The State of Articulation and Transfer for Maryland's Community College Students

Kori Smith University System of Maryland Tuesday April 3, 2012 Session ID: #324

Session Agenda I. Initiatives that foster the “smoothing” of

transfer pathways for Maryland’s community college students   Technologies   Statewide Academic Policies  Other Initiatives

II. Effectiveness of Efforts

III. Contributing Factors to The Effectiveness of These Initiatives

IV. Areas for Possible Improvement

V. Final Thoughts/Looking Toward the Future

The “Lay of the Land”   16 Community Colleges   13 Four-Year Public Institutions

  11 are University System of Maryland institutions

  30 Independent Institutions

Coordinating Structures Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC)

  coordinates the growth and development of Higher Education in Maryland   establishes statewide policies for public and private colleges and universities

and for private career schools.

Six Higher Education Segments

  Maryland Association of Community Colleges (MACC)

  Maryland Independent Colleges and and Universities Association (MICUA)

  University System of Maryland (USM)

  Morgan State University

  St. Mary’s College of Maryland

  Private Career Schools

Technology: ARTSYS

ARTSYS – The Articulation System for the State of Maryland

  A computerized information system created to facilitate the transfer of students from Maryland community colleges to the University of Maryland System institutions and other participating institutions.

  1989 Course and articulation system developed, 1993 dynamic web based system created

  Allows students and advisors to ascertain the transferability status of each community college course, by indicating equivalencies and General Education area(s).

  Also outlines, in community college language, the recommended courses for specific programs of study at the participating institutions.

ARTSYS Continued…

  Features a transcript option for students which determines the status of courses, compares them with the recommended transfer programs, and computes grade point averages.

  In conjunction with the electronic transfer of transcripts, enables the receiving institution to evaluate the student's record and provide information about the student's standing upon transfer.

ARTSYS Usage: 2007 -2011

3,400,000

3,500,000

3,600,000

3,700,000

3,800,000

3,900,000

4,000,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Number of Viewed Pages

Number of Viewed Pages

ARTSYS Student Benefits   Self advising tool available through any

Internet browser

 “Comparison shopping” for all public institutions and currently eight private participating institutions

 Credit Evaluations prior to formal application

  Transcript information can be revisited on system through community college matriculation

Technology: Electronic Transcripts (ET)

  In operation since 1991

  Sending institutions transmit transcripts electronically to the repository by the sending institutions

  Receiving institutions can electronically retrieve the via the Internet.

  From 2007 to the end of 2011, 438,909 transcripts have been sent and received.

Benefits of Electronic Transcripts

  Transcripts can be sent to their prospective institutions within a matter of minutes, instead of weeks.

  Evaluations of course credits (with assistance from the ARTSYS system) have been reduced to seconds, instead of days.

Technology: Maryland Transfer Portal

http://mdtransfer.usmd.edu

 Information site for Maryland’s Transfer Students

Benefits of the Maryland Transfer Portal   Website created specifically with transfer students in mind.

  Large amount of helpful information in one place

 Includes helpful information such as detailing steps on How To Transfer, an explanation of the structure of the General Education Program, and contact information for Transfer Coordinators at all participating Maryland institutions.

Maryland Transfer Portal continued…

 Developed in 2007

Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR)   October, 1993: University System of Maryland and the

Maryland Association of Community Colleges meet to discuss common interests and issues and identify general education core as priority area for articulation

  January 1995: Maryland Inter-segmental Chief Academic Officers respond to Maryland Higher Education Commission with alternative language for regulation

  Fall 1996: COMAR Title 13B.06.01 General Education and Transfer (http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/) implemented

Policy: General Education COMAR 13B.06.01.04

http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/getfile.aspx?file=13b.06.01.04.htm

 Maryland Community College courses designated as meeting General Education will be accept by all four year public institutions as meeting General Education.

 A completed general education program shall transfer without further review or approval by the receiving institution and without the need for a course-by-course match

 A student that transfers with an Associate’s degree to a public four year institution will be recognized as completing the lower level portion of the General Education component for the Bachelor’s degree without the need for a course-by-course match.

Benefits of COMAR General Education

Regulation

  Students can be assured that they will not lose General Education credit in transfer.

  Students that complete the Associate’s degree will only have to complete their transfer institution’s upper level General Education requirements for graduation. o  COMAR stipulates that the amount of upper level General Education

credit can range from 10 – 16 credits

o  This equates to an estimated amount of 3 – 6 additional General Education courses.

Guiding Principles and Expectations for Implementation of Policy

http://mdcao.usmd.edu/guid.html

  Developed by the Chief Academic Officers of Maryland’s higher education institutions in conjunction with the development and implementation in 1996 of the General Education and Transfer regulations.

  The purpose was to provide direction for those seeking to interpret the requirements as they are applied across institutions.

  These principles are neither binding nor regulatory but do provide the best thinking of a large and diverse group charged with defining the new relationship among all institutions implicit in the General Education regulations.

