In this issue:

UMSTARS on the Web: The Electronic Degree Auditor
Maryland Community College Evaluations
Non-Transferable Courses
International Credit Evaluations
No "Official" TCC Form Necessary
Welcome Lyn
Spring 1997 Transfer Statistics
On-Line Zebra Sheets
UMS General Education Requirements on the Web
Permission to Enroll Forms
What’s NEW in MATH

UMSTARS on the Web: The Electronic Degree Auditor

From the people who brought you the Transfer Credit Center ... we would like to announce the latest endeavor produced and directed by Academic Data Systems (ADS) and the Registrar's Office. The Electronic Degree Auditor, a celestial sibling to MARS and VENUS in the Constellation Testudo, will now be found on UMSTARS (University of Maryland Student Transactions, Audit, and Records System) on the Web. The system will allow advisors and students efficiently and quickly to run academic audits, thus enabling them to monitor academic progress towards any degree and to perform graduation clearances. It will continue to present academic information currently found in UMSTARS, such as GPA and course data, including transfer course equivalencies.

The involvement of the Transfer Credit Center in this project follows because of the importance of course equivalencies in TCEQ. Our operation is vital to the auditor's ability to recognize and process courses taken at other institutions so that transfer students will have access to the same advising enhancements that native students do.

A robust framework for the UMSTARS degree audit system and related components has been developed by Tripti Sinha, Jeffrey Lemich, and David Alderson of ADS. In addition, Jennifer White (ADS) with the assistance of the pilot Colleges (LFSC and BSOS) assessed the major requirements and defined them in the audit system.

Now we are ready to involve the campus in a development and testing program to ensure our delivery of the most effective and practical system possible to the user. The present plan is to bring at least half of the Colleges up on this new system to test/assist in Spring 1997 graduation clearances. During this testing period, a team will continue to work with Colleges to input their major requirements. The goal for December 1997 is to enable most departments to perform graduation clearances using the UMSTARS Electronic Degree Auditor. The system will be made available in pilot form to students as we work towards this goal.

In order to guarantee the program's success, we need you! We are recruiting advisors to join a "pre-users" group. We recognize that our development is at a stage where we need the input and perspective of those who will be using the system.

College Park is at the forefront of institutions developing an electronic degree audit system, and with the number and complexity of our majors, the task is not an easy one. However, UMSTARS on the Web is a significant and long-awaited advancement to our present advising capabilities.

We expect the users group to begin meeting bi-weekly (starting the week of 3 March), then probably monthly as the project develops. Please take advantage of the opportunity to participate in and shape the development of this useful and proactive system; I think you will share our excitement when you see how far we have come.

If you are interested in joining the pre-users group, contact Theresa DiPaolo, Mary Bell, or Lyn Gadue at the usual addresses. We appreciate your commitment to improving the electronic resources at College Park.

UMSTARS Degree Auditor Timeline

Where we've been ...

Audit system and tools developed.
Individual major requirements assessed and programmed into system.
Advisors consulted and demonstration audits performed.
Preliminary pilot major audits performed in BSOS and LFSC.

At present ...

Assess and input additional major requirements.
Test audit results.
Create pre-users group to provide input.
Refine audit system to enhance functionality.

Where we're headed ...

Continue to input major requirements.
50% of Colleges on new system to test/assist in Spring 1997 graduation clearance.
Students provided access to perform pilot audits during development.
Most departments have ability to use UMSTARS auditor on the Web by December 1997.

We need your input to help us reach these goals. A successful degree audit system requires the valuable ideas and suggestions from its users. Get involved and help us create a resource that works best for you.

Maryland Community College Evaluations

Thank you for responding to our request for the evaluation of courses from Maryland community colleges. You may have noticed a blue slip attached to the course descriptions explaining the importance of these evaluations. We are in the process of cross-referencing the TCEQ tables with the community colleges' catalogs. The course descriptions reflect courses that appear in the catalogs but are not yet in our database.

There are some evaluations we have not received yet. Please return those to us as soon as possible. Complete and correct institution tables are important for our transfer students, especially those from Maryland community colleges. The number of our database users has increased significantly as it is now accessible over the Web. In addition, accurate institution tables will facilitate the application of the new UMSTARS audit system.

