ACTFL / LTI courses expire today, 11/30/18

[rvm]

If you're registered to take the ACE-approved exams for credit from LTI (https://www.languagetesting.com), be aware they expire with ACE today, 11/30/18.  I called LTI earlier this week - Monday or Tuesday.  Of course, like all almost all companies, they passed the buck and told me that ACE was wrong and had not updated their database and that I needed to complain to ACE.  

I called ACE and spoke with someone whom I know be knowledgeable as I have spoken to that same person in the past.  He assured me that all of ACTFL/LTI Foreign Language exams which show in the ACE database as expiring today (11/30/18), are indeed expiring today.  He also said ACE had notified LTI (ACTFL - stated in the ACE course database as American Council on Teaching Foreign Language).    

I called back to LTI and spoke with a different person who seemed to know a bit more but was still very confused because she said their course are not expiring and can be taken anytime.  I explained multiple times that their courses are expiring through ACE and if I register for an exam but do not take that exam by tonight (11/30/18 - yes, I keep stating this date because someone will come here and ask about date), no matter how well I score on their exam, I will not receive any credit through because the exams expire today with ACE.  

That was one of the most frustrating conversations I've ever had.  It took over 15 minutes to explain the situation.  That was after asking at least a couple of times, to speak to their rep who handles their ACE exams.

After she finally understood the problem, she proceeded to tell that was an ACE problem and I needed to contact ACE.  I was getting really furious but trying to keep my cool because I realized she just did not know what H@LL she was talking about, nor did anyone else at LTI.

After reiterating that it is NOT an ACE problem, she finally advised me to submit a ticket to their support team and ask it to be forwarded to her supervisor.  I won't mention any names as I feel like that is not needed at this time and doesn't really solve anything.

Yesterday, I received an email from the super saying they were looking into the issue and would get back to me.  

At 1:45pm EST today (11/30/18 - there's that date again - please pay attention to it and don't ask about the date of expiration), the ACE database is still showing these exams expire today!

My analysis of the problem.  The person at LTI who was originally responsible for getting the exams certified/approved by ACE, is no longer in that job.  LTI either has no one doing that job, someone who is new at that job or someone who is completely overloaded and has no time for the ACE exams.

Second analysis:  This is not the first nor the second nor the humteenth time a company has let their ACE courses or exams expire - sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally.  Once ACE sends a notification to a company, it doesn't seem like they follow up.  If they do follow up, it's inadequate.  ACE needs a rep whose sole job is company retention.  After all, that's where the bulk of ACE's income is derived, seemingly.  Why isn't more important to ACE?

Hey ACE, I'm unemployed right now and need to work 5-10 hours per week so I can have some income to finish my last few classes and graduate.  Pay me a reasonable amount and I will fix this problem for you!

Everyone who is registered to take LTI / ACTFL exams for ACE after today, you're SOL as of this moment - unless they do something before the close of business today.  Reschedule and reschedule fast.  And call LTI and complain.  They are scheduling people to take these exams in December, yet they are not ACE-approved for December.  

The price for 30 credits is over $460.  Is LTI going to give you credit for false advertising?  They sure as heck cannot give you ACE credit.  What will it be LTI???

Tell your fellow tester.  I hate to see people lose money!

[dfrecore]

LTI/ACTFL is not only about ACE. Many many people use the exams for something else (namely, to show their employer or potential employer that they have the knowledge). Your main issue is that you're trying to talk to regular employees there who are not familiar with ACE and their exams being used for college credit. There is probably 1 person or a small team who deal with ACE at that company, no one else has a clue.

[rvm]

LTI/ACTFL is not only about ACE.  Many many people use the exams for something else (namely, to show their employer or potential employer that they have the knowledge).  Your main issue is that you're trying to talk to regular employees there who are not familiar with ACE and their exams being used for college credit.  There is probably 1 person or a small team who deal with ACE at that company, no one else has a clue.

Dfrecore, I agree LTI is more than ACE exams.  And it does seem like a small company.  That's why I asked several times to speak with the rep who handles ACE.  If I'm working at a job where I do XYZ and I know little about ACE and the person on the other end of the phone is repeatedly asking for the ACE rep, I'm going to put them in touch with that employee.  And if that employee isn't available, I'm going to escalate this until I can find someone to help that caller - who is a potential customer for my company.  Knowing there are only 4 days to go until my ACE exams expire and there are many folks registered already, to take exams in December, I'm going to do whatever it takes to solve this problem, right now.  

Perhaps the online schedule tool doesn't differentiate between the ACE exams and non-ACE exams.  Without the ability to determine that variable and knowing I could not schedule my Spanish exams at least until the 6th of December, it seems reasonable to assume some of the persons who have scheduled exams after 11/30/18, are taking exams for which they hope to receive ACE credit.

