Shari Waters, Senior Consultant

Trip Report:

Cuesta College Transfer Credit Business Process Analysis

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Summary

SIG consultants John Crispino and Edgar Coronel were onsite with representatives from Cuesta College

on August 30 – September 1, 2016 for in-depth discussions about the College’s practices concerning

transfer credit. Current practices and their attendant challenges were identified during those

discussions. The points at which transfer credits factor into a student’s academic life-cycle include pre-

requisite overrides, transfer credit evaluation for academic standing and advising, IGETC/CSU GE

certification, special program compliance, and graduation evaluation. Current key practices, the issues

related to those practices, and recommendations for rectifying some of those issues are contained

herein. SIG’s recommendations include: careful evaluation of institutional business practices; the use

and/or development of web-based tools for routine requests, record intake, and student-facing and

inter-departmental communication; the use of existing, licensed tools for data import, data entry, and

electronic communication; the adoption and/or development of new electronic tools to mitigate manual

processing; and careful consideration of the staffing and funding demands associated with the adoption

of procedural improvements and institutional change.

SIG Consultants

Edgar Coronel, Senior Consultant – BPA Facilitation and Recommendations

Monica Crawford, Senior Consultant – Project Management and Recommendations

John Crispino, Senior Consultant – Lead Consultant for Banner® Student and Degree Works™,

BPA Facilitation and Recommendations

Barbara Gylland, Senior Consultant – Project Management and Recommendations

Shari Waters, Senior Consultant – Project Management and Recommendations

Cuesta College Attendees

Staff from Cuesta College representing Evaluation, Counseling, and Admissions and Records

Statement of Work and Proposed Institutional Goals

1. Assess and discuss transfer credit processing campus-wide

2. Craft a process for posting transfer credit in Banner Student

3. Identify mechanisms for addressing student notification needs

4. Process transfer credits by lump sum

5. Import catalog data from transfer institutions

Definition

Non-native course evaluation = Evaluation of incoming transcript from institution other than Cuesta

College

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Current Practices

Cuesta College receives official transcripts through numerous methods: in-person via the student, in-

person via counseling, and electronically through secured PDF. All official transcripts are scanned and/or

indexed into Banner Document Management (BDM) where they are available to various offices for

review and consumption. Delivery of official transcripts can begin as early as pre-enrollment or as late as

graduation. For Counseling evaluations, all transcripts are to be available where there are multiple

transcripts for a single student. At times, unofficial transcripts are utilized but these may or may not

meet standards for each business unit. Once the transcript(s) are received by the College, transfer credit

evaluations are conducted for use in various business processes throughout the student’s academic life

cycle. Transfer credit evaluations are triggered by counseling appointments; course registration

prerequisite clearance; graduation application; allied health admission application; financial aid

compliance; athletic eligibility compliance; special program compliance (CalWorks, EOPS, Foster

Youth, etc.); and SSSP priority registration eligibility during online orientation.

Counseling Appointment Trigger During a counseling appointment, a student receives an evaluation of their non-native coursework to

determine which coursework completed elsewhere may apply toward Cuesta degree requirements

and/or transfer GE patterns and programs.

When a student schedules a counseling appointment they must have an official transcript on file, or

bring an unofficial or official transcript(s) with them to the appointment if they have attended a previous

institution(s).

If official transcripts are on file in BDM, the counseling department prints the transcripts from all

schools, including the Cuesta transcript. The transcripts become part of the “advising packet” used by

counselors during the appointment for evaluation of non-native coursework. The evaluation is

completed using ASSIST data and internal CSUGE/IGETC worksheets for students pursuing a transfer

goal. ASSIST is used to validate and research transferability of coursework completed at a two-year

California Community College (CCC) into the CSU or UC system, and the CSUGE/IGETC worksheets are

used to record how non-native courses apply to specific GE areas. For non-transfer goal students,

counselors may use the online TES system and/or College catalogs to obtain the non-native course

equivalencies. During their counseling appointments, students are apprised of how non-native courses

may apply to a Cuesta College degree program. The results of the counselor evaluations are recorded

using the Notes feature of Degree Works™ or hand-written on SEP plans and evaluation forms. Hand-

written notations are saved in the student’s counseling file.

