High School Dual Credit Program
Interpretive Guidelines and Procedures to CBHE Policy
Revised August 2001
Foreword: The policy that governs the operation of high school dual credit activities in the state of Missouri is established by the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education via the Board's "Policy Guidelines for the Delivery and Transferability of Credit Obtained in Dual Credit Programs Offered in High Schools" as approved in June, 1999.
This document provides concurrent guidelines and procedures relative to the operation of dual credit at Southeast Missouri State University. Major headings are the same as major headings in the CBHE "Policy Guidelines."
Student Eligibility
Basic Requirements
Dual Credit students of the university must have a minimum grade average of "B" on all prior high school course work and be recommended for participation by signature of the high school principal or his/her official designee. The “B” average is reflected by a grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. In addition, specific placement testing is required for participation in EN 100: English Composition and all Mathematics courses.
EXCEPTION POLICY
Students with less than a “B” average but at least a 2.5 grade point average are eligible for participation in dual credit with a letter of recommendation from his/her principal. The letter of recommendation must state: (1) that the student is of an exceptional academic ability not accurately reflected by past performance and resulting grade point average, and (2) that, in the opinion of the principal, the student is capable of successful performance in the recommended dual credit class(es). Where applicable, an acceptable score on the university’s placement exam(s) is also required. Students admitted under this exception policy must attain a grade of B or better on all university course work in order to continue in the dual credit program for a second and subsequent terms.”
Placement in EN 100: English Composition: Dual Credit students must meet the same requirements for participation in EN 100 as are required of regularly admitted on-campus students. Those requirements are specified in "Guidelines for Dual Credit English Courses" as published and updated periodically by the Department of English.
Placement in Math courses
Dual Credit students must meet the same requirements for participation in Math classes as are required of regularly admitted on-campus students. Those requirements are updated annually by the Math Department.
Program Structure and Administration
Course Availability and Program Structure
Course Schedule for Dual Credit
Any freshman level course of the university may be made available in the Dual Credit program upon the approval of the subject academic department. The university requires that a student complete fifteen hours of freshman level work before enrolling in a sophomore level course; consequently, second-year courses are not normally made available to high school students via dual credit.
The Office of Dual Credit will maintain a list of courses approved by the academic departments for delivery via dual credit and will further maintain a current syllabus on each course. On an annual basis, the School will ensure that updated syllabi are obtained from each department and disseminated to participating high schools. Courses currently available via dual credit are listed on the Dual Credit website athttp://www.semo.edu/dualcredit/courses/index.htm
Basis for Participation
As a requirement for offering any dual credit course, a participating high school will ensure that the dual credit course is taught by the university syllabus or that the syllabus material is incorporated into the content of an existing course. Courses in the high school must be taught by teachers who have been approved as adjuncts of the subject on-campus academic department. The requirements for high school faculty appointment are outlined below under “Faculty Qualifications and Support.”
Compliance
Each dual credit faculty member will be assigned a regular faculty member from the sponsoring department to provide coordination and supervision in the implementation of the course. The coordinating faculty member, through consultation and site visits, will be responsible for ensuring that the high school faculty member is apprized of course requirements and will otherwise ensure that the course delivered is essentially the same as on-campus in terms of course content and student assessment.
Textbooks
High schools are encouraged to use the same textbooks as are used for the same course on the university campus and are eligible to participate in the textbook rental program available for undergraduate students. In addition, the sponsoring university academic department may require high schools to use the campus text; however, upon mutual agreement by the high school faculty and administration and the university department, an alternate textbook that essentially duplicates the content of the selected campus textbook may be used.You can find a listing of textbooks at http://www.semo.edu/dualcredit/handbook/textbooks.htm
Academic Year Schedule and Fee Structure
The university recognizes that high school schedules are not congruent with the schedule established by the university, and, within reasonable boundaries, extends flexible scheduling to the High School Dual Credit program in the same manner as with any off-campus activity seeking to serve a non-traditional student population. According to the high school schedule, courses may be taught in one of three schedules with the registration and grading requirements as indicated for each:
Fall Term
Courses run August through December or January. Registrations will be due in May or August and grades will be due in January.
Year-Long Term
Courses run August through May. Registrations will be due in May or August. Grades of “incomplete” are assigned in January and final grades are due in May.
Spring Term
Courses run January through May. Registrations will be due in January and grades will be due in May.
Academic Year Calendar
The Office of Dual Credit will establish an annual calendar for the Dual Credit program. You can find the calendar at http://www.semo.edu/dualcredit/handbook/calendar.htm
Fee Structure
Any high school student seeking early college credit via approved university course work is admitted under a status of "high school student" and charged fees at a rate of 55% of the on-campus incidental fees for Missouri residents. Dual credit students are not assessed on-campus activity fees or off-campus fees, and ordinarily, dual credit students are not assessed any laboratory fees. Students taking web-based courses will be assessed the university web fee. Dual credit students will pay the standard admissions processing fee assessed of any first-time enrolling student; however, this fee will not be assessed a second time for dual credit students subsequently enrolling as regular students of the university. The admission processing feeis $25.00.
University Administrative Structure
The high school dual credit program is recognized as an off-campus credit program of the university and administered accordingly through the Office of Dual Credit. The Office in turn works cooperatively with the academic departments that sponsor dual credit courses and participating high schools to implement all dual credit activities and to ensure compliance with CBHE and university policies.
