Important Note: This article discusses classic functionality. For information on the modern applicant experience, refer to the Applicant Experience Knowledgebase article.

This article covers course and credit equivalency prior to the Terra Dotta Study Abroad release of the Applicant Experience. This classic Credit Equivalency Request (CER) functionality is not supported in the Applicant Experience. For information on the most current functionality supporting a fully electronic course approval experience in Terra Dotta Study Abroad, refer to the Course Approvals Knowledgebase article. 

This article covers the following topics related to the Credit Equivalency Request (CER) functionality:

• Getting Started with the Course Management System
• The Applicant View
• Building a Foreign Course Catalog
• Building a Home Course Catalog
• Managing Home Courses
• Managing Credit Equivalency Requests

Getting Started with the Course Management System

Terra Dotta provides a mechanism for managing course information for credit transfers. This functionality allows administrators to add courses and standardize course information for credit equivalencies. The following permissions are associated with the course management system:

• Application admin: credit transfer (view)
• ​Application admin: credit transfer (add)
• Application admin: credit transfer (edit)
• Application admin: credit transfer (delete)
• Program builder: foreign courses
• ​Process admin: home courses
• System settings: system features

To enable the course database and credit equivalency request functionality, navigate to Settings > System Features > Features Tab. 

The following configuration options appear:

• Course Database and CER Forms: Checking this box will turn on this functionality.

• CER Form Application Requirement: Checking this box will enable the credit equivalency request form option on applicable applicant’s applications.The credit form is not a requirement on applications. It is optional. Administrators should provide instructions in the application instructions section to inform the student to complete this form. 

• Applicant Entry of Home Course for CER: Checking this box will enable Options 1 and 3 on the applicant’s Credit Equivalency Request screen. Option 1 allows the applicant to select a home course that has been designated as an equivalent to the foreign course. Option 3 lets the applicant search for and select a course from the home course database that has not yet been designated as an equivalent for the foreign course.

• Applicant Entry-Grade: Checking the appropriate boxes allows applicants to either enter a grade for their foreign course or home course.Typically this feature is disabled because institutions do not allow applicants to self-report grades. Administrators will be able to report a grade for the foreign or home course on behalf of the student with this feature disabled.

• Applicant Entry-Unstandardized Course: Checking the appropriate boxes allows applicants to either enter foreign courses or home courses manually.

• Applicant Entry-Credit: Checking the appropriate box allows applicants to provide the number of credits for which they would like a foreign or home course to count. 

• CER Form Schedule-Open: Determines when the applicant can start and submit a credit equivalency request. For example, if App Creation is selected, the applicant will be able to see the credit equivalency request panel on their application. They will be able to submit a credit equivalency request form upon App Creation.

• CER Form Schedule-Due: Determines when the applicant will no longer be able to submit a credit equivalency form. For example, if the Program End Date is selected, the applicant will have up to the program end date to submit their credit equivalency request form. Past the program end date, applicants will not be able to submit a credit equivalency request form.

• Custom Course Field #1: You can define this additional field (Major, Department, School, etc). This field will be available for applicants to search for home courses. This search field is also available to administrators when adding or editing foreign or home courses.

• Custom Course Field #2:  You can define this additional field (Major, Department, School, etc). This field will be available for applicants to search for home courses. This search field is also available to administrators when adding or editing foreign or home courses.

 

The Applicant View

Applicant View: Course Search

The "Course Search" tab will allow applicants to search your institution’s home course database. They can use the results of this search to select a home course and find programs that offer foreign course equivalents.

You can enable the course search tab by going to Settings > System Features > Programs tab > Program Listings. Check the box next to "Course Search" under the "Enable" column.  Click "Update" to save your changes.
 

 

When the applicant clicks the search button, they will be presented with a results list. On the results page, the applicant will be able to expand the home course(s) available in the results to find more information. Clicking on the magnifying glass under the "Actions" column will take the applicant to the program with an equivalent foreign course.
 

  

 

Applicant View: Program Brochure

If enabled, applicants can view a list of foreign courses available for this specific program. “Courses Offered” does necessarily mean that these are pre-approved foreign courses or that this is a complete list of all foreign courses available at the program abroad. Each institution would determine how this is presented to students and customize the text by using the text interface tool.  
 

 

Applicant View: Application

When the credit equivalency request form is enabled, applicants will see a new panel appear on their application called "Credit Equivalency". This panel will appear based on the schedule an administrator defined under Settings > System Features > Features Tab.
  