Non-Transferable Courses

Students will often ask why their ceramics or jewelry-making course, typing class, WordPerfect workshop, real estate seminar, or class in speed-reading, ballroom dancing, ikebana, Spanish for tourists, business math, or auto transmissions (these are all REAL examples!) will not transfer. Transfer courses may be denied credit at College Park for several reasons. Technical and vocational courses do not transfer nor do courses that are dissimilar in content or scope to work offered at UMCP; neither do continuing education units.

The University's policy on transferable credits is stated on pages 7 through 9 and page 36 of the current catalog. In general, credit from academic courses taken at institutions of higher education accredited by a regional accrediting association will transfer; provided that the course is completed with at least a grade of C (2.0).

We try to catch as many of these non-transferable courses as possible during the student's first semester at UMCP. However, we inadvertently miss some. If you notice that a student's transfer record mistakenly reflects credit for a course, please let us know. You can send us email (tccinfo@deans.umd.edu) or a written request (replacing the Transcript Discrepancy Form) to remove the credit from the student's record. As always, we appreciate your input.

International Credit Evaluations

Just a reminder ... Although the Transfer Credit Center attempts to aid in the evaluation of courses taken at non-U.S. institutions, we are limited in our efforts. We have no access to course descriptions from schools outside the United States. Further, we cannot send course descriptions to departments for evaluation unless 1) the material is translated into English and 2) the number of credit hours is determined by International Education Services (IES). Once these two steps have been completed, it is best for the student to contact each academic department directly to get the courses evaluated. The student can provide additional information to the course evaluator to facilitate the determination.

On the other hand, when a department makes a decision on Study Abroad credits, we are happy to enter the course equivalencies into the international tables so the student may receive appropriate credit when s/he returns. Just copy us on the evaluations.

No "Official" TCC Form Necessary Although helpful, it is not necessary that transfer equivalencies be written on the Transfer Credit Equivalency Request form. If you have evaluated a course for a student, you can simply send the equivalency information (including the student's name and social security number, the sending institution's name, the course ID and title at the sending institution, and the equivalency at College Park) on letterhead or via email to tccinfo@deans.umd.edu.

As you know, we maintain equivalency tables for each accredited institution. We automatically enter any equivalency received in the database. Please indicate if the equivalency should apply only to the student in question. In that case, we will be sure to enter the information on the student's record only, not in the institution table.

Welcome, Lyn!

No, you're not experiencing dejà vu. The Transfer Credit Center's graduate assistant, Lyn Gadue, received her Master's Degree from the College of Journalism. She has joined us as the new Assistant for Technical Support and Public Relations.

Lyn is responsible for editing and designing this newsletter as part of her duties. She will also be involved in the UMSTARS electronic audit system. Please join us in welcoming her as a full-time staff member.

Spring 1997 Transfer Statistics

We have reached new heights at the Transfer Credit Center, nearly 100,000 lines of data (courses evaluated) are included in our equivalency database!

Spring 1997 transfer students brought in over 28,000 transfer courses. As always, we are working to get all courses evaluated.

On-Line Zebra Sheets

It has been almost a year since we introduced the money-saving, tree-sparing on-line zebra sheet (which replaced the triplicate form). Some advisors have had difficulty printing the on-line forms. To request printing access, please email Mary Bell at mbell@deans.umd.edu. If needed, we can provide training as well. Any additional feedback (positive or negative) about these forms and suggestions for improvement are encouraged.

UMS General Education Requirements on the Web

The Transfer Credit Center's web page now includes a link to general education requirements for University of Maryland System schools as well as Maryland community colleges. The general education requirements were obtained from the most recent catalogs available.

This page is currently being updated as institutions verify the accuracy of the information. Where possible, direct links are made to institutions' own Web pages.

Permission to Enroll Forms

No, it's not summertime yet, but students will be planning for summer classes soon. Please forward us copies of Permission to Enroll forms containing transfer equivalencies not currently in TCEQ. This will ensure that the student's record accurately reflects the correct equivalency. TCEQ is a useful resource to consult when filling out the Permission to Enroll form. Courses that already appear in TCEQ do not have to be evaluated twice. For instructions on using TCEQ, refer to our publication, A Guide to Transfer Credit Information. Email us at tccinfo@deans.umd.edu if you need a copy.

What’s NEW in MATH

Maryland Community Colleges have been modifying their math courses in accordance with MHEC guidelines for general education. Hence, there have been changes in articulation in that area. Advisors should be aware that Start-End dates apply more often in MATH than in any other single department. Furthermore, there are more courses now that will count as general education fundamental studies for transfer students, but for which campus students may not be given advance permission. Please call or email the Center with any questions.

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