Course Submission
Military training sites or schoolhouses work with service program managers for the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard to identify courses and occupations for review, as well as preferred review dates. Military training sites or schoolhouses then prepare and submit review requests to their service program managers using the
MTEP Portal to start the review scheduling process. Once the review requests and dates have been validated by the service program manager, the review requests are compiled into a master schedule and formally approved by ACE, DANTES, and the individual services. For more information on review readiness, see the
Military Review Resources page.
Course Eligibility Criteria
Course planning documents (programs of instruction (POIs), training course control documents, master course schedules, approval letters, etc.) must be submitted electronically to ACE using the
MTEP Portal 90 days before the review is scheduled to begin.
ACE must have these course documents on file to answer inquiries from credit-granting institutions regarding course content.
As specified in the contract, to be eligible for academic evaluation courses must:
- Contain at least 40 hours of engagement in academic activity
- Not contain proprietary material or the intellectual property of a non-federal entity
- Not include accredited curriculum of a nationally or regionally accredited institution (e.g., Community College of the Air Force), as recognized by the U.S. Department of Education
- Be developed and taught under the authority of a Military Service Training Command created to train military service personnel, as established by appropriate authority of the applicable military department
- Have undergone major changes in their curriculum, have not previously been evaluated, have moved to a new training location, or have reached their 10-year limit (the 10-year limit does not apply to courses in rapidly changing career fields, such as highly technical and medical courses)
- Have an end-date-of-course and proctored assessment component if delivered by nontraditional instructional methodology (e.g., distance learning, CBT)
- Provide for firm identification of the student and rigid control of test conditions
- Combine all blended learning components when course content objectives break into smaller units of learning to contain at least 40 hours of instruction, whether covered in a single setting or completed over a specified period using web-based or distance-learning modules (this includes emerging military training initiatives that deploy phased, ready relevant, or other just-in-time types of learning)
- Be evaluated from service learning sites and military training centers geographically located within the continental United States for onsite reviews
Course Guidelines
Consider the following guidelines when submitting courses for review:
- If the course is taught in phases, ACE strongly recommends that all phases be submitted together for review.
- If there are active duty courses and reserve or other version classifications, all versions should be submitted together.
- If a course has already been evaluated by ACE, but there have been significant changes (changes other than administrative information such as course number, title, training location), submit new course planning documents (POI, TCCD, curriculum outline, syllabus, etc.).
- Courses that have not been reviewed by a faculty evaluation team in 10 years must be resubmitted for review. Credit recommendations expire 10 years after the faculty evaluation team’s review.
- Do not submit courses that have never been taught. Courses should have a history of being taught for at least one year before being submitted for an ACE evaluation.
- Courses that have never been evaluated by ACE are treated as new courses.
- Do not submit courses with fewer than 40 academic hours.
- Every course must have individual assessments that clearly align with the course's learning objectives.
- Do not submit unit training, correspondence or distance learning courses that do not have proctored assessments. There must be firm identification of the learner to make a credit recommendation.
- Do not submit courses that have a future training start date.
- Do not submit courses that are earlier versions of the course last reviewed by ACE. For example, if the ACE team last reviewed a course with a training start date of May 17, as noted on the official documentation (POI/memo/TCCD/LOP), don't submit an earlier version of that course with a training start date of August 12. To ensure the integrity of the review process and align credit recommendations appropriately to current college curriculum, ACE cannot go back in time to review earlier versions of the course.
Course Processing
Credit recommendations from a team review are in effect for 10 years, provided there are no major changes in the course's content, learning outcomes, or academic hours. Whether a course requires a new team review prior to the 10-year mark is determined by comparing the submitted documents with the most recent course materials that were previously evaluated. If there has not been a substantial course change, ACE staff will code the course as credit extended (CE) and it will not be reviewed again.
If there has been a substantial change, ACE staff will code the course as pending evaluation (PE) and will review the course again.
New courses will be coded as PE if they meet the criteria.