The folks I spoke with at LTI were very cordial.  They were concerned about the ACE situation but not enough to solve the problem with the speed at which I feel they should have.

I think LTI owes the customers, who have paid for and are scheduled to take ACE-exams after 11/30/18, some form of restitution: either a refund or the ability to reschedule (or retest at no additional cost) after LTI gets re-certified by ACE.

[dfrecore]

LTI/ACTFL is not only about ACE.  Many many people use the exams for something else (namely, to show their employer or potential employer that they have the knowledge).  Your main issue is that you're trying to talk to regular employees there who are not familiar with ACE and their exams being used for college credit.  There is probably 1 person or a small team who deal with ACE at that company, no one else has a clue.

Dfrecore, I agree LTI is more than ACE exams.  And it does seem like a small company.  That's why I asked several times to speak with the rep who handles ACE.  If I'm working at a job where I do XYZ and I know little about ACE and the person on the other end of the phone is repeatedly asking for the ACE rep, I'm going to put them in touch with that employee.  And if that employee isn't available, I'm going to escalate this until I can find someone to help that caller - who is a potential customer for my company.  Knowing there are only 4 days to go until my ACE exams expire and there are many folks registered already, to take exams in December, I'm going to do whatever it takes to solve this problem, right now.  

Perhaps the online schedule tool doesn't differentiate between the ACE exams and non-ACE exams.  Without the ability to determine that variable and knowing I could not schedule my Spanish exams at least until the 6th of December, it seems reasonable to assume some of the persons who have scheduled exams after 11/30/18, are taking exams for which they hope to receive ACE credit.

The folks I spoke with at LTI were very cordial.  They were concerned about the ACE situation but not enough to solve the problem with the speed at which I feel they should have.

I think LTI owes the customers, who have paid for and are scheduled to take ACE-exams after 11/30/18, some form of restitution: either a refund or the ability to reschedule (or retest at no additional cost) after LTI gets re-certified by ACE.

I would guess that the vast majority of people taking these exams are NOT for college credit.  Vast majority.

I agree that if something happened at my company, I would try to escalate it.  But I've also noticed that customer service is not what it used to be, and others don't have my work ethic.

[rvm]

True that "vast majority of people taking these exams are NOT for college credit", so it's probably not a priority for LTI.  I think that will change when people start asking for a refund or free retakes, even if it's only a few people.  That might be what's required to get LTI to take some action.

Lack of work ethic: Oh so sad but true!!  What has happened to our society?  That's a Pandora's box ... opened since day one but gotten exponentially worse in the few decades.  Our kids have grown up in a society where other person's needs don't matter so it's the norm for them.

[cookderosa]

I had a similarly frustrating conversation with a company (I'm going to leave their name out of the conversation because no one here is using them and they probably have google alerts set to instantly notifiy them if someone on the internet talks about them- but Dfrecore saw my communication with them, so she can verify)

Anyway, I bring this up because the company I interacted with was nearly identical to your experience here. I sent them a quick note asking if they were going to renew, and they sent me back PAGES AND PAGES in an email that INSISTS their ACE evaluation NEVER expires, that only their "listing in the ACE database" expires and that it's an expensive and unnecessary directory and that it has nothing to do with how colleges decide whether or not to accept their credit. .... confused, and against my better judgment, I replied and attempted to explain how / what the ACE evaluation was, but the resulting firehose of emails about "my misunderstanding" and their contracts and agreements and <blah blah blah> was about all that I could handle and I had to block them. In short, they are VERY confused about how their courses could be used/ received by colleges, the ACE process, and currently list on their website that their courses are "ACE Evaluated."

I continue to be surprised that I'm surprised about things like this, but how someone pays for ACE Evaluation, spends TONS of cash to be in the directory, and doesn't even understand what they are buying is beyond confusing to me. My best guess is that someone over at LTI does know what's up, but maybe the person who initiated the ACE eval doesn't work there anymore? I just had a thought, I wonder if ACE could provide the name of a contact at LTI? If they could provide a contact, you'll find the person who at the very least should understand what is expiring.... or, heaven forbid, it's run by the same clown I dealt with lol.

EDIT to add: I can't verify this, but one provider of NCCRS credit that I spoke to told me they were not pursuing ACE evaluation because it would cost his company $75,000. Now, is that true? I haven't any idea. Is that for a full catalog of courses, for 3 years of courses, for 1 course, for an initial set up??? Was that an exaggeration? Honestly, I have no clue- but if we assume for a moment that it could be true, a company with 20 classes for a 3 year eval pays $75k - that would require a serious commitment.

