Ian Whelan, a May 2019 graduate of Bloomsburg University with a BA in Russian/Eastern European Studies, sat for an interview on Tuesday, 28 May 2019 about his experience with the BU Military Academic Credit Review Board (MAC-RB), experience that helped to speed his degree completion. Mr. Whelan is a senior Airman and member of the Air Force Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) based in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. He spoke with William V. Hudon, professor of history, and co-chair of the MAC-RB.
Hudon: Since it didn’t exist when you arrived at BU, I presume the MAC-RB was not part of your decision to enroll. What attracted you to Bloomsburg?
Whelan: Yes, I arrived in the fall of 2017, and I never heard about the MAC-RB until a year later, in the fall of 2018. I came to BU because of the bachelor’s degree program in Russian and Eastern European Studies. It fit with the work I was doing in TACP, with the Pennsylvania State Partnership for Peace. My Russian language skills meant a bump in pay, and those skills, plus my growing knowledge of eastern European cultures, helped a great deal on my deployments in Lithuania, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic in the summer and fall of 2018.
I chose BU over Westchester and Slippery Rock, but for the degree program. Oddly, they both offered more transfer credit hours for my Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) courses than BU did, at least initially. Westchester offered fourteen hours, and Slippery Rock sixteen, while BU offered only six.
Hudon: But in the end, MAC-RB made an important difference in your degree completion?
Whelan: In making a difference for finishing the degree? Well, if you figured it on a scale of one-to-ten, the positive difference MAC-RB made for me was a twelve. It was the best thing that happened to help me complete the degree. I gained 19 credits through the MAC-RB. I had already done a lot of general education requirements in community college courses, so these nineteen credit hours were a big help.
Hudon: We’re always seeking to improve the MAC-RB process. What were, from your point of view, the best and worst things about the review process?
Whelan: The best part was working with Bob Heckrote. He was really clear about what he needed from me to make the process work. The bad part was that there seemed to be a lot of administrative red tape. The first layer was Bob, and there was a lot to do. It shouldn’t all be on him. We got started in the fall term [2018], and the final approval from the administration didn’t come through until three days before graduation [spring 2019].
Hudon: What advice would you give to other military students considering review through the MAC-RB?
Whelan: I would tell students to fully invest in it. You have work to do to document things you have done, but the process is here to help you. Put everything on the table, because it can benefit you. Students may be fearful of the process, but use me as an example: it was really nice to gain credits above what I was taking at BU. Push on generating the documentation: you WILL get something out of it.
