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I got to thinking this morning about my issue trying to earn PLAs for over a decade of work in an industry that is typically pretty ostracized, & came up with a thought. Maybe this is crazy, but maybe someone here would know how something about this. I know there are tons of other women in my situation going through the exact same thing I am, & really why should I pay so much money to be the only one who profits from the credit when I could help others? My thought is this:
Instead of going the way of PLAs, since many instructors who teach womens' studies courses are passionate about the work, why not approach them to create a class for Coursera/Saylor that would encompass what veteran workers from my industry would already know? Or even things that the younger workers really should know about? I'm actually thinking of doing this a bit backwards... first approaching ACE & NCCR to find out what their requirements are for course credit approval. Then finding a group of professors who would be willing to work on this project with me, which might also require their employer/institution approval. Has anyone else done this? Or does anyone know anything about this? I noticed ACE has a document about qualifications for course approval, but its password protected.
Thanks!
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SweetSecret Wrote:I got to thinking this morning about my issue trying to earn PLAs for over a decade of work in an industry that is typically pretty ostracized, & came up with a thought. Maybe this is crazy, but maybe someone here would know how something about this. I know there are tons of other women in my situation going through the exact same thing I am, & really why should I pay so much money to be the only one who profits from the credit when I could help others? My thought is this:
Instead of going the way of PLAs, since many instructors who teach womens' studies courses are passionate about the work, why not approach them to create a class for Coursera/Saylor that would encompass what veteran workers from my industry would already know? Or even things that the younger workers really should know about? I'm actually thinking of doing this a bit backwards... first approaching ACE & NCCR to find out what their requirements are for course credit approval. Then finding a group of professors who would be willing to work on this project with me, which might also require their employer/institution approval. Has anyone else done this? Or does anyone know anything about this? I noticed ACE has a document about qualifications for course approval, but its password protected.
Thanks!
Getting ACE evaluation costs a fortune for new companies, it's cheaper for companies that are already clients. I don't want to discourage your ideas and creativity, but I'll suggest instead to save this as an idea for when your degree is done and you can devote the time it would take. For now, don't move your goal post, I suggest checking the box and doing what you need to do to get through THIS goal. Also, unless you're especially committed to a PLA, I think they are a Pain in Le Arse frankly. Expensive and risky are also rolled in there. Unless you are looking for upper level credit in-major, I can't see how a PLA is cost effective.
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I just answered this in the other thread, but I actually do need UL credit. I already have multiple associates degrees, plus a ton of other LL credits from jumping around schools. I have a lot of time on my hands right now, but not much money. Plus, if we could get Coursera/Saylor to accept the course, then we wouldn't be approaching ACE/NCCR as a new company really. I'm really curious what the cost is though, because honestly if I had the choice of paying out of pocket (once I find a new job) for PLAs vs paying out of pocket to get a course accredited by ACE/NCCR at around the same price... I'd rather take the latter.
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SweetSecret Wrote:I just answered this in the other thread, but I actually do need UL credit. I already have multiple associates degrees, plus a ton of other LL credits from jumping around schools. I have a lot of time on my hands right now, but not much money. Plus, if we could get Coursera/Saylor to accept the course, then we wouldn't be approaching ACE/NCCR as a new company really. I'm really curious what the cost is though, because honestly if I had the choice of paying out of pocket (once I find a new job) for PLAs vs paying out of pocket to get a course accredited by ACE/NCCR at around the same price... I'd rather take the latter.
But Saylor (or whoever) will have to pay for it and pay you as a sub-contractor. I know Saylor's course development people all have PhDs. I don't really understand the advantage of being a course author, you don't get college credit that way.
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Honestly, I wouldn't need to be paid for this. If I could take the course & get credit for it... I'd be a happy camper. After all, its better than sitting around twiddling my thumbs all day... & I think I'm sort of at a stand-still.
Anyhow, I did find something on this. It's not much, but it might be a start. According to this article, ACE charges about $25,000 to review courses. However, I also came across something saying that the charge is based on a proposal. That could mean they charge more to for-profits than non-profits (i.e. Saylor). Even if the charge would be $25,000 though, with Saylor being a non-profit, I might be able to approach a foundation or donor with a grant proposal to cover the cost. I know of at least four foundations that would probably give a grant for this, & might even be able to work with a larger non-profit offering sub-grants for programs in conjunction with Saylor to get this approved.
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SweetSecret Wrote:Honestly, I wouldn't need to be paid for this. If I could take the course & get credit for it... I'd be a happy camper. After all, its better than sitting around twiddling my thumbs all day... & I think I'm sort of at a stand-still.
Anyhow, I did find something on this. It's not much, but it might be a start. According to this article, ACE charges about $25,000 to review courses. However, I also came across something saying that the charge is based on a proposal. That could mean they charge more to for-profits than non-profits (i.e. Saylor). Even if the charge would be $25,000 though, with Saylor being a non-profit, I might be able to approach a foundation or donor with a grant proposal to cover the cost. I know of at least four foundations that would probably give a grant for this, & might even be able to work with a larger non-profit offering sub-grants for programs in conjunction with Saylor to get this approved.
Thinking about this a bit more.....
Have you considered creating a non-profit (it's simple, I created one in 2000) and then use your group as an education tool to offer credit-bearing courses? You could of course try for ACE or similar evaluation, but you could also provide tutoring and guidance using other means (CLEP/etc) and help usher women through into a degree route? This might actually be an amazing resource, and so much more valuable than simply creating a course for someone else to offer- this way you're directly changing lives!
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I seem to be missing something here what are the courses you are looking to offer? I know TESC will do a PLA on most things you can find a course in at a RA college. If you are out of work right now couldn't you apply for Fafsa, I just think that would me more effective in helping earn the BA you need.
Linda
Start by doing what is necessary: then do the possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible St Francis of Assisi
Now a retired substitute Teacher in NY, & SC
AA Liberal Studies TESC '08
BA in Natural Science/Mathematics TESC Sept '10
AAS Environmental safety and Security Technology TESC Dec '12
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cookderosa Wrote:Thinking about this a bit more.....
Have you considered creating a non-profit (it's simple, I created one in 2000) and then use your group as an education tool to offer credit-bearing courses? You could of course try for ACE or similar evaluation, but you could also provide tutoring and guidance using other means (CLEP/etc) and help usher women through into a degree route? This might actually be an amazing resource, and so much more valuable than simply creating a course for someone else to offer- this way you're directly changing lives!
That's actually exactly my plan... however right now I'm not sure that I'd want to set-up anything formally. I have a website that is pretty popular with a blog, & I could put a lot of information on there, but until I'm done with school - I don't want to have to deal with a lot of the everyday nuances of something longterm for multiple years.
Lindagerr Wrote:I seem to be missing something here what are the courses you are looking to offer? I know TESC will do a PLA on most things you can find a course in at a RA college. If you are out of work right now couldn't you apply for Fafsa, I just think that would me more effective in helping earn the BA you need.
My problem is that FASFA is based on everything from last year. Last year I was working as an independent contractor & making decent money... enough that I probably wouldn't have qualified for student aid. Due to a knee injury, I stopped working in January...& have been draining all my savings etc since.
As far as the courses, they would be mostly womens studies type courses. I posted which courses on another thread.
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