FCC Fema credit problem -shocking!

[tester]

I've just had an experience that I wanted to share with you all.

I had Frederick Community College send my FEMA Emer Mgmt Degree credits to my college Indiana Univ. so that I can at least use them towards my electives. However, I received a call yesterday from the Admin Service Coordinator at IU saying that she will not send my transcript to be evaluated by the credentials analyst since she knows that they are FEMA credits on an FCC transcript. She said that FEMA needs to send the transcript directly to IU and they will only give credits for the ones that are ACE recommended. (BTW, they are not ACE recommended). I begged and pleaded with her to at least send it to the credentials analyst to be reviewed but she refused again and again since she could not get past the word FEMA on the transcript. I'm not sure if you know, but the courses are listed on the transcript for example as FEM: 104, etc.

I then called the Registrar's office at FCC who was also shocked to learn about my experience. She said that I should tell IU that they should check FCC's catalog and they will see that the courses are listed as RESIDENT courses and also that FCC is fully accredited. She said I could appeal their decision but hello, there is no decision to appeal since my Admin Coordinator does not want to send it for an official decision since she made that decision already.

I just sent IU an email to contact FCC for further clarification but I'm not sure if that will happen. I'm hoping that IU will get past the FEMA word on my transcript and send it for review but to tell me that she is not going to send it is I think is discrimination.

I'm not sure what else I should do at this point and I really appreciate any guidance any of you may have. I'm still in a state of shock :-(

[Greggy_D]

Go over her head. Demand that you talk to her Supervisor/Manager (at IU). YOU are the paying customer here.

Let us know how it shakes out.

Edit: I guess I get crankier as I get older. Back in my late teens/early twenties, I did not like to make waves and would let things drop. I was very accomodating and people probably walked over me to a certain degree. Now at 37, there's no way I would put up with shit like you are going through. When people start making things harder than they need to be and waste MY time......then we're going to have a problem and I'm relentless.

[cookderosa]

I've just had an experience that I wanted to share with you all.

I had Frederick Community College send my FEMA Emer Mgmt Degree credits to my college Indiana Univ. so that I can at least use them towards my electives. However, I received a call yesterday from the Admin Service Coordinator at IU saying that she will not send my transcript to be evaluated by the credentials analyst since she knows that they are FEMA credits on an FCC transcript. She said that FEMA needs to send the transcript directly to IU and they will only give credits for the ones that are ACE recommended. (BTW, they are not ACE recommended). I begged and pleaded with her to at least send it to the credentials analyst to be reviewed but she refused again and again since she could not get past the word FEMA on the transcript. I'm not sure if you know, but the courses are listed on the transcript for example as FEM: 104, etc.

I then called the Registrar's office at FCC who was also shocked to learn about my experience. She said that I should tell IU that they should check FCC's catalog and they will see that the courses are listed as RESIDENT courses and also that FCC is fully accredited. She said I could appeal their decision but hello, there is no decision to appeal since my Admin Coordinator does not want to send it for an official decision since she made that decision already.

I just sent IU an email to contact FCC for further clarification but I'm not sure if that will happen. I'm hoping that IU will get past the FEMA word on my transcript and send it for review but to tell me that she is not going to send it is I think is discrimination.

I'm not sure what else I should do at this point and I really appreciate any guidance any of you may have. I'm still in a state of shock :-(

>>


Have you paid FCC? If so, you will be out quite a chunk of change- I would go directly over head. Wait until you hear "no" from at least 3 people before you accept it as an answer.

[ShotoJuku]

If IU cannot assist you I do know of another school [SIZE="7"]EC[/SIZE]that can.....

[tester]

Here is the latest response from her. She still can't get past the FEMA word on the transcript. I spoke to the Director of Admissions and followed up with an email to him of the problem so hopefully I'll hear something soon. Thanks for the support!
------------------------------------------

"I am sending you an e-mail from one of our distance General Studies Degree students. She has sent us a transcript from Frederick Community College . This transcript has credits from FEMA. I informed her that we needed an official transcript directly from FEMA.