  

To access the credit equivalency form, students must perform the following steps:

1) The applicant will click "Credit Equivalency Form" in the "Credit Equivalency" panel on the application page. It opens the Credit Equivalency page.

2) Note that if there is a Credit Equivalency Request already created for this course, the page displays it. If not, the page asks you to enter a New Credit Equivalency Request.

3) To create a New Credit Equivalency Request, click "New Equivalency Request" at the top-left side of the page. This opens the Credit Equivalency Form page.

4) Select the foreign course from the drop-down list box and click "Next". If the course is not available in the list, select the "Other: Not Listed" option. It opens a new form on the same page where you can enter the name of the course.

5) Enter the credit for the course selected in Step 4 in the Credits text box (if this requirement has been enabled on System Features page; the applicant may also be asked to provide a grade if it has been enabled on System Features page).

  

  

6) Click Next. The next screen enables you to find a home course that is equivalent to the foreign course selected by you.

7) Select any one option to find a home course. The options are the following:

• Option 1: Show Equivalent Course: The applicant selects an equivalent home course, if available. Home courses appearing in this selection list were previously designated as equivalents by an administrator. It is possible for a foreign course to have no equivalent home course
• Option 2: Enter Custom Course: If “unstandardized” is enabled under Settings > System Features, the applicant will be allowed to manually enter a home course code and title.
• Option 3: Search Home Courses: The applicant can select a home course after searching the course database that an administrator as pre-loaded.

If "Applicant entry of home courses" is enabled under System Features, all three of these options will automatically appear. If no courses are available under Option 1 or under Option 3, a message will instruct the applicant to make another selection. If manual entry of home courses has been disabled, a message will say that the feature has been disabled.
  

 

The applicant will click next after selecting a foreign course and an equivalent home course, and the Credit Equivalency page will open. It shows the details that the applicant has entered on the previous screens. 

The student has the ability to change the details of the course as long as an administrator has not changed the CER status to submitted or approved. For the student to change the details of the course, click the edit pencil icon located to the right of the course name. It takes you back to the previous screen where you can change the details. To delete the course, click the red 'X' located to the right of the course name. A dialog box appears asking you to confirm the action. Click OK to proceed or Cancel to ignore the action.

To Print the Credit Equivalency Request (CER) Form, click Print CER Form tab located at the bottom of the page. The form opens in a new window.  The applicant can then take the printed CER Form to the appropriate person to sign.  If the applicant has entered multiple courses, each course will be printed on a separate page. 

The applicant can edit the CER Form until an administrator has moved it into the Submitted or Approved status, after which the CER Form may no longer be edited by the student.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the applicant enter a foreign course that is not listed in the drop down menu?

Yes, go to Settings > System Features > Features tab and check the box for foreign course next to the Applicant Entry Unstandardized Course. Enabling this feature will create an additional option, “Other Not Listed” for the applicant to select.

Is it possible to print the entire CER form on one page?

No

How do I change the instructions found on the CER form?

Go to Process > Home Courses > CER Form Text tab and enter your instructions inside the WYSIWYG editor.  

How do you determine what parameters appear at the top of the CER Form?

Go to Process > Home Courses > CER Form Text tab. At the bottom of the page you can select the appropriate check boxes next to the parameters you would like to include at the top of the CER Form.

How can I make the CER Form program specific?

To make the CER program specific, perform the following steps:

• Go to Process > Home Courses > CER Programs tab.
• Next to "Does this apply to all programs?", select No.
• Select the programs that should have the CER. 
• Click the "Update" button to save changes.

 

Building a Foreign Course Catalog

 A Foreign Course Catalog is a list of courses offered at a foreign location. If the available foreign courses are known, the administrator will need to transfer all of the foreign course information into their Terra Dotta site which can be done via the import tool or manually. These options are outlined below.

Option 1: Import/Export Tool

• Maintenance > Import/Export Tool
• Select the Course Data Template
  • The following article explains the required columns for importing your course database:
    • Data Import/Export Utilities
    • Note: Linking a foreign course to an equivalent home course cannot be done by batch import and must be done manually

To differentiate a home course from a foreign course in the Course Data Template, the Program ID column should be left blank or omitted in a Home Course template. A further differentiation is made when you go to import the course data; you must select a data type and will be asked to specify either Foreign Courses or Home Courses.   

