Could years of work count as college credit?
I was back in touch with Baker College as a re-entry student. I had been away for at least a quarter and wanted to change the program to a bachelor's degree in information systems, focused on project management and planning.
The reason was straightforward. Most of my career had moved into director and executive roles where the work matched the degree better than the original path did.
I attached a resume and my LinkedIn profile. The resume showed years of systems administration, network work, data centers, hiring, budgets, and technology leadership. I asked whether any of that could be applied toward credits.
The degree had been hanging around for a long time. I started college in molecular biology, moved into technology, and left short of finishing. Work accelerated faster than school did. Each new role made the practical case for my career stronger while making the unfinished academic part look stranger.
Now I was the CTO of a small hosting company in New York, asking a re-entry advisor what the next step was.
There was no attempt to hide the gap. I wanted the program that fit the work I was actually doing and a realistic accounting of what I had already learned outside a classroom.
Some of that learning was technical. Much of it was not. Building teams, setting priorities, managing vendors, explaining risk, and deciding what not to build had become as important as configuring the systems themselves.
The request went to the registrar for review. I did not know how many old credits would transfer or whether work experience would count.
I did know I wanted to finish the loose end without pretending the years between school and now had not happened.
The question was sitting with the college: can the work count?