Graduate Catalog Overview

These policies appear on pp 70-71 in Old Dominion University's 2002-2004 Catalog. Seven experiential options are listed in the catalog; the four appearing below are the most frequently requested:

Experiential Learning Credit Options at the Graduate Level
Old Dominion University offers a program for assessing college-level knowledge gained through work and life experience and self study. Students should meet with their advisors to determine how experiential learning credit affects their degree planning. A student may earn a maximum of six semester hours at the graduate level through the following mechanisms:

Knowledge-Based Examinations
Upon approval of the student's graduate program director and the appropriate chair and/or dean of the college involved, a student may take a knowledge-based examination, and with a satisfactory score, receive academic credit for the course(s).

External Examinations
Upon approval of the student's graduate program director and the appropriate chair and/or dean of the college involved, a student may submit satisfactory scores of professional examinations that are evaluated and recommended for graduate-level credit by the American Council of Education, and receive academic credit for the relevant course(s).

Credit for Training
Upon approval of the student's graduate program director and the appropriate chair and/or dean of the college involved, a student may submit documentation of completion of professional and/or military training that is evaluated and recommended for graduate-level credit by the American Council on Education, and receive academic credit for the relevant course(s).

Portfolio Development
Upon approval of the student's graduate program director and the appropriate chair and/or dean of the college involved, a student may develop a portfolio for a graduate-level course(s) offered by Old Dominion University to earn academic credit. Portfolios are submitted to the director of experiential learning and assessed for credit by the appropriate department and/or college involved. For further details on the procedure and fees for portfolio development, see the section of this Catalog on Experiential Learning Credit Options at the Undergraduate Level.

The following regulations for experiential learning credit will apply:

1. That experiential learning credit be granted upon the written recommendation of the student's graduate program director and the chair of the department/school (or designated faculty assessor) having jurisdiction over the courses involved.
2. That applicability of experiential learning credit toward a specific degree program is subject to departmental/school approval.
3. That a student may not fail a course at Old Dominion University and later receive credit for the same course through an experiential learning option.
4. That a student may not enroll in a course at Old Dominion University for credit or audit and subsequently seek credit in that course through an experiential learning option.
5. That no letter grades be entered on the student's transcript for experiential learning credit, but that this credit be treated in the same way as transfer credit with "Pass" (P) and not be counted in the student's grade point average.
6. That a student request experiential learning credit as early as possible upon admission to degree status. A student must meet with the degree program advisor and the director of experiential learning at the beginning of his or her academic career at Old Dominion University to determine how the experiential learning program may be applicable to the degree.
7. That satisfactory scores for knowledge-based examinations and professional examinations are determined by the appropriate department/school and/or dean of the college involved.
8. That necessary documentation for academic credit for professional training is determined by the appropriate department/school and/or dean of the college involved.
9. That no credit toward a graduate degree may be obtained by correspondence study.
10. That a maximum of six semester hours of graduate credit may be earned through experiential learning mechanisms. The six hours is included in the maximum number of graduate credits that may be transferred into a graduate program at Old Dominion University. The student must meet the minimum residency requirements of Old Dominion University and program requirements of the degree. The student must be aware of individual degree program requirements.
11. A student in a certificate or endorsement area may earn a maximum of six credit hours through experiential learning credit to apply to a certificate, endorsement or teacher licensure program. Experiential learning hours gained in these programs would be applicable to approved degree programs at Old Dominion University. In an approved graduate degree program at Old Dominion University, a graduate student who has earned six credit hours in a certificate or endorsement program that is applicable to the degree program has met the maximum number of experiential learning credit hours. No additional experiential learning credit may be applied to that graduate degree program.