I confirmed from .... that we needed a transcript directly from FEMA and relayed this information to the student. We have never taken FEMA credits from another institution’s transcript for our students. . At this point I do not know what to do. If I need to send the Frederick Community College transcript to Lynn I will do so.

Please advise me and the student of the procedure for transferring credits from FEMA."

----------------------------------------

[Greggy_D]

If I need to send the Frederick Community College transcript to Lynn I will do so.

Yes, IU lady. You need to send the transcript to Lynn. There.....problem solved.

[Lydia]

If IU cannot assist you I do know of another school ECthat can.....

Hahaha....you never let me down... hilarious

[knucyt]

Can you ask (pester) the Registrar's office at FCC to intervene on your behalf in writing with IU? or at least have them send an official letter with their accreditation information, a copy of the catalog, and a request for information/explanation regarding why IU is refusing to consider these accredited courses for your electives? Give them the name, address, and phone number of the person you spoke with at IU. Get her supervisor's name and have the letter sent to the superviser.

If you have paid a chunk of change for these FCC courses after being led to believe by FCC that as an accredited facility you would be able to transfer these credits to IU, then FCC may be willing to intervene on your behalf if you pester them enough (nicely).
Just an idea. Remember "The squeaky wheel gets the grease"!

I wish you the best of luck.

[tester]

Yes, I'll certainly contact FCC again tomorrow and ask them to send a letter to IU with their accreditation, etc. The registrar at FCC did tell me to have them look at the catalog online and I'm hoping the folks at IU would do just that. Problem is I don't know how to find out who her supervisor is - I'll work on that tomorrow. I'm hoping I can hear something positive from the Dir. of Admissions tomorrow. Will keep you all informed. Thanks a mil for the great suggestions.

[tester]

Just a follow up on my FCC credit problems with IU. So I'm back to the drawing board $960.00 less and no credits. If FCC is giving credits for the FEMA courses then they need to take the word FEMA out of their transcripts and list it totally as their credits. As I said IU refused to even look past the word FEMA on the transcript. Be careful you all - I had to learn the hard way. Not sure what to do next but I will ask FCC again to take FEMA out of the transcript and see whether or not they will do it. Help!!! what should I do now??

Here are the official responses from both IU and FCC:

Final IU response 05-09-08:

"FEMA issues its own transcripts and we need the official FEMA transcript to process your work. This is not the first time IUPUI has dealt with this situation from FCC. There has been at least one student in recent memory that had the same type of courses and, upon request, submitted the FEMA official record of their work.

You can inform FCC but they are aware of this situation. I hope this helps clarify! Let us know if you have more questions."

-----------------------------------

FCC's email to IU 05-09-08:

"One of your students, ......., has asked me to contact you to
clarify the credits posted on her Frederick Community College
transcript.

FCC offers an AAS Degree in Emergency Management so several years ago
the college entered into an arrangement with the Emergency Management
Institute and Sytel to credential FEMA courses. All courses on the FCC
transcript have gone through the Curriculum Committee at the college
and are considered courses in residence. They are all listed in our
college catalog as well. The program has been approved by the Maryland
Higher Education Commission as well.

Of course I respect that every university has the right to accept what
credits they deem appropriate. It has been our experience that these
credits have widely been accepted because the college reviewed and
credentialed each course through our college course approval process.

If there are any questions you might still have, I am happy to answer
them.

Respectfully,
Kathy Frawley
Associate Vice President/Registrar
Frederick Community College
--------------------
IU's response 05-08-08:

"We never accept any credits based on another school’s transcript (and their interpretation of that transcript). That is part of our accreditation requirements as an institution. We will sometimes learn about a school that the student attended by seeing it on a transcript but never award our credit based on another school’s mention."