Non-native coursework that may apply toward a CSUGE or IGETC area in ASSIST requires completion of a

“pass along” paper form. The form documents which non-native courses are approved toward the

specific CSUGE and/or IGETC area. Upon completion, the form is scanned and indexed into BDM via

Application Extender.

Registration Prerequisite Clearance Trigger Non-native coursework is used to clear prerequisites for Banner registration via test codes recorded on

SOATEST in Banner.

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This process is triggered by a prerequisite error during registration. To clear the error by allocating non-

native coursework toward the missing prerequisite(s), a form (Form A) is approved by counseling and

filed with the prerequisite office. Form A may be submitted at various entry points (i.e. academic

departments, A & R, etc.). Form A may be accompanied by an unofficial transcript to demonstrate that

the prerequisite was successfully completed at another institution, or Form A can refer the prerequisite

office to BDM for the official transcript. Counseling approves Form A and attaches office transcripts to

the form. Form A is then placed into an inbox for processing by the prerequisite office, which enters a

test code in Banner SOATEST to clear the prerequisite for registration.

Graduation Application Trigger Non-native coursework evaluations are required when the student applies for graduation in order to

confirm which outstanding Cuesta degree requirements are satisfied by work completed at other

institutions.

All students submit a paper graduation application for degrees, IGETC/CSUGE certifications, and

professional certificates to the evaluation office. The academic program is then entered as a pending

outcome record into Banner on SHADEGR. The SHADEGR entry may or may not match the student’s

existing primary SGASTDN program.

During graduation checkout, transfer degrees and CSUGE/IGETC certifications are top priorities,

followed by native Cuesta degrees. If the program shows 100% complete in Degree Works™, often

through the use of a What If scenario, then the outcome record is awarded. If the Degree Works™ audit

is missing coursework and matches the student’s primary Banner® program, the evaluator looks for non-

native coursework in BDM or Degree Works™ notes, then official non-native course evaluation is

completed with resulting exceptions applied to the Degree Works™ audit. If the pending program does

not match the student’s primary Banner®/Degree Works™ program, a What-If audit is used and printed.

Then, non-native coursework is manually noted on the printed What If audit. If the degree is eligible to

be awarded, the audit(s) are frozen in Degree Works™.

All CSUGE and IGETC certifications are manually completed outside of Degree Works™ using Excel.

Allied Health Admissions Trigger Students applying to LPN and RN Allied Health programs require a separate application process and may

be admitted once they meet certain criteria, including completion of certain courses prior to admission.

These pre-admit prerequisite courses may be completed at Cuesta or another institution. If completed

elsewhere then those students require non-native coursework evaluation.

A student submits the LPN/RN admissions application along with an official transcript from all prior

institutions, if applicable, followed by a non-native course evaluation. Successful completion of program

prerequisite courses, completed at Cuesta or other institutions, are recorded in a spreadsheet for Allied

Health admission review.

Financial Aid Compliance Trigger Cuesta has recently changed their Financial Aid compliance policy surrounding non-native coursework.

For Financial Aid compliance purposes, only non-native coursework that has been evaluated by

counseling using an official transcript is considered. Students receiving Financial Aid are advised to

request the evaluation through counseling so that the student’s aid eligibility may be performed by the

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Financial Aid Office. The Financial Aid compliance review helps identify students who have met or

exceeded the 150% rule, and validates those students still eligible for “second year” loans.

Athletic Eligibility Trigger Non-native coursework evaluation is required for tracking athletic eligibility. Students are required to

complete a paper form (Form 1) indicating all institutions attended. The completed Form 1 is collected

by the Athletics Director during the first team meeting. All prior institutions are verified through the

National Student Clearinghouse. The non-native transcripts, unofficial or official, are then evaluated and

manually considered during the Athletic Eligibility Evaluation process.

