TESU SOS-110 Policy Spelled Out

[natshar]

Here is official SOS-110 policy and rules spelled out for anyone who needs them. I saw quite a few posts asking the same questions and thought I would post them here. Information comes from the TESU website and e-mailing TESU.

The only students who can take TES-100 and not SOS-110 are students who have been admitted prior to January 1, 2019. Also, those students with the TES-100 requirement need to complete it by July 1, 2019 or else they will have to complete SOS-110. Any student admitted after January 1, 2019 must take SOS-110 no exceptions. It is a requirement for all degrees, bachelors, and associates.

Also as of April 2019, any student who changes their major to or adds a degree that is in a different school (business, liberal arts, etc.) will require SOS-110 for the second/new degree. This applies to associates and bachelors degrees as well. So adding associates to bachelors or vice versa will require SOS-110 if the two degrees are in different schools. There is no way around this.

SOS-110 is a 3 credit 12-week-long online graded course no prerequisites are required. Cost is $1497 out of state without any discounts. There are no TECEP's for it. You can't get it through any other means besides TESU. Also, this has replaced the information literacy requirement for all degrees, you no longer need to take anything else for information literacy.

Now the minimum price of a TESU degree (out of state) will be about $6k and that is just for the two courses and fees and with no other credits earned.

Hope this clears everything up and answers all questions for anyone on this forum, especially newbies.

[Lewis.Yim]

Hey everyone. Why in the world is TESU making so many changes. So, does this mean if someone wants to change their concentration, it will change as well for the requirements?

Example: I have the ASNSM Biology, Comp Science, Math, completed for all three. I only have two of these added to my program list of degrees, but now want to change from one to the other, will I need to take the SOS-110?

How about the Bachelors, I have the BALS No Concentration currently, but want to change it to the NSM concentration instead, will I need the SOS-110 to get that done?

[mysonx3]

Hey everyone. Why in the world is TESU making so many changes. So, does this mean if someone wants to change their concentration, it will change as well for the requirements?

Example: I have the ASNSM Biology, Comp Science, Math, completed for all three. I only have two of these added to my program list of degrees, but now want to change from one to the other, will I need to take the SOS-110?

How about the Bachelors, I have the BALS No Concentration currently, but want to change it to the NSM concentration instead, will I need the SOS-110 to get that done?

My understanding is that you would not have to do SOS-110 in your case, as you're not adding a degree from a different school - all of the degrees you listed are within Heavin.

[natshar]

Hey everyone.  Why in the world is TESU making so many changes.  So, does this mean if someone wants to change their concentration, it will change as well for the requirements?  

Example: I have the ASNSM Biology, Comp Science, Math, completed for all three.  I only have two of these added to my program list of degrees, but now want to change from one to the other, will I need to take the SOS-110?  

How about the Bachelors, I have the BALS No Concentration currently, but want to change it to the NSM concentration instead, will I need the SOS-110 to get that done?

You should be good. I'd email advising asap to make the changes. But I don't see why it would require SOS-110 because you aren't changing schools.

[Spartiate]

Hello, All.

I completed TES-100 back in 2016, got distracted with life and other educational pursuits, and just came back to TESU in early 2019.

My email and online student services login still worked and I was able to register for PLA-100 like nothing had happened!

I changed my degree programs (to BS in Electronics and BSBA in CIS... both now 2019A catalog) and got all my transcripts sent. I was very pleased with the evaluation of my credits and the application of credit to my new programs. However, SOS-110 showed as required and incomplete in both programs.

Per TESU procedure, I emailed the registrar last week with my few issues after the initial credit evaluation. On the SOS-110 issue, I stated that I had completed TES-100 and have credit from the Analyzing/Interpreting Literature CLEP (one of the "old" information literacy alternatives) on my TESU transcript. I just got a response today from an advisor. The CLEP credit has been applied under SOS-110 with an exception, "Course approved per catalog exception".

So, communicate with the student services folks. I think email is perfect for this, even if I hate waiting for the reply. Also, if you have TES-100 credit, and you want a substitution for SOS-110, I would get it processed ASAP.

To those wondering why we have a new and expensive course requirement: Maybe TESU is reinforcing their revenue to cover administrative overhead in a changing alternative education market. (Greedy? Uncompetitive? You decide.)

Here is a TESU page with Information Literacy options: https://www.tesu.edu/academics/courses/2016-and-after

And a list of Information Literacy options from that page in case it disappears:

CMP-202: Foundation of Information Technology
CMP-354: Network Technology
DGL-101: Learning in the Digital Age
HIS-356: War and American Society
LIT-291: Analysis and Interpretation of Literature
LIT-301: Advanced American Literature I
LIT-302: Advanced American Literature II
LIT-331: African Encounters
LIT-460: Non-Western Literature
PSY-322: Experimental Psychology
REL-405: World Religions
SOC-291: Criminology
SOS-110: Living in the Information Age 3
SOS-492: Research Methods in the Social Sciences


Seems like a pretty random list to me. Look at the variation in level... 101 to 492. There is a trend in higher education toward slashing elective options in favor of short pick lists or single prescribed courses. (It's more "efficient".)

