Prior Learning Experience Assessment Policy

Purpose and Scope

Many Windsor applicants already do, at work or in military service, what some MBA courses teach. This policy explains how Windsor University recognizes that learning with course credit, how every request is evaluated fairly and in the same way, and how applicants are told the result.

It applies to applicants and students in all Windsor University graduate programs (30 credit hours). It sets out the detailed assessment procedure for Prior Learning Experience described in Section 4.4 of the Transfer of Credit and Prior Learning Experience Policy.

Key Principle: Credit Is for Learning, Not for Time

Windsor awards credit for what a person learned, not for how long they worked. Three years in a job does not automatically earn credit. Three years in a job where the person regularly did what a Windsor course teaches, and can show it, usually does.

Every request is therefore judged against the learning outcomes of one specific Windsor course, the same outcomes Windsor students must achieve. Years of experience help the assessor see how deep and how regular that learning was.

What Counts as Prior Learning Experience

• Armed forces: military service, training and leadership roles.
• Employment and on-the-job training: paid or volunteer work, including company training programs.
• Apprenticeships: completed, structured apprenticeships.
• Other similar learning sources: professional licences and certifications, and structured professional training that is not already recognized as ACE or university credit.

General life experience, hobbies, and experience that cannot be documented are not counted.

Who Can Apply and When

• Any applicant or admitted student may apply, normally at the time of admission.
• The request must be decided before the student starts the Windsor course it would replace.
• There is no age limit on the experience, but it must match the current learning outcomes of the course.
• Each experience can be used for one course only, and not for a course already credited by transfer.
• Credit may be requested for any Windsor graduate course except the Graduation Thesis.

What to Submit

5.1 What the employer letter should include

• Company letterhead, signed by a manager or the human resources department
• The applicant's full name and job title(s)
• Start and end dates (month/year), and whether the role was full- or part-time
• The applicant's main duties, as specifically as possible (for example, “planned and led 12 projects with budgets up to $200,000”)
• The signer's name, title, email address and telephone number, so Windsor can confirm the letter

Applicants should remove or black out salary and confidential company information before uploading. Documents not in English need a certified English translation.

How a Request Is Evaluated

1. Completeness check (Admissions Office, within 2 business days). Admissions confirms that all four documents have been received. If anything is missing, the applicant is emailed once with the list. An incomplete request is held for 14 days and then closed; it can be submitted again before the course starts.
2. Verification (Admissions Office). Admissions confirms the employer letter or record with the issuer by email or telephone and records who confirmed it and when.
3. Outcome-by-outcome review (faculty assessor). A faculty member qualified in the subject compares the evidence with each learning outcome of the Windsor course and marks each outcome Met or Not met, noting the document that supports it.
4. Decision. The assessor applies the decision rule in Section 07.
5. Written decision (Admissions Office). The applicant receives a Prior Learning Experience Evaluation letter within 10 business days of a complete request (Section 10).

Decision Rule

When credit is not awarded, the letter lists the outcomes that were not shown, so the applicant can submit a new request with additional evidence before the course starts.

Reading Years of Experience

Assessors use this table to weigh experience. It is a guide, not a rule: the decision is always the outcome-by-outcome match in Section 07.

Worked Examples

9.1 Three years as a project coordinator → Project Management (credit awarded)

Result: 7 of 8 outcomes Met (88%). Three credits awarded for Project Management, recorded as TR – Prior Learning Experience.

9.2 Three years as a sales representative → Marketing and Sales Management (credit awarded after one work sample)

Sales techniques, customer relations, segment targeting, ethics and sales tools were Met (5 of 8, 63%). Market research and advertising campaigns were not shown. Because the result was close, the assessor asked for one work sample; the applicant sent a regional marketing plan they wrote, and 6 of 8 outcomes (75%) were then Met. Credit awarded.

9.3 Three years as a recruiter → Human Resources (not awarded)

Recruitment and selection, and employee relations, were Met (2 of 6, 33%). Compensation and benefits, HR policy development, change management and the overall HR function were not part of the job. Not awarded: the student takes the course. The letter lists the outcomes that were not shown.

9.4 Four years as a military officer leading a unit → Organizational Leadership (credit awarded)

The DD-214 and Joint Services Transcript confirm rank, role and leadership training, and the statement shows team leadership, motivation, conflict handling and leading change in an organization. Most outcomes Met: credit awarded.

How the Decision Is Communicated

Every applicant receives a Prior Learning Experience Evaluation letter by email. It always includes:

• Each course requested and the decision: Credit awarded or Not awarded.
• Which learning outcomes were Met and which were not, in plain language.
• The credits awarded and how they appear on the transcript: TR – Prior Learning Experience, with no grade and not counted in the GPA.
• The updated study plan, the remaining courses and the adjusted tuition (only courses taken at Windsor are charged).
• The right to appeal once, within 30 days (Section 13).

The student confirms the updated study plan before the first affected term, and the adjusted tuition is shown in the enrollment agreement.

Limits

• Credit for Prior Learning Experience may cover no more than 50% of a program: at most 15 of the MBA's 30 credit hours.
• It counts toward the same 15-credit maximum as transfer credit, ACE credit and MicroMasters credit. At least 15 credit hours, including the Graduation Thesis, are completed at Windsor.
• The Graduation Thesis cannot be replaced.
• In any diploma or undergraduate program, at least 25% of the credits must be earned at Windsor.

Recording, Fees and Records

• Transcript: listed under the Windsor course it replaces, marked TR, with the source “Prior Learning Experience”. It earns no grade points and is not used in the GPA or academic standing.
• Student file: the request, résumé, proof document, statement, verification note, evaluation record and decision letter are kept in the student's file, showing the basis on which credit was awarded.
• Fees: the evaluation is free. Students pay tuition only for the courses they take at Windsor.

Appeals and Integrity

• Appeal: a student may appeal once, in writing to [email protected], within 30 days of the evaluation letter, with any new evidence. A faculty member who was not involved in the first review decides within 15 business days, and that decision is final.
• Integrity: false, altered or exaggerated documents lead to denial of admission or, if found later, cancellation of the credit and dismissal under the Academic Integrity policy.