S.91-40

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

To:

Senate

From:

N. Heath, Secretary,

Senate Undergraduate Admissions Board

Date:

1991 08 02

[Subject:

Duplicate Transfer Credit

I

The Senate Undergraduate Admissions Board requests that Senate

give consideration and approval to the following motion:

"That the proposed duplicate transfer credit regulations,

approved by the Senate Undergraduate Admissions Board, be

considered and approved by Senate, as set out in the enclosed

document, SUAB 211 (2nd Revision)."

nh August 91

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Duplicate Transfer Credit

SUAB 211 (2nd Revision)

Memorandum

From:

N. Heath, Secretary, Senate Undergraduate Admissions Board

To:

W. R.

Heath, Secretary, Senate

Date:

1991 0802

ISubiect:

Duplicate Transfer Credit - Proposed Policy

I

Background

During 1990, the Senate Undergraduate Admissions Board discussed the introduction

of new policy to regulate credit duplication between courses taken outside SFU

(transfer credits) and equivalent courses taken at the University.

Draft proposals were widely circulated within the university community and input on

this matter was received by SUAB from several faculties and departments.

Proposed Policy

SUAB approved the following policy in November 1990:

• A student may not receive transfer credit which duplicates credit

achieved at SFU, unless written approval is given by the respective

department.

• A student may request registration in a course for which transfer credit

has been previously assigned.

• Registration in a course which duplicates transfer credit will be

reported to the respective department during the registration process.

• A department may allow a student to register in a duplicate course or

may disallow this registration.

• Current limits on course duplication will not apply to duplicate transfer

courses.

• On completion of the course with a passing grade, the transfer credit

will remain on the academic record as a duplicate, with a zero credit

value.

• If the course is completed with a failing grade, or dropped, the transfer

credit will remain on the academic record.

• As a result of the implementation of this policy, no changes will be

made in the method of calculating grade point averages.

• A department may permit credit to count for both a transfer course and an

equivalent SFU course, if the course content is judged to be sufficiently

different.

Implementation

In general, the policy formalizes current University practice and no problems are

anticipated in regard to its implementation, including issues of retroactivity. If

approved in September 1991, this policy will be effective for registration to the 92-1

semester.

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Duplicate Transfer Credit

SUAB 211 (2nd Revision)

Rationale

Our regulations are silent on whether a student who has transfer credit for a course

may take the equivalent course at SFU and, if this happens, what should appear on

the academic record. Similarly, students who have earned credit in a SFU course

sometimes ask permission to take an equivalent course elsewhere, presumably to

improve their grade to satisfy a course prerequisite. Lack of policy in this area has

caused confusion for some students, has resulted in some

inconsistency

in the

registration process, and has potential for introducing errors to the academic record,

such as incorrect credit totals.

It is particularly desirable to clarify these duplicate course rules now, because a new

telephone registration system will be in place for the 91-2 Semester and fewer

students are expected to have their course selections checked individually by program

advisers. Instead, more reliance will be placed on the Registrar's record system

(SIMON) to identify duplicates. For the system to work satisfactorily, clear rules are

required.

The individual components of the policy may be justified as follows:

•

A student may not receive transfer credit which duplicates credit achieved at SFU, unless written

approval is given by the respective department.

This parallels existing policy and gives the department the same option as

exists for SFU courses, i.e; to count two apparently similar courses, if the

content is judged to be different.

A student may request registration in a course for which transfer credit has been previously

assigned.

There was consensus that students not be prohibited from repeating a transfer

course at SFU. The student may have achieved a low grade in the transfer

course and needs to obtain a higher grade in order to proceed in higher

courses.

Registration in a course which duplicates transfer credit will be reported to the respective department

during the registration process.

This reporting already occurs. The Registration Anomaly Report makes

departments aware of duplicates at a very early stage and can prevent a

student from entering a course inadvertently, unaware that the course is a

duplicate for some previous course.

A department may allow a student to register in a duplicate course or may disallow this registration.

Some departments have assumed that registration in a course for which

transfer credit has already been earned is not permitted, but this is not the case.