Best regards,

Spartiate

[hallk33]

Hello, All.

I completed TES-100 back in 2016, got distracted with life and other educational pursuits, and just came back to TESU in early 2019.

My email and online student services login still worked and I was able to register for PLA-100 like nothing had happened!

I changed my degree programs (to BS in Electronics and BSBA in CIS... both now 2019A catalog) and got all my transcripts sent. I was very pleased with the evaluation of my credits and the application of credit to my new programs. However, SOS-110 showed as required and incomplete in both programs.

Per TESU procedure, I emailed the registrar last week with my few issues after the initial credit evaluation. On the SOS-110 issue, I stated that I had completed TES-100 and have credit from the Analyzing/Interpreting Literature CLEP (one of the "old" information literacy alternatives) on my TESU transcript. I just got a response today from an advisor. The CLEP credit has been applied under SOS-110 with an exception, "Course approved per catalog exception".

So, communicate with the student services folks. I think email is perfect for this, even if I hate waiting for the reply. Also, if you have TES-100 credit, and you want a substitution for SOS-110, I would get it processed ASAP.

To those wondering why we have a new and expensive course requirement: Maybe TESU is reinforcing their revenue to cover administrative overhead in a changing alternative education market. (Greedy? Uncompetitive? You decide.)

Here is a TESU page with Information Literacy options: https://www.tesu.edu/academics/courses/2016-and-after

And a list of Information Literacy options from that page in case it disappears:

CMP-202: Foundation of Information Technology
CMP-354: Network Technology
DGL-101: Learning in the Digital Age
HIS-356: War and American Society
LIT-291: Analysis and Interpretation of Literature
LIT-301: Advanced American Literature I
LIT-302: Advanced American Literature II
LIT-331: African Encounters
LIT-460: Non-Western Literature
PSY-322: Experimental Psychology
REL-405: World Religions
SOC-291: Criminology
SOS-110: Living in the Information Age 3
SOS-492: Research Methods in the Social Sciences


Seems like a pretty random list to me. Look at the variation in level... 101 to 492. There is a trend in higher education toward slashing elective options in favor of short pick lists or single prescribed courses. (It's more "efficient".)

Best regards,

Spartiate

I also recently reached out to clarify what courses were covered under Information Literacy and it find out what courses might transfer in to fulfill this requirement. Transfer courses must have a overview on how to conduct and apply research. 

I received a follow-up message stating that the webpage had an error and the CMP courses do not qualify. Below is the message:

Unfortunately it appears there is an error on the website and CMP-202 and CMP-354 cannot be used toward the Information Literacy Requirement. We are working to remedy this as we want students having the correct information. Please see the list below regarding the courses you can take toward the Information Literacy Requirement:
 
·         DGL-101: Learning in the Digital Age
·         HIS-356: War and American Society
·         LIT-291: Analysis and Interpretation of Literature
·         LIT-301: Advanced American Literature I
·         LIT-302: Advanced American Literature II
·         LIT-331: African Encounters
·         LIT-460: Non-Western Literature
·         PSY-322: Experimental Psychology
·         REL-405: World Religions
·         SOC-291: Criminology
·         SOS-110: Living in the Information Age 3
·         SOS-492: Research Methods in the Social Sciences

[katelynn]

This is so frustrating. I want to finish two degrees in one graduation cycle and this whole time I thought that would mean only taking the new cornerstone course once, having it apply to both degrees. Are you saying that if I take on both a bachelor's in business and a bachelor's in psychology at the same time, I'll still have to take the SOS-110 course twice?

[mysonx3]

This is so frustrating. I want to finish two degrees in one graduation cycle and this whole time I thought that would mean only taking the new cornerstone course once, having it apply to both degrees. Are you saying that if I take on both a bachelor's in business and a bachelor's in psychology at the same time, I'll still have to take the SOS-110 course twice?

No, but if you had been enrolled in the BA-PSYCH under the old catalog and hadn't added the BSBA to your evaluation yet (or vice versa), the second degree would be on the new catalog and have to take SOS-110. You will still only have to take SOS-110 a maximum of one time.

[katelynn]

This is so frustrating. I want to finish two degrees in one graduation cycle and this whole time I thought that would mean only taking the new cornerstone course once, having it apply to both degrees. Are you saying that if I take on both a bachelor's in business and a bachelor's in psychology at the same time, I'll still have to take the SOS-110 course twice?

No, but if you had been enrolled in the BA-PSYCH under the old catalog and hadn't added the BSBA to your evaluation yet (or vice versa), the second degree would be on the new catalog and have to take SOS-110. You will still only have to take SOS-110 a maximum of one time.

That completely cleared it up for me, thank you so much!

[hallk33]

This is so frustrating. I want to finish two degrees in one graduation cycle and this whole time I thought that would mean only taking the new cornerstone course once, having it apply to both degrees. Are you saying that if I take on both a bachelor's in business and a bachelor's in psychology at the same time, I'll still have to take the SOS-110 course twice?

How are you able to work on two degrees in one graduation cycle? Advising just told me there is no way to do this.