[ROYISAGIRL]

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

---

I didn't think it'd cost that much!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[rvm]

I had a similarly frustrating conversation with a company (I'm going to leave their name out of the conversation because no one here is using them and they probably have google alerts set to instantly notifiy them if someone on the internet talks about them- but Dfrecore saw my communication with them, so she can verify)

Anyway, I bring this up because the company I interacted with was nearly identical to your experience here.  I sent them a quick note asking if they were going to renew, and they sent me back PAGES AND PAGES in an email that INSISTS their ACE evaluation NEVER expires, that only their "listing in the ACE database" expires and that it's an expensive and unnecessary directory and that it has nothing to do with how colleges decide whether or not to accept their credit. .... confused, and against my better judgment, I replied and attempted to explain how / what the ACE evaluation was, but the resulting firehose of emails about "my misunderstanding" and their contracts and agreements and <blah blah blah>  was about all that I could handle and I had to block them.  In short, they are VERY confused about how their courses could be used/ received by colleges, the ACE process, and currently list on their website that their courses are "ACE Evaluated."

I continue to be surprised that I'm surprised about things like this, but how someone pays for ACE Evaluation, spends TONS of cash to be in the directory, and doesn't even understand what they are buying is beyond confusing to me.  My best guess is that someone over at LTI does know what's up, but maybe the person who initiated the ACE eval doesn't work there anymore?  I just had a thought, I wonder if ACE could provide the name of a contact at LTI?  If they could provide a contact, you'll find the person who at the very least should understand what is expiring....  or, heaven forbid, it's run by the same clown I dealt with lol.

EDIT to add:  I can't verify this, but one provider of NCCRS credit that I spoke to told me they were not pursuing ACE evaluation because it would cost his company $75,000.  Now, is that true? I haven't any idea.  Is that for a full catalog of courses, for 3 years of courses, for 1 course, for an initial set up???  Was that an exaggeration?  Honestly, I have no clue- but if we assume for a moment that it could be true, a company with 20 classes for a 3 year eval pays $75k - that would require a serious commitment.

Jen, seems like I remember reading another post about your experience.  How frustrating!  At least LTI is mostly ignoring me, except the short email I received saying they were looking into the issue.

A few things come to mind about the way ACE should be doing business with companies.  ACE should require one central ACE rep, as I'm sure they do, but they also should require at least one officer in the company who clearly understands ACE's policies and procedures to prevent this type of thing from happening.

On the other hand, if it actually does cost $75k to get ACE-certified, then why go to great lengths to get companies to pay fees for being continuously certified, when those fees are probably lower than a new certification - meaning more money for ACE when companies don't pay their bill at the end of 3 years.

Your suggestion about getting a name is a great one.  I did ask "Is there a particular person at LTI I could speak with about this?" but my question went unanswered.  I assumed I couldn't get a name due to privacy issues. 

This should be easy to solve if a responsible person at LTI would contact ACE.  Hopefully, LTI is doing their due diligence at this point and they'll get their certifications back soon.  Btw, I think the lady at LTI did want to solve this.  She tried to help, she just didn't know enough about the situation so she did the proper thing and escalated it to her supervisor.  

I still think ACE needs to hire me part-time to be their Corporate Business Retention Rep.  I would solve these problems proactively so there would not be any downtime for companies that want to continue to provide ACE-certified courses. ... Hello ACE.  Can you hear me now?  

[msganti]

one provider of NCCRS credit that I spoke to told me they were not pursuing ACE evaluation because it would cost his company $75,000

Same thing happened with http://www.iccp.org. Their exams expired in ACE database, and when I contacted them a while ago, they said ACE evaluation is an expensive affair and is not fitting in their budget. Their website still talk about their "business partner" (Excelsior College) grants a "substantial" credit for their exams, but there is no mention of them on Excelsior website or materials.

[rvm]

one provider of NCCRS credit that I spoke to told me they were not pursuing ACE evaluation because it would cost his company $75,000

Same thing happened with http://www.iccp.org. Their exams expired in ACE database, and when I contacted them a while ago, they said ACE evaluation is an expensive affair and is not fitting in their budget. Their website still talk about their "business partner" (Excelsior College) grants a "substantial" credit for their exams, but there is no mention of them on Excelsior website or materials.

It's too bad ICCP let their ACE courses expire. They have some nice offerings.  

If a company bothers to get ACE certification and is not making a return on their investment, their format and / or site is inadequate and / or they are not properly marketing their courses.  

A good number of people on this forum would try most credit-granting venues at least once, unless of course, it has a horrible reputation.