CaFE Program Compliance Trigger Cuesta College uses an acronym, CaFE, for students enrolled in CalWorks, EOPS, or Foster Youth

programs. Non-native coursework totals are needed to determine continuing eligibility for these

programs. Services in these programs are available to students up to a predetermined number of units

from all attended institutions. Once the predetermined maximum units are met, students are no longer

eligible for services. The required evaluation of non-native transcripts is monitored and completed by

the CaFE center.

SSSP Priority Registration Eligibility Trigger Students are eligible for priority registration once they have met three milestones set forth during online

orientation. One of the milestones includes receipt of official transcript(s) from other institutions and an

abbreviated educational plan. During the educational plan development, counselors may work with

students to conduct an unofficial non-native course evaluation based on transcripts on file in BDM or

unofficial transcripts received from the student.

Key Issues and Findings

1. Non-native coursework is not entered in Banner® Student, is not available for Degree Works™

audits and advising worksheets, and is manually evaluated at various points during the students’

academic life cycle. This results in duplicate efforts by various offices and may result in

conflicting non-native coursework evaluation outcomes. Non-native course evaluations are

performed during:

a. Counseling

b. Degree/graduation evaluation

c. Pre-requisite clearing

d. Allied Health admissions

e. Special cohort compliance (FinAid, Athletics, CaFE)

2. Official transcripts are stored in BDM using application Extender, and may come directly from

the schools or as hand-delivered sealed documents from students.

3. A large population of Cuesta students may not need a full non-native course evaluation, for

example Cal Poly students who attend Cuesta for one semester in order to take courses that

meet Cal Poly requirements. Identifying and flagging such records would help focus resources

more efficiently.

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4. IGETC/CSU-GE Certifications are produced manually outside of Degree Works™ using an Excel

spreadsheet maintained by evaluators.

5. Unofficial transcripts, which may not be reliable or accurate, are used for pre-requisite clearing

and counseling.

6. Students are not notified when their graduation application or official transcripts are received.

7. Financial Aid, Athletics, CaFE, Allied Health, and other offices may not have complete academic

history unit totals and grades needed for compliance review and processing.

Cuesta College’s Ideal Process for Non-Native Coursework Evaluation

1. Student submits application for non-native courses to be evaluated

2. Students are notified of evaluation status throughout the process

3. Official transcript in Banner (via EDI) or BDM

4. Equivalency mappings in Banner

5. Evaluation performed and recorded in Banner academic history and available for use in various

systems and offices

Recommendations: Summary

1. Develop guidelines and standards around the intake of official transcripts to ensure they are

available early in the student life cycle.

2. Implement Banner® Workflow to notify students of transcript receipt and coursework

evaluation status, and to expedite internal alert processes for different business units.

3. Record all academic transfer coursework details in Banner® Student one time so they are

available for audit and advising purposes, can be used to satisfy registration prerequisites, and

persist in the student life cycle and official record for use by multiple business units.

4. Implement additional technical solutions to manage data in ways that streamline degree

evaluations and IGETC/CSU-GE certifications.

5. Evaluate current institutional roles and responsibilities to (1) determine which offices should

assume responsibility for new procedures; (2) assess if adequate staffing exists to accommodate

transcript intake and transfer mapping data entry responsibilities; and (3) determine staffing

needs for the development, deployment and ongoing administration of new technical tools.

Recommendations: Proposed Solutions and Milestones

Recommendation 1: Develop guidelines and standards around the intake of official transcripts to

ensure they are available early in the student life cycle.

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Proposed Solution

Identify appropriate student populations for which official transcripts will be needed for non-

native coursework evaluation, and determine how to designate them in Banner® Student

Develop information/content and tools to guide students through the process of obtaining

official transcripts

standardize how students request non-native coursework evaluations

Milestone 1 – Develop eligibility criteria for key target populations needing non-native coursework

evaluations. Determine how to flag such populations in Banner® Student (i.e. attributes or other

reportable data).

