Curriculum Prerequisite Procedure
In certain circumstances, students may demonstrate readiness through other means. In such cases, prerequisites or co-requisites may be met or waived with appropriate approvals and/or permission of the Dean and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs (“Vice President”). Two routine ways in which prerequisite or co-requisite requirements are met are through: 1) credit by examination; or 2) evaluation of Joint Services Transcripts.
I. Credit by Examination
A student may request permission, through the appropriate instructional dean, to challenge a course through a comprehensive exam for credit. Challenge exams may only be requested for courses where an exam has been developed by the appropriate program faculty and accepted by the dean prior to any attempts to complete the exam. Approved exams should be kept on file in the dean’s office for any future challenge requests for the same course. The procedure for challenging is as follows:
- The student must receive permission from the dean to challenge the course and pay a proctoring fee of $20 prior to attempting the exam. The fee is for administration and transcription of credit if the challenge is successful. The fee is not refundable if the challenge is unsuccessful.
- A student cannot challenge a course that they have previously enrolled in, for credit or audit, or that they have previously attempted to challenge.
- Career and College Promise (CCP) students, as defined in 1D SBCCC 400.11, may participate in challenge/proficiency examinations to earn college credit but may not earn dual high school credit. To earn dual credit, students must enroll and successfully complete the college course.
- Federal Pell grant funds cannot be used to pay for challenge exams/proficiency, nor do credits earned through challenge examination count toward a student's load for federal aid award calculations.
- Credits earned through challenge examination do not count toward a student’s load for Veterans Affairs (VA) educational benefits calculations and as such, VA students should consult with Isothermal’s VA counselor before attempting any challenge exams.
- Challenge Exams/Proficiency are not calculated into a student’s cumulative grade point average.
- If the challenge exam is passed, the student’s grade must be submitted to the Student Records Office by the faculty chair or instructional dean of the division the course resides in within two weeks of the exam’s completion. The Student Records Office will record the appropriate course credit on the student’s transcript and the grade for the corresponding course will be recorded as a “CE”. (Note: “CE” grades are not acceptable for the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement between the North Carolina Community College System and the University of North Carolina System.)
II. Joint Services Transcript Evaluation
Joint Services Transcript (“JST”) is an academically accepted document approved by the American Council on Education (“ACE”) to validate a service member's military occupational experience and training along with the corresponding ACE college credit recommendations. When the College receives an official copy of a JST, the Registrar will review and apply appropriate course credit. The Vice President will be consulted if there is need for further discussion regarding proposed course credit.
