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Chart of beneficial course waiver for each degree pathway

We encourage any student who thinks they may have sufficient experience and competence in the material of a course to attempt the skill-based waiver. It’s often helpful to look at the syllabi for each course, which can be found in the UMSI Course Catalog, to see how familiar you are with the topics covered. 

 

The table below indicates course waivers that may be more beneficial to each degree pathway, though students may choose to attempt any available waiver.

Process Overview

All skill based waiver assessments are designed for MSI / MHI students to demonstrate their proficiency in a particular subject area. All required pieces will be completed on the SI Course Waivers Canvas page, which all MSI/MHI students will be automatically added to. The process will take place in three parts, each of which must be completed before the next will be available: (1) request form, (2) online assessment, (3) interview. Students will only be invited to interview if the online assessment is passed within the stated threshold. All components must be passed to be approved for the waiver. 

 

Please note, MSI / MHI students may only attempt each waiver one time throughout their time at UMSI.

Skill-based Waiver Process

For each eligible course, all components are set up as assignments on the SI Course Waivers Canvas page. If a student would like to attempt to waive multiple courses, these steps must be completed separately for each.

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  1. Assessment Submissions: During a designated submission period, students complete the following items on the SI Course Waivers Canvas page. 

a. Submit the Skill-Based Waiver Request Form for each course you will attempt to waive. 

b. Complete the Waiver Exam

i. The exam for each course is only made available after the Skill-Based Waiver Request Form has been submitted.

ii. The waiver exam must be completed in a single, continuous attempt. Students may take up to ninety (90) minutes to complete the assessment. For waiver exams that have multiple parts, students will have up to ninety (90) continuous minutes to complete EACH part. It is acceptable to break between parts but all parts must be submitted within one waiver period. 

iii. The entire exam must be completed independently. All waiver exams include the materials and resources allowed to be used to complete the assessment. Many of the exams are entirely “closed book”. At no time are you allowed to use:

  • Generative AI

  • Google

  • Friends/colleagues 

  • Websites not linked in the waiver exam. 

c. Exam Grading 

i. Exam parts may be manually graded or auto-graded. The grading method will be indicated clearly within the instructions of the exam part. 

  1. Scores for auto-graded exam parts will be shown immediately after completion.

  2. Scores for manually graded exam parts will be entered to Canvas within 3 business days of submission (no grading will be done on Saturdays and Sundays).

ii. Exams with more than one assessment part may have both auto-graded and manually-graded parts.​

iii. With a score of 85% or higher on all exam parts, an interview can be scheduled.

iv. With a score of 84% or lower on any exam part, the waiver request will be denied.

d. Schedule the Interview

i. Once a score of 85% or higher is entered for all exam parts, a final assignment will be opened within the Canvas course waiver module giving the student a unique link to schedule their interview. This assignment will be available for 7 days.

  1. An email notification will be sent when the ‘schedule your interview’ assignment is opened.

  2. A reminder email will be sent each day for 6 consecutive days if the interview is not scheduled.

  3. If an interview has not been scheduled after 7 days, the assignment will close and the waiver request will be denied.

ii. All interview slots available for the following 5 business days will be shown upon entering the scheduling platform. The interview should be completed as soon as possible after the online exam is submitted.

iii. A Google calendar invitation will be automatically generated when scheduling the interview. This calendar invitation will include the Zoom link for the video interview and a link to reschedule if needed.

iv.  Rescheduling an Interview

  1. Every effort should be made to attend the interview session as originally scheduled.

  2. Students can reschedule their interview without assistance up to 4 hours prior to the scheduled start time using the link provided in the calendar invitation. 

  3. If an extenuating circumstance arises that requires a student to reschedule within 4 hours of the scheduled start time, please email umsi-waivers@umich.edu. 

  4. If a scheduled interview is missed without notice, it will be considered “failed” and the waiver request will be denied.