Tools: Banner® Student

Delivery Mode: Cuesta core team establish criteria for eligibility and determine data entry location

Parties Responsible: Cuesta College

Proposed Timeline: October 2016

Milestone 2 – Evaluate and standardize procedures for informing target populations of the need for

official transcripts and provide guidance on how to obtain them. What best practices can Cuesta share

with students to streamline process of requesting and obtaining official transcripts? How can Cuesta

better communicate that information and what web-based tools could help with student communication,

requests and processing? What content needs to be developed for such communication and who best to

create it?

Tools: Website/web forms with links to request forms, and best practice information/content such

as deadlines, delivery addresses, fees, etc.

Delivery Mode: Cuesta core team develop internal guidelines

Parties Responsible: Cuesta College develop content and student-facing web pages/web forms

Proposed Timeline: Fall 2016/Winter 2017

Milestone 3 – Standardize the process by which students request their non-native coursework

evaluations. Consider a web-based form with a checklist to confirm a student is ready for the evaluation

and that enables Cuesta to monitor incoming request load. Are more stringent timelines needed to

manage the process? Do staffing workloads need to shift/expand during high-demand periods?

Tools: Banner® SSB; Reporting tools, Google docs, etc.

Delivery Mode: Cuesta core team design a standard process

Parties Responsible: Cuesta; SIG technical assistance to develop SSB link; Cuesta IT work on

reporting/monitoring tools

Proposed Timeline: Spring/Summer 2017

Milestone 4 – Consider deploying an electronic tool for importing and uploading transcripts such as

eTranscript California or EDI to reduce processing and scan time now associated with paper copies.

Where electronic options for intake are available, identify them and begin to drive students toward

utilizing them. More technical evaluation is needed for this capability and we recommend it occur after

other technical solutions are implemented.

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Tools: TBD

Delivery Mode: TBD

Parties Responsible: Cuesta College, possibly others TBD

Proposed Timeline: Begin evaluating costs, tools, staffing in 2018

Recommendation 2: Implement Banner® Workflow to notify students of transcript receipt and

coursework evaluation status, and to expedite internal alert processes for different business units

Proposed Solution

Install and configure the Workflow tool

Outline the working models for student and staff notifications

Create and test Workflow models on pilot populations

Refine models and scale up deployment once validated

Milestone 1 – The Workflow tool is licensed by Cuesta. SIG resources are contracted for installation

and configuration. A date for installation needs to be confirmed given other IT priorities.

Tools: Banner® Workflow

Delivery Mode: Remote DBA service

Parties Responsible: SIG DBA services

Proposed Timeline: Fall 2016

Milestone 2 – Develop working models to facilitate student and staff notifications. Consider reminders

to students to expedite transcript requests, confirmation of transcript receipt, commencement of the

evaluation process, and confirmation that evaluation is complete and coursework entered into Banner®

Student. Where do students need communication pushed to them and what data in Banner® Student

can be utilized as triggers? What staff/business units need periodic alerts to status of evaluation or

confirmation of data entry? What Cuesta stakeholders need to be involved in developing the models?

Tools: Banner® Workflow

Delivery Mode: Onsite and remote

Parties Responsible: Cuesta College; SIG Project Manager; SIG Workflow consultant

Proposed Timeline: Winter 2017

Milestone 3 – Create and test Workflow models on pilot population

Tools: Banner® Workflow; Banner® Student

Delivery Mode: Remote

Parties Responsible: SIG Workflow consultant; Cuesta College staff for testing

Proposed Timeline: Spring 2017

Milestone 4 – Refine Banner® Workflow models, scale-up deployment and go live with student and

staff notifications.

Tools: Banner® Workflow; Banner® Student

Delivery Mode: Cuesta core team with Workflow consultant

Parties Responsible: Cuesta College/SIG

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Proposed Timeline: Fall 2017

Recommendation 3: Record all academic transfer coursework information in Banner® Student so it is

available for audit and advising purposes, can be used to satisfy registration pre-requisites, and persists

in the student life cycle and official record.

