Introduction
Artios Christian College’s curriculum follows academic best-practices and standards such as providing syllabi for each course with clear instructional objectives, providing a schedule of assignments for each course, meeting a minimum number of contact hours and hours-on-task for students, the use of grading rubrics, teacher training, providing reporting and grievance mechanisms for students, and maintaining documentation of courses well after they are completed. This is a robust and worthwhile academic program.
The staff of Artios also recognize that learning can come from a variety of sources outside of this typical college setting. In the interest of awarding students credit for work that is documented and demonstrable, which can serve in making them worthwhile leaders and ministers in the church, Artios offers an Alternative Learning Transfer (ALT) Credit Program.
This program is intended to grant credit towards a Bachelor degree from Artios and must be paired with earning an Associates of Christian Leadership through Artios in the typical way. Students may not be able to earn all of the credits needed solely by this transfer program to be granted a Bachelor degree from Artios.
The details of this program are shared below.
Training/Work that Will Be and Will Not Be Considered for Transfer
Work that can be considered for credit at Artios must generally meet these three thresholds: 1) The training/work must be documented in some way, 2) it must be highly-skilled, 3) it must be equivalent in rigor to college-level learning outcomes.
To be considered for credit, the work/training must be documented in some way. Simply working on a job for several years does not qualify. There must be some documentation that training occurred to develop mastery in a highly-skilled field. Documentation can be demonstrated through a training procedure with sign-offs from a supervisor, a certification program, an online training program, classroom documentation, academy attendance, etc. However, simply attending seminars, with no personal evaluation, will not be accepted as documentation as it doesn’t demonstrate mastery. Complete projects in the given field which are well-documented, can be considered.
“Highly-skilled” generally means that it takes specific training over months or years to develop the proper skills for the job. Frequently, extended supervision and evaluation is required in order to gain mastery. Usually, a distinct training program with standards is already employed and typically ends in a certification. A job that is skilled, but not highly-skilled, might receive on-the-job training in a few days and need no further supervision to achieve mastery. “Highly-skilled” also typically means the individual completes whole tasks/projects personally, rather than in a group (crew) who is responsible for the task and includes people with varying levels of experience and skill.
For example, a mason with classroom training and evaluation, who completes a wall in concrete block including prep, construction, and finishing without help from another, is a highly-skilled worker. However, someone who mows lawns exclusively, or works on a roofing crew, or works in similar positions, will generally not be considered for college credit with Artios. Though these are hard jobs, they require very little training and are not highly-skilled jobs.
Some more examples: an electrician, arborist, heavy equipment operator, carpenter, auto body painter or mechanic, or the foreman of work crews generally meet these three requirements in their work. These positions generally have training (often including certifications), are highly-skilled—taking years of practice—and these trades have robust learning objectives similar to college programs. As a result, they would be considered for credit through Artios’ Alternative Learning Transfer Credit Program.
However, consideration for credit does not guarantee receiving credit with Artios. The decision to grant credit and the amount is at the sole discretion of the Artios Dean of Academic Affairs.
| Will be Considered for Credit | Will Not be Considered |
|---|---|
| Management of a Lawn Care Business, including leadership, taxes, registering the business, licensing, bonding, insuring | Mowing Lawns |
| Designing sprinkler systems with calculations, according to code, with plans and proof of work | Installing a sprinkler system on a crew |
| Being a certified arborist | Planting or trimming trees on a crew, but not being an arborist |
| Managing a roofing company (business practices) | Being on a roofing crew |
| Managing a road crew (leadership and administration) | Being on a road crew |
| Being a certified heavy equipment operator or having a Commercial Driver’s License | Operating heavy equipment without certifications, driving your pickup truck to haul things or plow roads |
| Completing a documented Police or Fire Academy | Volunteering in a Community Outreach or Auxiliary Position, or volunteer firefighter with no training or documentation/certifications |
| Being a certified HVAC technician | Helping a certified HVAC tech, but not training to be one |
| Culinary Arts Training in an institution | Being a cook at a fast-food restaurant |
| Military-based training school for most MOS’s |
Training Programs To be Considered
This is a sample list of training programs that could be considered for alternative credit, although some of these may have been earned through a college and could therefore be submitted under the regular transfer credit method.
Arts and Humanities
Including: Art, Writing, Communication, Dance, Film, Foreign Languages, Music, Photography, Speech, Theater
Business, Technology, and Professional Studies
Including: Clinical Pastoral Education, Certified Counselor, Business Management, Marketing, Human Resources, Graphic Design, Sound Engineering, Information Technology, Cyber Security, Coding and App Design, Project Management, Real Estate, Public Service Administration, Funeral Director
Trades
Documented training in trades including: Electrician, Plumbing, HVAC, Carpentry, Masonry, Certified Arborist, Mechanic or Collision Repair, Welding, Machinist/Fabrication/Ferrier, Culinary Arts, Paramedic/EMT, Fire Academy, Police Academy, Military trade school for your MOS
Basic General Education Core
In addition to needing to earn an Associate of Christian Leadership from Artios, most students will need to have the Basic General Education Core. This includes two college writing/composition courses, either a psychology or sociology course, one college math course, and one history course. Students can demonstrate competency through examination on any of these courses or transfer them from another institution.
Fee schedule
Since the process to consider alternative credit includes investigative and evaluative work by the Dean of Academic Affairs and other staff members at Artios, there is a cost to submitting any materials for transfer credit consideration, whether the credit is approved or not. Artios attempts to complete these evaluations as efficiently as possible. Below is the cost for each kind of credit.
- For well-known Professional Certifications (Journeyman Electrician, Certified Arborist, Commercial Driver’s License, ASE Mechanic, etc.)
- $50 per credit hour considered
- Up to $500 for a year of work on the job or an extensive certification
- For lesser known, obscure certifications, which must be looked into more
- $75 per credit hour considered
- For portfolio work (completed projects with documentation, on-the job-training, etc.)
- $100 per credit hour considered
- Up to $750 per project/skill type assessed
- For credit earned by examination (through a reputable agency (e.g. CLEP, ACE), as determined by Artios)
- $50 per test considered
- Up to $250 per skill-type
Documentation of Credit and/or Submission of Portfolio
Students who wish to have training/work considered for Alternative Learning Transfer (ALT) Credit with Artios can submit any documentation relating to their work. This should include:
- Copies of Professional Certifications
- Copies of Job Training documentation
- Copies of courses completed with course objectives (students may be asked to provide their coursework as well)
- Copies of attendance at trainings and their evaluation metrics
In the absence of any other documentation (such as for self-employed work), a student may submit a portfolio of their trade-based work with descriptions, statistics, photographs, work-orders, permit approvals, and any other relevant information that effectively demonstrates their mastery of that trade. Acceptance of the portfolio and determination of its value in credit is left solely to the discretion of the Artios Dean of Academic Affairs, who may consult with trade professionals in the evaluation.
Students may also demonstrate competencies by taking placement courses or tests through an organization like the American Council on Education (acenet.edu) and provide the results with their portfolio.
For this process, include anything which documents training and mastery of the skills of the job.
How Credits will be Determined and Applied
In general, any approved training/work will be evaluated based on the hours of classroom-equivalent instruction divided by four. This is similar to how classroom credit is calculated in colleges, with 40 hours of instruction resulting in 3 or 4 hours of credit. Artios uses the 4-credit based quarter system, thus the use of 4.
Full-time work in a trade, after training, may be evaluated at around 28 credit hours per year, similar to being a full-time college student.
Transfer credit amounts and where they are applied will be up to the sole discretion of the Artios Dean of Academic Affairs.