Option 2: Add a Foreign Course Manually

• Programs  > Search > Edit a Program.  
• Inside the program builder, click the Foreign Course tab.  
• To add a new foreign course, one by one, click Add New Course. 
• Provide the foreign course code, name, hours, etc. 
• Select the equivalent home course at the bottom of page. Select the equivalent home course from the available courses column and move it to the selected courses column. 
• Click update to save your changes. Once you click Save, the foreign course is considered standardized and will appear in a pre-populated list for the applicant to select from.  

If you have imported foreign courses, you will have to come to the program builder and manually select the equivalent home course. The equivalent home course is not included in the import template

   
 

• Select the Course Data Template
  • NOTE:  This template is used for importing either home or foreign courses.  For example, one template would include only home courses, and a separate template would include foreign courses only.  In the template, the ‘Program ID’ column is used only for foreign courses.  The program ID identifies the outgoing program that a particular foreign course should be associated with.  When importing home courses, you would leave the ‘Program ID’ column blank or remove the column entirely. 
  • This article explains the required columns for importing your course database: Data Import/Export Utilities

Option 2: Add Home Course One by One

• Process > Home Courses > Add New Course

• Code: Course Code
• Title: Name of Course
• Hours: Number of Credit Hours
• Active: If this box is left unchecked then this course will not appear in the public course search.
• Major: Custom Course Field #1.  This field can be renamed under Settings > System Features > Features > Custom Course Field #1.
• Department: Custom Course Field #2.  This field can be renamed under Settings > System Features > Features > Custom Course Field #2.
• Approved By: Name of person who approved this course. This is for information only.  Does not trigger any functionality.
• Date of Authorization:  Date this course was approved. This is for information only.  Does not trigger any functionality. Best Practice: Run an audit on your programs by exporting all home courses once a year and review authorization and expiration dates.  You can then remove any home courses that are not offered anymore or update existing courses.– See Updating Home Course Catalog section.
• Date of Expiration:  Date this course expires.  This is for information only. Does not trigger any functionality.  Courses will not fall off the approved list automatically when the expiration date is reached.  You can use this date to run an audit of the programs in the system – See Updating Home Course Catalog section.
• Keywords: List words that describe the course. Students can then use the keywords to narrow down their search. NOTE: There are limits to the number of characters that can be entered. This section is limited to 500 characters.
• Restrictions: This field is view-able by the student and is often used to distinguish prerequisites. NOTE: There are limits to the number of characters that can be entered. This section is limited to 2000 characters.
• Comments: Internal use only. NOTE: There are limits to the number of characters that can be entered.  This section is limited to 2000 characters.
• Attached Docs: You can attach a new document to the course by clicking the Attach New Document button. It opens the Attach Document window, where you can select a document or provide a path for it.  For example, a course syllabus. NOTE: Applicants do not have the capability to attach documents.
• External URL: You can provide a URL to an external site that provides more details about the course. For example, link to a foreign university’s course catalog. NOTE:  Applicants do not have the capability to provide additional information such as a URL

Updating the Home Course Catalog

Once your home course catalog is built, you may need to update it. You can use the Data Import/Export tool to update your Home Course Catalog. 

• Maintenance > Import/Export Tool
• Update existing home courses
  • Best Practice: Run an audit on your programs by exporting all home courses once a year and review authorization and expiration date.  You can modify the details of a home course and update it by re-importing the file. To export all home courses, go to Maintenance > Import/Export Tool and select Home Courses from the Bulk Export of Data menu and click the Export button.  The export will download and open in Excel.
  • This article explains the required columns for importing your course database: Data Import/Export Utilities
    • Note: This template is used for both home and foreign courses. 

Frequently Asked Questions

If I delete a course from the import file will it change past equivalencies submitted?

No, deleting a course from the import file does not remove the course from the database. You can deactivate courses through the import/export tool or manually delete them if the red X is available under the actions column.

If a course is submitted on a CER form, the course will be locked and you will NOT be able to delete it. 

Managing Home Courses

Standardized Tab

On this tab, you can add a new Home Course by clicking the “Add New Course” button. To view a list of all existing home courses in the system that were added by an administrator, simply click the Search button at the bottom of this page. Home courses listed under the Standardized tab were entered by an administrator or, in the case of unstandardized courses, entered by an applicant and later corrected or approved by an administrator.

