Fall 2021 Dual Credit Briefing Page
Fall 2021 Dual Credit Briefing
for
Counselors, Administrators, and Site Facilitators
Updated 08/23/2021
Notice to students and parents: This information is intended for distribution to schools and districts only and may contain details that do not apply to your local district’s participation in MTDA services. If you are interested in enrolling in courses with Montana Digital Academy, your first contact should be with the counseling department or administration of your local public school to discuss what is available locally. MTDA does not take enrollments directly from students or their parents.
New for Fall 2021
From Fall 2021 forward, MTDA will treat our dual credit courses as a separate term and program, due to the significant difference in setup and requirements. Site facilitators and administrators must remain mindful of the fact that dual credit courses have increased rigor and requirements of students and should be utilized only when it is an appropriate placement for students.
Cost-Sharing Information
Per an agreement with the Office of the Commissioner of High Education, MTDA will not require a cost-sharing payment for our dual credit catalog for the 2021-2022 school year.
However, site facilitators and administrators should aware of the fact that a dual credit option should not be utilized as an alternative to MTDA’s original credit program simply because of the cost differential. Dual credit courses are more demanding of students and require registration for college credit with the appropriate institution.
Registration
- Please review our student registration page for information on data collection, entrance counseling, and student registration in the site facilitator handbook. (Note: New handbook release pending.)
- Please be mindful of course requirements and prerequisites. We rely on local school officials to determine appropriate placement in MTDA programs and services. If you are in doubt about particular course placements, please contact the MTDA support desk for guidance and advice. Dual credit courses are typically limited by our partner colleges to students of junior and senior standing that are at least 16 years of age. Schools are responsible for working with any students that don’t meet that criteria to fill out the appropriate waiver with our partner college.
- As noted in our facilitator handbook, each student account must have an accurate, unique, and functioning email address for each student enrolled in the system. If your district’s student email system blocks outside emails, please work with your IT department to unblock MTDA email addresses BEFORE enrolling. Additionally note, Apple iCloud.com addresses do not allow access to many automated email systems; please use an alternative.
- Registration for Fall 2021 dual credit courses is open now. We will again enforce an “Initial Course Request Deadline” on Wednesday, September 1, 2021. MTDA will finalize sections on that day and assign teachers. We may or may not have additional slots open in any particular course after this day. If you choose to enroll a student on or after the course start date on September 7, 2021, you must play an active role in helping that student get in the course and catch up to pace. Students that are enrolled after the course starts have a significantly higher drop rate and ultimately lower success rate.
- Please use the enrollment counseling forms when enrolling students and give a copy of the form to the student after enrollment. This form helps decrease confusion on behalf of the student and their parents and opens up communication lines. Our enrollment counseling page is here: LINK.
Program Information
- Our course list for 2021 is here: LINK.
- Our 2021-2022 Academic Calendar is located here: LINK.
- Our 2021-2022 course catalog and course offering lists are located here: LINK.
- Significant program changes (please check back here for an up-to-date list):
- New Courses
- US History I (Dual Credit) is a Social Studies/History course that covers the first half of US history (US History II will be offered in Spring 2022)
- Canceled Courses
- Elementary Spanish I (Dual Credit) will not be offered during the 2021-2022 school year.
- New Courses
- Course Enrollment Limitations
- All dual credit courses are candidates for a course cap due to the need for staff that qualify for faculty status at our partner colleges in Montana.
- NCAA: If you are considering MTDA courses for a student that could be a future NCAA athlete, be sure to review our page regarding MTDA and the NCAA.
- IEPs/504 information: If you have a student that has 504 or IEP accommodations, please review required procedures for sharing accommodation requests in our site facilitator handbook (short link to specific pages: link)
Specific Course College Registration Requirements
Joy and Beauty of Computing (Helena College)
Joy and Beauty of Computing is available via a partnership between Montana Digital Academy and our valued partner, Helena College. This course is a semester-long course that results in three college credits.
MTDA also offers a high school version of this course. Facilitators must be careful to enroll students in the appropriate section, as we cannot move students from one format to the other.
The Montana University System’s “One, Two, Free” initiative allows for up to six college credits at no tuition rate for Montana high school students. This program applies to this course.
Registration Timelines and Information
- Students must first be registered in MTDA systems, per the semester briefing information above.
- Then, students must complete paperwork with Helena College to register for college credit. All required paperwork is available at Helena College’s Dual Enrollment website: click here for Helena College’s Dual Enrollment website.
- Registration deadlines are set by Helena College and are firm. Students must meet all requirements to qualify for dual credit. Students that do not complete registration will be dropped from the MTDA course with no exceptions. This course is not available for high school only credit in the dual credit section. If you want only high school credit, you must enroll in the high school credit only section before the MTDA enrollment deadline, no exceptions.
- Dual Enrollment applications are due to Helena College by 5 pm on Thursday, September 16, 2021.
- You may speed this process along by emailing the application materials to Stephanie Hunthausen at Helena College, Stephanie.hunthausen@helenacollege.edu.
- This course is listed as CSCI 107, Joy and Beauty of Computing, 3 Credits, Buffy Smith (Instructor), CRN: 75348
If you have any questions regarding the application, registration, or placement process, please contact Stephanie Hunthausen, Director of K-12 Partnerships, at 406-447-6993.