Proposed Solution

Implement Banner® Transfer Articulation to manage incoming transfer work, accelerate

evaluation processing, and produce a more accurate, consistent and effective Degree Works™

audit and advising worksheet.

Milestone 1 – Conduct Banner® Transfer Articulation Training and Proof-of-Concept. The training for

evaluators and key stakeholders includes Banner® configuration and set-up; transfer equivalency

mapping policy decisions and considerations; processing student transcripts; testing mappings and

Banner® Transfer Articulation; process flow; follow-up end-user training; determining how to record

“lump-sum” transfer work in Banner® for all students; and Degree Works™ output review. Prior to

training, Cuesta will have identified key feeder schools and eligible student populations to include in

their proof-of-concept.

Tools: Banner® Student; Banner® Transfer Articulation; Transfer Equivalency Sources (ASSIST data,

TES, C-ID.net, Other College Catalogs, IGETC/CSU Guidelines and Process Documents)

Delivery Mode: SIG Onsite Visit(s) with Core Team

Parties Responsible: Cuesta College/SIG


Milestone 2 – Build articulation mappings for top feeder schools. Following the initial set-up,

configuration, and training, begin building mappings for the top 1 to 3 feeder schools. Determine

whether Cuesta College staff, third party resources, or a combination, will build initial mappings.

Tools: Banner® Student; Banner® Transfer Articulation; Transfer Equivalency Sources (ASSIST data,

TES, C-ID.net, Other College Catalogs, IGETC/CSU Guidelines and Process Documents)

Delivery Mode: Remote and/or in-house

Parties Responsible: TBD


Milestone 3 – Load catalog from other Banner® Schools to streamline the building of transfer

equivalencies. Investigate the viability of using the baseline Banner® export/import processes to load

other schools’ catalog data into Cuesta’s SHATATC form. SIG recommends initial import testing with no

pre-existing data. Configuration is needed to use the imports features. Pending further discussion and

confirmation, SIG suggests Allan Hancock and Santa Barbara Community College as potential partners

for testing the import process. Available technical resources at AHC and data quality at SBCC make them

good candidates from SIG’s perspective.

Tools: Banner® Student

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Parties Responsible: SIG/Cuesta College and collaboration with partner institutions


Recommendation 4: Implement additional technical solutions to manage data in ways that streamline

degree evaluations and IGETC/CSU-GE certifications.

Proposed Solutions

Consider altering the bannerextract.config file in Degree Works™ to bridge pending SHADEGR

outcome records from SOACURR to Degree Works™ for official degree evaluations. Where

students’ SHADEGR and SGASTDN records do not match, having the SHADEGR data in Degree

Works™ will obviate reliance on What-if Audits, thus helping to expedite the degree checkout

process. Many California community colleges do not utilize Banner’s concurrent curriculum

functionality, so this workaround offers a way to leverage Degree Works™ in a more automated

manner. It also puts additional demands on the size of the database, which is an important

institutional consideration. Santa Barbara CC has adopted this methodology, and Allan Hancock

is considering it.

Implement the SIG-developed CSUGE/IGETC certification report for use on the Degree Works™

What-If page for certifying completion of CSUGE and IGETC requirements. This will eliminate the

manual processing of these certification reports.

Consider developing an online graduation application. A common student-facing electronic form

would assure application consistency while offering the ability to track demand and adjust

staffing resources accordingly;

Milestone 1 – Cuesta identify which, if any, solutions it wishes to adopt and/or develop. Work with SIG

to develop service needs, pricing, and project plans and milestones related to adoption and

development. SIG will then work with Cuesta to develop additional details and milestones related to

selected solutions.

Tools: TBD

Delivery Mode: Onsite discussion

Parties Responsible: SIG Project Manager and Cuesta core team


Recommendation 5: Evaluate current institutional roles and responsibilities to determine which offices

should assume responsibility for new procedures and assess if adequate staffing exists to accommodate

transcript intake and transfer mapping data entry responsibilities, as well as the administration of new

technical tools to be developed and deployed.