Disposition List
ACE will prepare a disposition list (93 KB pdf) showing all courses submitted and the codes indicating which ones will be reviewed. The disposition list also includes notes indicating any questions the staff has about courses, dates, and previous reviews. ACE staff will discuss the disposition list with the training site’s point of contact (POC) during a pre-review meeting.
Agenda
ACE will provide a draft agenda (6 KB pdf) for the review. The POC should address any scheduling concerns with ACE staff.
Reviews are generally conducted over a one-week period, with the review team working independently and together to evaluate the course materials. Reviews typically begin on a Monday with an in-briefing by the POC. The review typically concludes with an exit briefing by ACE staff to explain the general amounts of credit recommended for the courses.
Pre-review Meeting
Approximately 30 days before the scheduled review, ACE staff will schedule a
pre-review meeting (150 KB pdf) to review the course disposition list and draft agenda and to address any questions or concerns.
The POC should explain to the instructors and course managers the purpose of the review and why the review team needs to see current course materials.
The POC should invite anyone responsible for producing course materials to the pre-review meeting.
Course Materials
Course materials are uploaded through the
MTEP Portal at least 60 working days before the start of the review.
Course materials are uploaded per the format outlined below:
Electronic File Structure
Each course has its own folder labeled with the course name as it appears on the programs of instruction, training course control document, and curriculum outline submitted to ACE. The files are organized into four folders:
- Course planning documents
- Instructor material
- Student material
- Assessments
For distance learning courses, or courses with online modules, POCs can provide access to a learning management system so faculty evaluators can view the files directly.
Required materials are:
- The curriculum outline (program of instruction, training course control document, and master course schedule)
- All associated student manuals and materials, (student guides, exercise books, handouts, etc.)
- All associated instructor materials (PowerPoint presentations, lesson plans, manuals, etc.)
- All assessments (including, but not limited to examinations, quizzes, go/no-go checklists, evaluation rubrics, and writing assignments)
- Any additional supplemental materials that will enhance the team’s understanding of the course
Ideally, 100 percent of the above materials for the course should be provided for the team to review.
If the course is too large to provide 100 percent of the materials, the course manager or POC should provide all assessments and the related instructor and student course content. The course manager or POC should consider the significant modules or content in terms of the learning objectives for the course, the assessments and the related instructional tools (PowerPoint presentations, videos, handouts, worksheets, manuals, etc.).
In situations for which all of the materials are not provided, POCs should know that:
- There could be an impact on any credit recommendations.
- During the review, the team may require additional information.
- The course subject matter expert (SME) needs to be readily available to answer questions and provide additional materials to expedite the review process.
Please note that the ACE contract states that classified information shall not be accessed, reviewed, or evaluated for civilian credit equivalency. Any classified content within the course materials must be sanitized before being presented to the team.
Course Content
In order to ensure efficiency and effectiveness while maintaining academically sound practices in the review of learning, the services should provide documentation that provides clear and concise descriptions of the following components:
Learning objectives. Learning objectives identify the skills and knowledge that must be mastered through successful completion of the learning event. Traditionally, these objectives are defined through terminal and enabling learning objectives and are most often identified in the programs of instruction, training course control documents, and curriculum outlines currently submitted by each of the services.
Learning activities. Learning activities describe the method by which the content is delivered and the time and structure of learning events. For resident courses, these activities are often identified in student lesson plans and instructor materials, and supplemented through classrooms, labs, and learning resources (books, journals, equipment, etc.). For distance learning courses, the services should work with the contractor to identify service-specific documentation that provides the review team members with a sense of how the materials are organized and presented; the types of learning resources that are provided; methods of providing learner support; the manner in which the course developers incorporate course content as well as its complexity and rigor; and the level of learning demanded by the learning objectives.
Assessment strategies. Assessment strategies should include identification of the knowledge and behaviors that must be obtained and the indicators that best demonstrate attainment of the intended outcomes. Assessment strategies should also include a description of assessment items, assessment instruments, and assessment protocols. For distance learning courses, the services must demonstrate evidence of a process that ensures firm identification of the student and rigid control of test conditions.