This document provides an overview of the process for evaluating coursework from other California Community Colleges (CCC) to determine how the courses fulfill general education and degree requirements at Sierra College. It outlines 7 steps for this evaluation: 1) Review Sierra College's degree requirements, 2) Locate the transfer CCC's catalog, 3) Compare the transfer CCC's degree patterns to Sierra's, 4) Consider reciprocity agreements, 5) Use course descriptions to determine equivalencies, 6) Recognize the need for flexibility in evaluations, 7) Eventually use ASSIST and CID websites to check the work. The goal is to train critical reading, attention to detail, and the ability to research and evaluate each school's catalog

1. Last updated4/4/16 J.Ward
STEP 2: Evaluating Other CCC & Sierra College Degree Requirements - No Assist or CIDs! 2016
4
PROCESS OVERVIEW
Purpose: We want to train you to be a critical reader, refine yourattentiontodetail, andteachyouto
readbetweenthe lines, asthese are all essentialpartsof academicevaluation. Since general
education/degreerequirementattributes forCaliforniaCommunityColleges(CCC) cannotbe foundon
the ASSISTor CID websites,the abilitytothoroughly researchandevaluate eachschool’scatalogto
determine howitscoursesare used towardan AA/ASiscrucial.You will be doingalotof reading!
ResourcesUsed:
 CollegeSource/TES
 Physical orOnline versionof the SierraCollege Catalog
 Yellow“SierraCollege A.A.orA.S.Degree Requirements”sheet
EVALUATIONFOR SIERRA COLLEGE ATTRIBUTES AND EQUIVALENCIES
Initial transcriptreviewshouldalreadybe complete!
1. SierraCollege Requirements
Open Sierra’scatalogto the page whichcontainsour Associate Degree Requirements(inthe
physical 2015-2016 catalog, itstarts on page 250), andhave your yellow sheetonhand.
2. Locate the TransferCCC Catalog
Use TES to pull upthe appropriate catalogforthe transferCCC.To search for a school,firstuse
the “Course Finder” feature,andthenselectthe appropriatecatalogyearwhichyouwouldlike
to view. Thiswill openanewtabin yourbrowser,soyou can lookat the catalog andcourse
descriptionssimultaneously.
A 2015-2016 catalog includesinformationfor coursestaken Fall 2015 – Summer2016.
3. TransferCCC Degree Requirements
Searchthe transferschool’s catalogtofind the GE Patternand/orDegree Requirementspage.
Compare thispatternto ours to helpdetermine if andhow the transferredcoursesfulfill Sierra
College DegreeRequirements. Keepinmindthatsome coursesare trulyjustelectives,andthey
may notfulfill anydegreerequirementsatall.
4. Reciprocity
We can alwaysuse a course the same way the transferCCC uses itto satisfy theirGE/Graduation
Requirements, BUT…if the course is deemedequivalenttoone of our owncourses,we can also
use it inthe areas we’duse ourclass.

2. Last updated4/4/16 J.Ward
STEP 2: Evaluating Other CCC & Sierra College Degree Requirements - No Assist or CIDs! 2016
5
HIST 311 fromAmerican RiverCollege,takenFall 2014:
 Thiscourse is equivalenttoourHIST 17B.
 ARC doesnotuse this course to fulfill theirMulticultural Studiesrequirement,
howeverwe do.
 Therefore,thiscourse wouldbe appliedtoAreaFof our GE Breadth(Multicultural
Studies).
5. Equivalencies
Utilize the course comparisonfeature of TES(the yellow puzzle piece icon) tocompare the
transferinstitution’scourse descriptionstoSierra’s coursesand determine if anequivalency
exists.
 transferred coursethatis the sameas(or theequivalentof) oneof ourcourses.
Make sure to thoroughlyread the contentof the course,andthinkaboutthe following:
 Content– doesthe contentof the transferredcourse matchthatof our course?
 Prerequisites –are theysimilartoour course?
 Sequence of courses –where doesthisclassfall inthe sequence? The “Course
DescriptionData Set” feature inTES comesin handyhere.
 Is thiscourse a prerequisiteforanyothercoursesat the transferCCC?
 How isthiscourse usedindifferentdegree programsatthe transferCCC?
 Can youfinda syllabusonline?(Googleisyourfriendhere!)
6. Foodfor Thought - Flexibility
Unfortunately,the evaluationof academiccourseworkrequiresnotonlyaTON of time and
research,butalsoa lotof readingbetweenthe lines. We mustbe flexible whenevaluatingand
accept that thingsare not alwaysinblackand white.Everydaywe are puttingtogetherthe
piecesof a puzzle tocome to our determinations.
7. AssistandCID Websites
Eventuallyyou willgettouse these resourcestocheckyourwork (we promise!)