Page 1 UPDATE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MARCH 2004 Community College Transfer Credit Current Trends and Challenges June 8, 2010

Page 2 Articulation Agreements Come in Many Forms Blanket Agreements—approval (in one fell swoop) of all courses taught at community college as completely transferable—e.g. Florida General Education Articulation Agreements— e.g. California’s Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum. Major Articulation Agreements in particular majors or fields of study, e.g. the CSU system.

Page 3 Articulation Agreements Come in Many Forms Transfer AA Degrees (“Transfer Guarantee Programs”)—e.g. in Washington, Oregon, North Carolina, New Jersey, Arizona, and other states. Course-by-Course or Ad Hoc Articulation Agreements, e.g. use of relational databases to identify transfer opportunities on a course-by- course basis.

Page 4 Challenges to the Institutions Good quality control requires faculty to come together to monitor and, at times (gulp!), adjust their curricula. More than just bookkeeping, however. The process is often viewed as being at odds with the notion of academic freedom and the right of faculty to decide what constitutes the “appropriate” curricula and, for that matter, what constitutes a baccalaureate degree.

Page 5 Challenges to States Legislators are eager to come to the rescue with policies that mandate credit acceptance—whether the courses are essentially equivalent or not. (“I mean, after all, isn’t calculus calculus?”). What if seemingly logical and simple policies—such as creating common course numbers for all public institutions—don’t take into account the variability of standards, instructional quality, and rigor?

Page 6 A Few Modest Guiding Principles Create a division of labor among 2-year and 4-year faculty that fosters mutual trust. Ensure that student articulation agreements serve the academic needs of students and not simply those of institutions. Expand the definition of articulation to include not just institutional policies or state legislative actions but also the broader notion of student college and career planning. Invest in web-based technologies to ease the process.

Page 7 Articulation Policies that Meet Broad Goals Create a suite of planning and advising resources, online and face-to-face, that meet student needs. Student Achievement Faculty dialogue State policies that support faculty collaboration Use technology to enhance articulation