Unstandardized Tab

Home Courses listed here were manually entered by the applicants when they provided the Credit Equivalency Request. Unstandardized courses may have spelling errors or other idiosyncrasies that need to be corrected. To correct an unstandardized course, click the edit pencil on the right hand side under the actions column. Once the unstandardized course is corrected, there are two options to standardize it. 

• Option 1: Apply Checked to Selected Course
  • This will update the applicant’s credit equivalency request with an existing (standardized) home course.
• Option 2: Apply Checked as New Home Course
  • This will create a new standardized home course for the requested value (Unstandardized course) the student entered.

  
Best Practice: Review any home courses submitted under the Unstandardized tab.  Correct any spelling errors or other idiosyncrasies and standardize the course. This will provide the most up to date information to the administrator approving applicant’s credit equivalency requests under Applicant Admin > Application Overview.

Manage Multiselect Field 1 (Custom Course Field #1)

 You can access this option by clicking the field's tab on the Home Courses page. Here you can add, edit, and delete available options for this field. The name of this field (such as Major, Department, or School) is defined under Settings > System Features > Features tab by an administrator. This field is used by students to search for home courses. To add a new value to the picklist, provide the name in the space provided and click New Multiselect 1 or in this example New Major at the top of the page.
 

 

Manage Multiselect Field 2 (Custom Course Field #2)

You can access this option by clicking the field's tab on the Home Courses page. Here you can add, edit, and delete available options for this field. The name of this field (such as Major, Department, or School) is defined on the System Features page under Settings menu by an administrator. This field is used by students to search for home courses. To add a new value to the picklist, provide the name in the space provided and click New Multiselect 2 or in this example New Department at the top of the page.

 

CER Form Text

The CER form is a printable form that you create within a WYSIWYG content area. Depending on your institution's requirements, the form would instruct the applicant to obtain approval of the credit equivalencies. Typically, this would involve obtaining third-party signatures for which you would provide signature lines.

There is also an area where you can select which applicant parameters, if any, you wish to appear at the top of the form.

 

CER Programs

The CER Programs tab allows you to specify the applicant type, terms and programs to which the credit equivalency request functionality should apply.

 

Home Courses Video

Managing Credit Equivalency Requests

Simple Search (Individual Applications)

Go to Applicants > Search and search for an applicant by name. Click on the program name to open this individual application. Next, click the Credit Transfer tab. Review the credit equivalency request form(s) that the student submitted.

Note: Administrators have the option to correct the CER Form submitted by the student by clicking the edit pencil, however, this should only be done to select the appropriate foreign course or equivalent home course.  

Best Practice: If the equivalent home course name is misspelled or the course code is incorrect, an administrator should correct this by going to Process > Home Courses > Standardized / Unstandardized tab.  

Best Practice: If the foreign course name is misspelled or the course code is incorrect, an administrator should correct this by going to the Program Builder > Foreign Course tab > Standardized / Unstandardized tab .
 

 

A CER Form may have one of three statuses. 

• In Progress – means pending and the request is still editable by the applicant.  This status is assigned by default to newly created CER forms.
• Submitted – when this status is assigned to a CER Form by an administrator, it blocks the applicant from making any further changes.  This status is used when the CER form is under review.
• Approved – means the CER form has been accepted.

NOTE: Statuses are customizable through the text interface tool.  
Here are the Text Interface ID numbers for the three statuses of a CER form:

• Text ID #150 : In Progress
• Text ID #151 : Submitted
• Text ID #152 : Approved

NOTE: If the student has submitted more than one credit equivalency request, administrators can assign a status to each request.

NOTE: There is no way to deny a request.  Administrators can edit the request and select the appropriate home and/or foreign course.  Administrators can also approve the request but they cannot deny it.

Querying for CER Forms

Applicants > Advanced Search.  Select application parameters and click next.  On the following page you can define the criteria of what you are searching for.  You will have the ability to query for applications that contain a CER form with a specific status.
  

NOTE: Currently, there is no report ability for CER forms.   You will have to open the Credit Transfer tab on the application overview page for each application.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I track students who have completed all equivalencies?

Create an application tag to apply to those specific applications.  You can then query for that application tag.

Is there a way an administrator can be notified of a new Credit Equivalency Request?

Yes, you can create/save a query that searches for a CER status of ‘In Progress.’ Then set up a query watch to run based on this saved query.