Contemporary Mathematics (Helena College)
Contemporary Mathematics is available via a partnership between Montana Digital Academy and our valued partner, Helena College. This course is a semester-long course that results in three college credits.
The Montana University System’s “One, Two, Free” initiative allows for up to six college credits at no tuition rate for Montana high school students. This program applies to this course.
Registration Timelines and Information
- Students must first be registered in MTDA systems, per the semester briefing information above.
- Then, students must complete paperwork with Helena College to register for college credit. All required paperwork is available at Helena College’s Dual Enrollment website: click here for Helena College’s Dual Enrollment website.
- Registration deadlines are set by Helena College and are firm. Students must meet all requirements to qualify for dual credit. Students that do not complete registration will be dropped from the MTDA course with no exceptions. This course is not available for high school only credit.
- Contemporary Mathematics typically requires a minimum placement score on the ACT, SAT, or Accuplacer exam administered by Helena College. However, for the Fall 2021 term, those requirements have been waived. However, a special math placement form must be completed and returned with registration materials. The link to that form is here: click here for the required dual credit math placement form.
- Dual Enrollment applications are due to Helena College by 5 pm on Thursday, September 16, 2021.
- You may speed this process along by emailing the application materials to Stephanie Hunthausen at Helena College, Stephanie.hunthausen@helenacollege.edu.
- This course is listed as M 105, Contemporary Mathematics, 3 Credits, Nancy Bailey (Instructor), CRN: 75349
If you have any questions regarding the application, registration, or placement process, please contact Stephanie Hunthausen, Director of K-12 Partnerships, at 406-447-6993.
US History I (Missoula College)
US History I is available via a partnership between Montana Digital Academy and our valued partner, Missoula College. This course is a semester-long course that results in three college credits. A companion course, US History II, will be offered in our Spring 2022 term.
The Montana University System’s “One, Two, Free” initiative allows for up to six college credits at no tuition rate for Montana high school students. This program applies to this course.
Registration Timelines and Information
- Start by filling out and submitting the Application Creation information: link.
- For the first question Are you a Montana High School/Home School student seeking to earn college credit through the UM Dual Enrollment Program before you graduate High School? Select Yes.
- Open the email that was sent from the University of Montana (BeAGriz@umontana.edu) with your application login details.
- Create an application account password (record this password for later).
- Under Your Applications click on the Dual Enrollment Application.
- Complete all application sections.
- Under Application Information
- If you are applying for American History I or Precalculus you will apply for Fall 2021.
- Under Course Selection enter the course title and select Dual Credit, depending on which class(es) you are taking:
- American History I – DA
- Under the Approvals selection add two approvers, the first one is the School Approval and should be a representative/counselor from your enrolling high school or home school. The second approver should be the Parent/Guardian Approval. Please let each approver know that they should expect an email from BeAGriz@umontana.edu.
- The final step is to Review and press Submit Application. If there are any errors this is where you will see them. You will need to fix those errors before you will be able to submit your application.
- Under Application Information
- All applications must be complete by September 15, 2021. Students that do not complete the college registration process will be dropped from the MTDA course with no exceptions. This course is not available for high school only credit.
If you have any questions regarding the application, registration, or placement process, please contact Jordan Patterson, Director of Dual Enrollment, at 406-552-8689.
Pre-Calculus (Missoula College)
Pre-Calculus is available via a partnership between Montana Digital Academy and our valued partner, Missoula College. This course is a year-long course that results in three (4) college credits. Students must take both semesters of the course to qualify for college credit.
The Montana University System’s “One, Two, Free” initiative allows for up to six college credits at no tuition rate for Montana high school students. This program applies to this course.
Registration Timelines and Information
- Start by filling out and submitting the Application Creation information: link.
- For the first question Are you a Montana High School/Home School student seeking to earn college credit through the UM Dual Enrollment Program before you graduate High School? Select Yes.
- Open the email that was sent from the University of Montana (BeAGriz@umontana.edu) with your application login details.
- Create an application account password (record this password for later).
- Under Your Applications click on the Dual Enrollment Application.
- Complete all application sections.
- Under Application Information
- If you are applying for American History I or Precalculus you will apply for Fall 2021.
- Under Course Selection enter the course title and select Dual Credit, depending on which class(es) you are taking:
- Precalculus – DA
- Under the Approvals selection add two approvers, the first one is the School Approval and should be a representative/counselor from your enrolling high school or home school. The second approver should be the Parent/Guardian Approval. Please let each approver know that they should expect an email from BeAGriz@umontana.edu.
- The final step is to Review and press Submit Application. If there are any errors this is where you will see them. You will need to fix those errors before you will be able to submit your application.
- Under Application Information
- All applications must be complete by September 15, 2021. Students that do not complete the college registration will be dropped from the MTDA course with no exceptions. This version of this course is not available for high school only credit. If you are seeking only high school credit, enroll in the high school original credit version of this course. We can’t move students from one format to the other.
If you have any questions regarding the application, registration, or placement process, please contact Jordan Patterson, Director of Dual Enrollment, at 406-552-8689.