Possible test-friendly TESU BA Psychology degree (after July 2015)

[johnjaxs]

"Ethics in the Social Sciences TESU online course SOS-450 (no known test-out) (UL)"

I am kinda surprised, none of these apply to this requirement:

Various Business Ethics Exam (Straighterline included)
Bioethics
Ethics in America
Ethics Theory and Practice
Environmental Ethics
And probably more that I am forgetting/don't know about.

[jsd]

I could be wrong, but since none of those are specific to social sciences, they'd only count toward the general ed ethics requirements.

[Leherself]

I just got my eval last month and it was transcribed as COU-262. That's also what it's listed as in the current catalog. I'm a soc sci major with loooooooots of upper division credits so it doesn't much matter to me personally. I've got an advising appointment next week though, and can add it to my list of questions and report back.

So, to update this a bit, I emailed advising about the DSST exam and they told me that because of the ACE recommendation as lower level that was updated "about 18 months ago" they couldn't list it as PSY-331 anymore even though they used to.

Well, then being my ornery self I had to go look up the ACE recommendation. Turns out it was updated in the past couple years, and it's listed as lower level, which I already knew. But the previous recommendation (from 1990-2014) was *also* lower level. Furthermore, if they're using ACE as an explanation for why a course is transcribed a certain way, then why are DSST Civil War, DSST Ethics in America, and UExcel Juvenile Delinquency listed as lower level at TESU, when they're considered upper level by ACE. Not to mention the many other sources of ACE lower level classes that TESU lists as upper division (CLEP, Study.com, Straighterline, etc.). So I replied with screenshots of the old and current ACE recommendations, some additional questions, and a request for clarification on TESU's transfer credit policy in regards to ACE recommendations.

There may have been some language in the e-mail to the effect of the school arbitrarily granting upper level credit to some students but not others...

<.<

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Thanks guys. Now I've probably offended advising and I'll never be able to graduate because they're going to "lose" the rest of the stuff I send in

Not seriously. Really, I'm not even worked up about this - like I said before, it doesn't impact my ability to graduate. I'm just confused as to why TESU would grant upper division credit to some students and not others for the same exam, and I don't buy the ACE explanation because they've got an established policy of putting ACE credit wherever the hell they want regardless of the recommendation.

Somebody's got 'splainin to do.

[sanantone]

That is true. If TESU appears to be following an ACE recommendation, it's just by coincidence. They have upgraded several LL CLEPs and DSSTs to UL and have downgraded some others.

[Leherself]

The official answer I got this morning:

Leanne,
Thank you for your message. Colleen has asked me to review your request and provide some additional information.
The establishment of equivalencies for all transfer courses is completed by the Registrar’s office in conjunction with the Deans of each school. Depending on the transfer source, equivalencies are recommended by our staff and other times, equivalencies are made based on recommendations of external sources such as the American Council on Education (ACE) or the National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS), as examples.
The DSST exam, Fundamentals of Counseling, was originally slated to transfer to the University as PSY-331, Introduction to Counseling. In March 2015, the Dean of the Heavin School determined that a more appropriate equivalency is COU-262, Fundamentals of Counseling, based on a review of the ACE recommendation. Reviews of ACE recommendations happen periodically and it was at this point in 2015 that the Dean changed the equivalency. The Advising Office cannot overturn any Dean’s decision.
The DSST exam can be considered a Psychology course regardless of which equivalency is transcribed. Please note that once your degrees are conferred, your academic evaluation will “disappear”. You will not have access to this document and only your official TESU transcript will indicate coursework. If an employer or anyone else questions how a course is classified, they are welcome to contact our office.
(... paragraph deleted because not relevant to this board)
Based on the above, no changes will be made regarding the DSST exam, Fundamentals of Counseling.
Have a nice day.

A much more thorough and satisfactory explanation as far as I'm concerned. It is still a little arbitrary, but that's the Dean's perogative. It's quite a bit more official than just "oh, some advisors used to do that but now we don't anymore."

[jsd]

The DSST exam can be considered a Psychology course regardless of which equivalency is transcribed.

Okay wait, so it will still count as a Psych elective, even though it's transcribed as COU-262? That's good news.

[Leherself]

Okay wait, so it will still count as a Psych elective, even though it's transcribed as COU-262? That's good news.

Right, so it still falls in the Psych major / psych elective category no trouble. It's just for sure a lower division course.

[jsd]

That part's a bummer, but I was thinking it wasn't even psych credits anymore. So at least I have that, haha

[johnjaxs]

"Social Psychology (6 credits required) - UExcel, only 3 credits* (UL)"

Just going to throw this out, and see if anyone can try to confirm it. The study.com Social Psychology course is evaluated as lower level by ACE and the Social Psychology Uexcel is upper level. Is it possible to complete both and meet the 6 credit requirement?

I am currently doing my MBA at WGU and may or may not go back to TESU for the BA Psychology. I was going to eventually ask this question, but if some one wants to do it before me please share your results. I know TESU has an Intro (PSY-370) to and a non-intro (PSY-379) Social Psychology course.

[jsd]

This is unlikely, since these are essentially the same course (regardless of the lower/upper levels). They'd only count course equivalencies once. What is more likely, as has been discussed in this thread, is that they'll accept one the 3 credit classes and with a waiver let you make up the three credits elsewhere as an in-field elective.

Once my eval is done and I talk to an adviser, I should have a better answer. But evaluations take a long time at TESU, so I'm not sure when that'll be.