Rationale re: International Credits

Rationale re: International Credits
Formatted version of this document suitable for printing. (rev 03.07.2002)
Adobe Acrobat file: d03_rationale.pdf [16k]

At the FPG (Faculty Professional Growth) steering committee meeting Thursday, Feb 14th 2002, based upon the feedback received from the Policy Review bulletin board discussion, policy was approved to allow international academic credits to be earned for horizontal advancement.

Increasing opportunities for earning International Credits resulted in a request by the FPG (Faculty Professional Growth) committee to FEC (Faculty Executive Council) at the Feb. 13, 01 FEC (Faculty Executive Council) meeting to allow policy that would allow faculty to receive credit for international credits earned.

In researching this issue it was discovered that international degrees are accepted by Human Resources of Maricopa colleges for faculty placement. If a faculty member comes for initial employment w/ an international degree they are required by HR Employment to work with one of three world accreditation agencies to have their credits and transcripts evaluated. There is a fee involved for doing this and the applicant pays the fee. Some courses taken in an international location via a US institution (ASU abroad program for example) allows credits to accumulate through the current advancement process.

Further research shows international universities and other private institutions are increasing their use of internet instruction offerings. The process of determining the validity of an accrediting agency becomes difficult as a review of international accrediting agencies via the internet shows many organizations offering this "for fee" service. It is objectionable to the premise of professional growth to allow advancement for work done through questionable institutions or diploma mills. The Directory of Higher Education for the U. S. and its territories published by Higher Education Publications Inc. is used by Maricopa Colleges Human Resources Dept. to identify accredited institutions. Three international accrediting agencies are used for accepting international credits. In addition our 10 colleges deal with evaluating credits from international students and the colleges use these same agencies. Therefore it is appropriate for the Steering Committee to parallel these practices and not introduce a new step in this complex issue. If the currently used agencies go out of business, FPG will continue to align their acceptance of accrediting with the organizations used by Maricopa Colleges.