STEPS Introduces New Intake Process for Certificates and Academies

On September 1, the Admissions office began facilitating, through a pilot, the intake process of most of the certificates and all of the academy offerings (certificates that are skill-based and non financial aid-able, and academies offered through the Center for Adult Learning). 

In the past, students needed to identify their intent to a Center office to complete a certificate, sometimes after they completed the courses. There was no official designation of the accomplishment on the transcript and a certificate of completion had to be manually produced. Now, through an online application, students will be able to show their intent for admittance to certificates and academies. 

With successful admittance, they will enjoy some of the same benefits as our program students, such as:

- Designation on the student’s transcript showing completion
- Priority registration over the general public
- Progress viewable by using the myMadisonCollege Student Center Degree Audit
- A standardized paper certificate of completion automatically sent to the student in recognition their achievement.

The pilot of the online certificate application includes automatic admittance to certificates that have no admission requirements. Applications to certificates with additional admission requirements will continue to be reviewed by Learner Success Center offices for admittance (students need to contact the Center office for information about the application process). For more information about the application processes and unique requirements, visit the certificate web pages. Admissions PDFs, similar to those available on program web pages, are currently in development.

The online certificate application allows more than one application to be submitted per term, unlike the online program application, and a $15 non-refundable fee is charged for each online certificate application submitted. The same fee applies to paper applications. This fee will automatically cover the cost of providing the paper certificate of completion upon successful conclusion of the courses. Online application to academies is accessible only through the Department of Workforce Development, with an “Administrative Use Only” field available for staff.

Congratulations to STEPS Certificate Management project team members Ali Zarrinnam, Annie Neuberger, Fran Moritz, Peri Mills, Jennifer Hoege, Lori McRoberts, Turina Bakken and Stephanie Dean, and all who helped with this project!

Questions?
Contact SDean[at] matcmadison [dot] edu (Stephanie Dean) at (608) 246-6222.