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2. Complete the Interview

a. The interview will take no more than 15 minutes, during which the student will be asked questions pertaining to their exam responses to further assess understanding. 

b. Interviews will take place via video conference and will be recorded. Students MUST have their video on through the entirety of the interview.

c. The interview will be graded pass/fail. Results will NOT be shared at the end of the interview. 

i. To pass, the student would demonstrate a similar level of understanding and competence in the subject-matter as demonstrated on the exam. If the exam was completed independently and without additional resources, as instructed, the interview portion should be a clear ‘pass’.

ii. If the student’s demonstrated level of competence and understanding of the subject matter is significantly lower than was demonstrated on the exam, the interview will be graded “fail”. This should only occur if other sources of information and assistance were used to complete the exam. 

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3. Decision Confirmations

a. Assessment scores and the pass/fail grade for the interview (if applicable) will be posted to the assignment in Canvas. 

b. A confirmation email with the final decision to approve or deny the waiver request will be sent to each student for each submitted waiver request.

c. If the waiver request was approved, the waiver will be applied to the student record. If a waiver request is denied, the student will be expected to complete the course as needed to fulfill any degree and prerequisite requirements. For each course, a waiver may only be attempted one time throughout a student's time with UMSI.

d. Regardless of the decision for any waiver request, no details about specific errors, content, or responses will be shared with any student. 

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4. Student Evaluation (Optional)

We encourage students to give their feedback about their experience with this process. Each decision confirmation email will include a link to complete an evaluation form. 

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Timeline for Submissions & Decisions

Requests and assessment submissions for skill-based waivers are only accepted during designated periods. 

 

Currently there are three planned submission periods: 

1. First two weeks of June

2. First week of August

3. Second week of October

 

All periods will open on a Monday morning and close on a Sunday night. 

Specific dates and times will be published to the SI Course Waivers Canvas page and communicated via email. 

 

Decision confirmations will be sent on Fridays, typically within 10 days of completion.

  1. For those who completed an interview, the decision confirmation will be sent no later than the Friday of the following week. . 

  2. For those who did not pass the exam, the confirmation will be sent the Friday following the submission period closing.

Criteria for Approval

For a skill-based waiver to be approved, the student must receive a minimum of 85% on each portion of the Waiver Exam AND pass the interview.

Technical Support

Throughout the designated submission periods, support staff will be available by email to umsi-waivers@umich.edu and live during office hours. Time and location (zoom link) for office hours will be posted to the SI Course Waivers Canvas page and communicated via email before each submission period begins. 

 

Please ensure you have a stable internet connection for the online examination as it may only be attempted once. If a genuine technical error occurs that prevents completing the assessment in a single, continuous attempt, the student should immediately email umsi-waivers@umich.edu. The Waivers Support Team will confirm the error using the server logs and grant access to a second, alternative assessment attempt. Only one alternative assessment will be provided for technical issues. 

 

The team is happy to help with technical issues and those related to the function of the assessment or platform. However, no assistance can be provided with regard to the content, response expectations, question intent, or other information that may skew an individual’s demonstrated competency. 

Testing Accomodations

Please complete this form to request testing accommodations for the SI Skill-Based Waiver Exams. Testing accommodation requests are required to include an “Official Accommodation Letter” from Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD).

 

Requests for accommodations should be submitted by the start of the waiver submission period. While we will make every effort to accommodate requests received after the submission period has begun, students who submit late accommodation requests may be encouraged to complete the process in the next session. 

 

Please contact umsi-waivers@umich.edu with any questions or concerns.

What Can I Do to Prepare for the Waiver Exam?

We do not recommend any specific preparation or study ahead of taking the waiver exam. We want the performance to be an accurate representation of current understanding and expertise. 

 

You should review the syllabus for any course you are attempting to waive to ensure you have a good understanding of the content and concepts that are covered by the course. A bulleted list for the key concepts can be found here.

 

If you are nervous about the waiver exam or interview, you can come to waiver office hours. We won’t be able to answer any questions about specific exam content, but you can meet some of the folks that do the interviews, test your zoom connections, and say hello!

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