However, cases could arise in which a department might wish to block a

student's registration in a duplicate course if, for example, advising were

required or if special registration conditions existed.

• Current limits on course duplication will not apply to duplicate transfer courses.

The duplicate course limits (not more than two attempts at a particular course

and not more than 5 duplicates overall) refer to SFU course attempts. It is not

practical to include data on all external course attempts in the student's record,

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Duplicate Transfer Credit

SUAB 211 (2nd Revision)

hence only the number of duplicate attempts at SFU course is known with

accuracy. In addition, the primary motive for restricting multiple course attempts

was to conserve course spaces at SFU. Outside institutions may or may not be

subject to similar enrollment pressures and those that have limited their

enrollment usually have their own policies to deal with duplicate course

attempts.

On completion of the course with a passing grade, the transfer credit will remain on the academic

record as a duplicate, with a zero credit value.

Rather than delete transfer credit entries, removing the credit hour value

preserves the record that transfer credit was originally granted, increasing the

accuracy of the record. Until the course is completed and passed, no credit

duplication has occurred, since the SFU course is 'in progress.' This is similar

to the treatment of duplicates in which both attempts are taken at SFU.

• If the course is completed with a failing grade, or dropped, the transfer credit will remain on the

academic record.

A fail or drop results in no credit being awarded. It is therefore consistent with

earlier parts of this policy and with the policy on internal duplicates that the

transfer credit remain on the record.

• As a result of the implementation of this policy, no changes will be made in the method of calculating

grade point averages.

Unlike internal duplicates, duplicates of transfer credit should not affect SFU

gpas, which are calculated only on courses attempted at SFU. Inclusion of

external grades in SFU gpas would be undesirable and impractical.

• A department may permit credit to count for both a transfer course and an equivalent SFU course, if

the course content is judged to be sufficiently different.

This essentially repeats the first item in this proposed regulation.

Further details are attached..

nh August 91

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of less credit value

April 1991

The following applies only to type 1 transfer credit.

.

If SFU course is passed and....

of equal credit value

or

of greater credit value

or

taken more than once and

passed on last attempt

....then transfer credit is....

F

setero and transfer

recorded as a

duplicate

retained and credits equal to

the difference in credit

values as type 2 transfer

credit

e.g. TFR course credit = 5

SFU course credit =3

transfer credit

= 2

If SFU course is failed and....

....then transfer credit is....

of equal credit value

or

of greater credit value

or

of less credit value

or

duplicated

retained

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assigned a

deferred grade DE

or

GN notation

[ retained until grade

processed

If SFU course is....

....then transfer credit is....

Iequal in course number only

retained and credit also

(course

material

is different)

given for SFU course

audited

Ii

retained

Ii

dropped

retained

.

Other Considerations

Case 1

A student awarded a credential and working toward a subsequent degree or diploma

Policy:

When a credential is awarded the academic record is sealed and transfer credit assigned to

the sealed degree or diploma cannot be used for credit again toward a subsequent degree or

diploma.

Procedures: A student attempting to register in a course that duplicates type 1 transfer credit assigned to an

awarded degree or diploma will be allowed to register for the duplicate course only with the

written approval of the department.

Case 2

A student takes work at another institution during their program at SFU.

Policy:

The same procedures that pertain to the transfer credit assigned when a student is first

admitted to SFU will apply.

Procedure: Letters of permission to take work at another institution are reviewed by departments and a

duplicate course will most likely be disallowed. However, if the duplicate becomes apparent

only after the work has been completed the procedures described above will apply.

Case

A student changes degree programs e.g. from a Bachelor of General Studies to a Bachelor of Arts degree

and must reduce the amount of assigned transfer credit to comply with Faculty regulations regarding the

maximum transfer credit permitted toward a B.A. degree.

Policy:

Special transfer credit regulations apply to the Bachelor of General Studies degree, Bachelor

of Education degree and the Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Engineering Science.

.

Procedure: In the event the change results in surplus transfer credit,

it

will be deleted from the academic

record in accordance with the instructions of the department and/or faculty who will consult

with the student.

In the event the program change results in transfer credits being added to the academic

record, the courses added will be subject to the procedures described above.

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