Proposed Solution

Convene Cuesta stakeholders to consider both near-term implementation needs and long-term

operational capacity for the significant changes proposed to support improved transfer credit

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processes. Develop staffing and funding strategies that acknowledge implementation as well as

ongoing operational and administrative needs.

Compile findings from other California CC’s who have adopted similar change processes around

transfer credit

Milestone 1 – Identify stakeholders to manage and assess staffing capacity in relation to specific

recommendations adopted by Cuesta.

Stakeholders may wish to consider these and other issues:

Mapping of transfer coursework using Banner® Transfer Articulation requires analytical skills to

evaluate the multiple sources of data, as well as clerical skill to input the information at a rate of

about one mapping per 15 minutes

Technical resources will be needed to develop and/or manage new websites/web forms,

Workflow models, BDM imaging, changes to data extracts, load catalog imports, and load

incoming electronic transcripts

Evaluators will continue to verify that requirements are met for graduation, degrees and

certificates, but the institution should anticipate greater reliance on the Degree Works™

Advising Worksheet throughout the student life cycle so that final validation is nearly pro-forma

in nature. Consider whether evaluator responsibilities shift to being front-end focused, with

emphasis on analyzing, building and maintaining articulation and equivalency rules for incoming

transfer work, or whether those tasks are assumed by other and/or new College staff or

departments.

Counseling and advising responsibilities will morph as more data is available within Degree

Works™, reliance on What-if processing diminishes, CSUGE/IGETC certification reports are

adopted, and there is potentially less need for counselors to focus on transfer coursework

evaluations during their student meetings. How does less evaluation time translate into more

substantive student face-time during the advising engagement and what impact does that have

on staffing loads?

If the transcript intake process is routinized to garner more official documents, what staff are

managing the student-facing communication and tools around that process? Who is expediting

Workflow models or other communication between business units with regard to transcript

status? How is timely processing of transcripts in to BDM taking place? Who is developing web

content for student-facing communications and internal notifications? Will electronic student-

facing communication free-up staff from counter- and phone-driven inquiries, potentially

yielding productivity gains elsewhere?

What benchmarks will Cuesta establish to periodically assess workload and skillsets? Who will

track/monitor those benchmarks, gather data and report findings? What different benchmarks

are needed for implementation versus live operations? How will Cuesta assure benchmark

evaluation aligns with budgeting cycle should funding adjustments prove necessary?

Tools: TBD

Delivery Mode: Onsite discussion

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Parties Responsible: SIG Project Manager, Cuesta core team, Cuesta Human Resource staff and

other management


Milestone 2 – Compile organizational data from other institutions to help inform Cuesta staffing

decisions. Details concerning staff size, student enrollment, roles and responsibilities, tools in use,

maintenance needs and other criteria from sites such as Sierra College, North Orange County

Community College District, Santa Barbara City College, San Mateo Community College District and

elsewhere may offer useful insights for Cuesta planning purposes.

Tools: Institutional contacts and websites


Parties Responsible: SIG Project Managers, SIG consultants, and Cuesta core team


Solution Objectives

1. For the majority of transfer students, the Degree Works™ audit will reflect their entire academic

history, including all relevant transfer coursework.

2. The evaluation process to award degrees, certificates, and certifications can be completed

through a review of the Degree Works™ audit thereby reducing processing time and eliminating

certain manual processes now used to complete student evaluations.

3. Advising worksheets will offer more accurate guidance 24/7 and academic information will be

compiled once and persist throughout the student’s life cycle and in their official records.

4. The need for registration prerequisite overrides should be significantly reduced.

5. Once articulation rules are developed for top feeder schools, the process of articulating

transcripts will be a more routinized clerical process with evaluators focusing on institutional

articulation relationships and applying general guidelines to a broad audience, rather than a

highly analytical process of detailed, one-of-kind scrutiny for each student.