Course crediting—plagued with lengthy waiting times and changing policies—has become a major hurdle often experienced by many students at the University. While validating course equivalencies seems like a simple task of cross-checking course codes and syllabi, Academic Programming Officers (APOs) continue to face numerous bottlenecks that hinder them from addressing student concerns more efficiently.
Unrealistic expectations
Course crediting allows alternative courses to be credited in a student’s curriculum audit. Students who undergo the process include students who took equivalent courses from other colleges, those taking electives, transferees, and Lasallians who are under an older curriculum. The University’s forms on course crediting indicate a two-week processing period, but many Lasallians share that the waiting time is much longer.
Beth Sutilo, APO for the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business (RVRCOB), admits that with limited manpower, requests may take a while and that the two-week period is unrealistic. “If they submitted after Grade Consultation Day…the more na hindi rin talaga kaya kasi preparation ito for enrollment…I have 400 emails a day during online enrollment,” Sutilo points out.
(…The more that we cannot do it because those times are our preparation for the enrollment period.)
In evaluating course crediting applications, APOs are tasked to verify the equivalency of the courses, review submitted documents, seek approval from associate deans or department chairs, and coordinate with the Office of the University Registrar (OUR) in encoding approved crediting requests. This comes from their other responsibilities, such as enrollment, course offerings, scheduling, and classroom assignments.
APOs share that these expectations have set unrealistic standards and further slowed their progress by giving students a reason to persistently follow up either through email or through the application form itself. “The students, nagre-resubmit sila ng applications. Multiple applications, same course codes. Sana i-refrain nila ‘yon. Hangga’t kaya, ie-evaluate namin ‘yan…May delays lang,” explains Ma. Cristina Tismo, APO for the College of Science.
(The students resubmit their applications…I hope they refrain from doing that. As much as possible, we will evaluate those, albeit delayed.)
College of Computer Studies APO Hazel Ventura suggests that, as a remedy, the APOs request the OUR to increase processing time to set more realistic expectations for students, which all the APOs have agreed on.
Adjusting to changes, challenges
The data security incident last October was one known instance that bogged down the APOs in finishing pending requests. However, they share that the bottlenecks already began when they shifted from manual to online systems, which were implemented during the pandemic.
Eddiemon Panem, APO for the Gokongwei College of Engineering, recalls how he was “rattled” by the pile of online and physical applications they had to deal with when physical operations eventually resumed. “Ang nangyari, since ‘di naasikaso because of the pandemic, when we [started] again, some of them [were] forgotten…kasi ‘yung work namin sa APO, meron sa email, meron on-site, so naiipon ‘yung work namin at magulo ‘yung isip…Ang nangyayari, pinapa-fill out namin sa Google Forms lahat,” he narrates.
(What happened is that since applications were not addressed because of the pandemic, when we started again, some of them were forgotten because our work had email and onsite components, so our work piled up and became confusing…What happened was that we asked everyone to fill out Google Forms.)
The lack of automated systems for crediting some electives is also a problem for the APOs. Under some colleges, electives are under a generic course code in curriculum audits. Since not all electives are automatically credited, some students would still need to manually apply their taken electives for crediting. “Usually, ang department nagpo-provide ng maraming electives to choose from. Hindi siya maipasok agad ng program as elective dahil meron ding sharing of electives (among degree majors),” Sutilo explains.
(Usually, the department provides many electives from which to choose. It cannot be inputted automatically by the program as an elective because there is also a sharing of electives among degree majors.)
Frequent curriculum changes and new course codes further complicate course crediting processes. As not all of these courses are automatically marked equivalent within the University’s systems, these changes affect Lasallians with lower ID numbers and, in turn, the APOs. These ever-changing codes also mean that the equivalencies would then again need to be reviewed and updated in the OUR’s database from time to time. “Sa iba-ibang taong nakaupo, iba-iba ang kanilang perspective…Basta may bago kaming electives na pumasok, sinasabi namin, ‘paki-equivalent niyo na nga ito,’ pero every term kasi we have new course codes…Buti na lang nasabihan na ‘yung department na kung pareho din lang ang prerequisite, might as well not change the course code,” Sutilo expressed, recalling how course code changes were almost annual before.
(Different administrators have different perspectives. Whenever we have new electives, we ask them to make them equivalent, but every term we have new course codes…It’s good that the departments have already been told not to change the course code if the subject follows the same prerequisite.)
For a clearer, more efficient experience
The APOs acknowledge that there is a need to better inform students of the curriculum audit process. They mention that many students do not know the importance of the curriculum audit in My.LaSalle, as some disregard it, considers it to have the same function as course flowcharts. “All the while, ang estudyante, since alam nilang ni-credit ‘yun, hindi pinapansin na hindi naka-checkmark sa curriculum audit and then there are some na hindi na ata tumitingin sa curriculum audit to enroll and just base on the checklist,” Sutilo says.
(All the while, since the students assume that it will be credited, they do not notice that it is unchecked in the curriculum audit, and then there are some who no longer look at their curriculum audit and just base on the checklist.)
They also urge the students not to delay course crediting applications until their final term, which may result in complications such as late application fees and slow turnaround time. “‘Yung mga naga-apply for course crediting, kung kailan last term nila, saka pa lang sila naga-apply. Kung pwede sana, after grade consultation, kung may ipapa-credit sila, mag-apply na sila ng course crediting,” Sutilo suggests.
(Those applying for course crediting often wait until their last term to apply. After grade consultation, they should apply for course crediting if they have any courses to
be credited.)
As for internal matters, APOs disclosed ongoing initiatives to modify databases and integrate new technologies to enhance efficiency, with Sutilo reassuring, “While we strive to streamline the process, ongoing changes challenge our efforts. We continue to work towards ensuring accuracy and efficiency in course crediting for the benefit of our students.”
With reports from Raven Madriaga and Francis Tiu Sonco
This article was published in The LaSallian‘s June 2024 issue. To read more, visit bit.ly/TLSJune2024.