Faculty Qualifications and Support
New Faculty Appointments: High schools seeking to have a faculty member approved for dual credit instruction will submit a letter of nomination from the principal naming the recommended faculty member and specifying the course to be taught. This nomination will be supported by the concurrent submission of the nominee's resume and college transcripts. Nominees must possess minimally the master’s degree in the discipline [i.e. the MA in History] or a master’s degree with a minimum of 18 credit hours in the discipline exclusive of method and survey courses [i.e. MA in Teaching with 18 hours in the discipline]. EXCEPTION: The sponsoring academic department may require additional information from faculty applicants provided these requirements are congruent with the requirements placed on applicants for part-time faculty positions on campus.
Nominations will be submitted to the Office of Dual Credit and that office will screen all applicants for compliance with CBHE and university criteria for dual credit and off-campus faculty. Qualified nominations will then be submitted to the subject academic department for review. The process of review and appointment for each department will be the same as for the appointment of any part-time faculty member.
The department chair or designee will advise the Office of Dual Credit in writing of departmental action, and where a dual credit instructor is approved, written notification should be in the form of a letter of appointment that will become part of the dual credit faculty member's permanent personnel file. The Office of Dual Credit will advise the high school of the final disposition on faculty nominations.
Faculty Orientation
An on-campus orientation will be scheduled at the beginning of each school year by the Office of Dual Credit for all departmental faculty, dual credit faculty, and program administrators. This orientation will serve the two-fold purposes of updating faculty and staff on new and amended dual credit policies and procedures and will additionally serve as an interactive session for dual credit faculty and their faculty counterparts from the academic department. Attendance by university faculty, high school teachers, and an administrator from each participating high school is required.
On-Site Supervision
Each coordinating university faculty member is required to visit his/her assigned dual credit instructor at least once during the active delivery of the dual credit course and is encouraged to visit on-site for up to one visit per semester hour of credit being awarded. On-site visits should include but are not restricted to:
observation of teaching delivery, review of course syllabus, and review of in-class and external support materials.
Faculty Evaluation
Sponsoring university academic departments are responsible for conducting student evaluations of dual credit faculty in the same manner as is conducted for any part-time or regular faculty member. In accordance with university policy, faculty evaluations will be administered in a secure manner without direct handling by the teacher under evaluation, and it is recommended that evaluations be proctored by the high school administration with results mailed or otherwise delivered back to the academic department. Each academic department is responsible for maintaining records of annual dual credit faculty evaluations and for verifying compliance to the Provost via those records. The Office of Dual Credit will be apprized of any faculty evaluations that suggest a performance that might be deemed detrimental to the Dual Credit program.
Faculty Professional Development
Sponsoring university academic departments may recommend or require additional professional development activities for dual credit faculty provided these are consistent with activities expected of all adjunct and part-time faculty.
Assessment of Student Performance
Where standardized tests are used to evaluate student progress on an on-campus course, whether periodically during the semester or as a comprehensive examination, the same instrument or instruments will be used to assess student progress in dual credit courses. In courses where no standardized testing procedure is established, assessment strategies must be the result of a collaborative effort between the on-campus coordinating faculty member and high school teacher. It is the responsibility of the coordinating faculty member to ensure that assessment instruments used for dual credit students as equivalent to those used for on-campus students in the same course.
Grading Procedures
High school dual credit students receive a separate grade for high school and college credit purposes, and the procedures and standards need not be congruent; however, it is required that dual credit students be graded for college-level work using the same standards as are used in the same course on campus. Grading procedures and standards should be discussed by high school faculty and coordinating faculty before the implementation of the dual credit course.
Upon the completion of a dual credit course, the high school faculty will assign grades on-line using their Southeast Faculty Key. For more information on Southeast Keys, visithttp://www6.semo.edu/infotech
Trasnferability of Credit
Southeast Credit: Credit earned by any high school student in an approved dual credit course is automatically recorded on the student's official university transcript as university credit and is not considered transfer credit. Academic departments may not require further proof of competency beyond those required for the completion of the dual credit course.
Credit from Other Missouri Institutions: Southeast Missouri State University will accept dual credit as transfer credit from any Missouri institution that has been certified by CBHE as being in compliance with the Board's "Policy Guidelines," and the amount of transfer credit acceptable under this condition is set at five courses. Students who transfer credit equivalent to EN 100: English Composition, MA 134 College Algebra, MA 133: Plane Trigonometry, or MA 140: Analytical Geometry and Calculus I will not be required to demonstrate competency via the university's standard placement examinations but will be eligible for the next higher-level course in the discipline. The same equivalency standards as established by the University Registrar for a given Missouri institution will be applied to that institution's dual credit.
Evidence for Policy Compliance
Student Eligibility
For each student, high schools will provide the grade point average for dual credit students, and the Office of Dual Credit will be responsible for screening all dual credit applicants for and for maintaining g.p.a. records as well as the record of principal's / designee's recommendation. Where applicable, the Office of Dual Credit will also maintain records of specific placement exam scores for dual credit students for purposes of enrollment screening and policy compliance.
Course Schedule
The Office of Dual Credit will maintain a permanent record of all dual credit offerings that will include the high school faculty and university coordinating faculty.
Student Assessment
The university will maintain a permanent record of all dual credit course assessment strategies and/or final examinations as appropriate to demonstrate compliance with the CBHE policy requiring duplication of learning experience between high school and on-campus offerings. The academic department is charged with maintaining the necessary records for demonstration of compliance. The following procedures will apply:
Standardized tests developed by the university academic departments will be maintained under secure conditions by the department or Office of Testing Services in accordance with established procedures.
Non standardized assessment instruments, i.e., tests and exams developed for one-time use within a specific course, will be maintained in the permanent files of the academic department.
Faculty Qualifications: The Office of Dual Credit will maintain personnel files for all dual credit faculty. Each file will contain the teacher's resume, college transcripts, and the letter of appointment by the academic department.