Transfers Students, Educational Credits/Exemptions and Challenge Examinations

Transfer Students: Transfer students are defined as applicants to the Academy, who are currently registered or are in transition from another school teaching a similar diploma program, within a one year period.

Applicants in this category complete an application entitled “Application – Transfer/Prior Education & Experience”. 

If the student is transferring to the Academy from another educational institution, a review of their pre-existing studies will be undertaken.  If needed and with the prior approval of the education committee only, in order to assist a student acquire the necessary background in some subjects, the Academy may establish a plan for the completion of assignments, tests and challenge examinations based upon use of class notes and the textbooks. This is not intended to replace the attendance at classes as offered but to support the knowledge foundation of the student, so they may complete higher levels of study in the same subject area.

The student’s placement within the program will be determined upon completion of the Academy’s review of his/her present program, grades and assessment of hands-on skill level.
Students with eligible transfer credits will also be awarded financial credits to be applied to program fees, as applicable. If a student has purchased textbooks which are in use by the Academy, a financial credit will be provided based upon the Academy’s cost of the textbook.
The amount of tuition, other fees to be paid and the training plan will be tailored to each student and detailed in an acceptance letter.

Requests for Educational Credits/Exemptions

Applicants who have previous relevant knowledge and are not classified as a ‘transfer student’.

The Academy recognizes some applicants will have acquired relevant prior knowledge. Upon request, during the application stage, the Academy will review the subject material/course outlines provided and advise the decision as part of the acceptance letter detailing the student’s overall educational program.

The request and review for Advanced Standing must take place during the application process and no later than the date the Student Enrollment Agreement is signed, so that a formal plan of education is established at the outset.

Policy:
“The Academy’s policy for educational credit/exemption granting is designed to provide equity to all students, as well as, to recognize applicable previous training, knowledge and skills of the applicant.

An important criteria in the assessment is the capacity/ability to determine if the previous subject material being requested for exemption, parallels the content of the subject as currently structured in the Academy’s program and the established competencies.

Subject names may well be the same or similar but the content or depth of study may vary significantly. Content may also have different emphasis in specific areas, due to the overall nature and focus of the health discipline. E.g. In massage and acupuncture, the depth of knowledge in the area of myology is important, since one must know the human anatomy from the bone outward, in order to assess the cause of pain, to establish a treatment plan and to recognize potential contra-indications of the treatment to neighboring points within the body.
The educational credits policy is designed to mitigate ‘subjectivity’ in the decision process and to create equity in the review.

In keeping with generally accepted Academic practices, life skills & acquired informal knowledge considerations are not usually accepted for exemption, since there is no prior course content or structure of knowledge being measured or assessed.

A bonafide transcript together with a description of the subjects for which an exemption is being granted must be presented along with any request for an educational exemption. Only subjects with a recorded passing grade equivalent of 70% or higher will be considered for Advanced Standing or a Challenge examination. Theory subjects recorded as a pass/fail will not be considered for educational credit.

In the event the transcript was issued more than 10 years previously, without extended application of the knowledge or, there are other related factors warranting an educational credit or challenge examination consideration; the Academy will require the applicant to take the full program of study as set out for the chosen program. In this instance, an applicant may still apply for any scholarship or award they may be eligible for as offered by the Academy.

If the transcript is older than 6 years but less than 10 years, the decision will be whether to grant a challenge examination or require the subject to be taken in class. This is important to ensure the applicant has retained the relative knowledge for application to the current program of study, as the student will be responsible for all content of the program as examined by the Academy.

If the transcript is less than 5 years old, and the subject content can be readily associated to the Academy’s related subject matter, it will consider a full educational and financial credit. If there is a slight variance in subject content, a challenge examination may be required to confirm the granting of an educational credit.

Challenge Examinations

The challenge examination process is designed to confirm that the knowledge level of the applicant meets the established standard for the subject and mitigates a subjective decision.

Challenge examinations must be completed prior to the signature of a student agreement, as the student’s program of study must be fully determined prior to the start of their program.

In all cases, other than transfer credits granted for participation in a similar program at another school, it will be the Academy’s recommendation to the applicant that he/she take the subject to confirm their depth of knowledge meets the established competency standards.

“The granting of an educational credit/exemption does not mean that a student is exempted from being tested on the material, as part of other examination processes. The future performance of the student on any academy or provincial examination remains the sole responsibility of the student.”

A challenge examination may be offered to the student, when it cannot be clearly determined that his/her related prior knowledge of a subject, matches the competency requirements of the Academy’s subject. The intent of a challenge examination is to confirm the student has the required prior knowledge, which meets the competencies for that subject as offered by the Academy.

Challenge examinations may also be consolidated, in place of individual examinations.  e.g. Anatomy 1 to 4, Myology 1-2, Anatomy 5-6 etc. Only one examination fee would be applied to the consolidated examination, in place of for accumulative fees for the individual examinations.

Eligibility for challenge examinations is determined only at the time of application and must be approved by the Program Director and/or the Dean. Once approved for a challenge examination, the student will be provided with an opportunity to review the class outline, under supervision. Then at a mutually agreeable time the student will write the challenge examination. The pre-paid fee for the challenge examination is $100. Upon a successful challenge the student will receive a financial credit for the subject, to be applied to the full tuitions for their program.

If the student passes the examination with a minimum of 70%, an educational credit is granted. If the student scores less than 70%, he/she must take the specific subject as scheduled.  The Academy will deduct $50.00 from the tuition for that subject as a financial tuition credit.

The student who has been successful on the challenge examination may also, at their option take the subject in-class without an additional tuition fee. This can occur, only if, the student accepts that they will be required to fully participate and will undertake the academic requirements of the subject. The higher of the 2 grades achieved for the subject will become the grade of record.