Policy: Admissions

COMAR Title 13B.06.01.02-1

http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/getfile.aspx?file=13b.06.01.02-1.htm

 A student that completes an Associate’s degree or 56 credits with a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher while attending a Maryland community college can not be denied admission to a Maryland public four year institution on a space availability basis.

 A student that has not completed an Associate’s degree or has completed less than 56 credits may transfer to a public institution if they academic credentials would have made them admissible as a high school senior and have obtained a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher.

Benefits of COMAR Admissions Regulation  Maryland’s Community College students that

have obtained an approximate amount of credit that equates to about two years of full time enrollment, have an advantage in the admissions process of Maryland’s public institutions.

 Maryland Community College students that were admissible to a Maryland public institution directly from high school, can reconsider entry to that institution during a future semester.

Other Initiatives

Statewide Nursing Articulation

  RN to BSN with 90 credits advanced standing

  Subsequent codification in State Academic Regulations

  Benefits: o  Articulation agreement allows student flexibility to enroll in courses through any participating institution. o  Shorten time to degree due to contractual nature.

Discipline Groups   Bring together Faculty from two and four year institutions   Discussions to assist with alignment of subject competencies on

both two and four year levels   Benefits:

o  Fluid curriculum from first to last year. o  Better communication between faculty.

Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT)   Voluntary collaboration between 2-year and 4-year Education deans &

directors, Arts & Sciences faculty o  Outcomes-based program articulation o  AAT degree requires a minimum 2.75 cum G.P.A. and

satisfactory score and qualifying scores as established by the State Superintendent of Schools on the teacher certification tests approved by the State Board of Education to be awarded the AAT degree.

o  Program transfers as a package Associate of Science in Engineering (ASE)

  Similar framework as AAT

Benefits of the AAT/ASE   Completed degrees transfer to four year institution as a package,

without course to course match.   Students are classified at their transfer institution at around Junior

standing.

Other Initiatives Continued…

Are These Initiatives Working?

  In the MHEC 2008 Community College Graduates Follow-Up Survey Report, it was reported that among respondents who transferred to a four-year institution, the percent who had all credits accepted rose from 12.8% in 1996 to 40.2% in 2008.

  Among this same group, the percent of students who lost 1-6 credits declined from 47.3% to 32.4%, and those who lost over 6 credits declined from 39.9% to 27.5%

  It is important to note that for those who reported the loss of credits, they reported that the reasons were because the transfer institution did not offer comparable courses (46.1%) and because they had earned over 60 credits at the community college (43.6%).

Contributing Aspects to Initiative Effectiveness

Policy

•  Initiatives are weakened without a strong foundation of policy.

•  Although only technically applicable to public institutions, inclusion of private institutions “at the table” encourages voluntary participation.

Inclusion of all Stakeholders “at the table”

All segments are invited to participate and give input.

Ability to emerge from the “Top Down” or the “Bottom Up”

Initiatives have originated from the system or institutional level.

Community College Transfer Students to Maryland Public Institutions

2011 Performance of Maryland Community College Transfer Students at Public Four-Year College and Universities, p.61

Areas for Possible Improvement •  Strengthening communication with Faculty

•  Countering misperceptions of transfer students by legislators, faculty, administrators etc.

•  Creation of databases reflecting two year to two year and four year to four year.

•  Full institutional participation in sending and receiving Electronic Transcripts.

Final Thoughts/Looking Towards the Future   Maryland is far from perfect when it comes to facilitating transfer,

but we take pride in the efforts we have made in the past and are currently making in the present.

  As policymakers on both the state and Federal level are expressing an increase interest in our community colleges (e.g. Obama’s College Completion agenda, National Governor’s Association’s Compete to Complete), the amount of resources designated to these efforts will also increase.

  One of the current “Buzzwords” in relation to transfer students: “Reverse Transfer”, will become exceptionally important as states look to increase the number of higher education graduates.

And now…

Thank You For Your Time!

Kori Smith

Assistant Director of Articulation and Academic Services

University System of Maryland

3300 Metzerott Road

Adelphi, MD 20783 – 1690

ksmith@usmd.edu

(301)455-1962

Resource Links

Maryland ARTSYS

http://artweb.usmd.edu

Maryland Association of Community Colleges:

http://www.mdacc.org

Maryland COMAR – Title 13B.06 General Education and Transfer

http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/SubtitleSearch.aspx?search=13B.06.01

Maryland Independent Colleges and Universities Association

http://www.micua.org

Maryland Higher Education Commission

  Student Guide to Transfer

http://www.mhec.state.md.us/preparing/stuguide.asp

  2011 Undergraduate Transfers Maryland Public Institutions (2008-09)

http://www.mhec.state.md.us/publications/research/AnnualReports/2011UnderTransfMDInst.pdf

  2011 Performance of Maryland Community College Transfer Students at Public Four-Year College and Universities

http://www.mhec.state.md.us/publications/research/AnnualReports/2011PerfCCTransfers(AY08-09).pdf

Maryland Transfer Portal

http://mdtransfer.usmd.edu

National Governor’s Association Compete to Complete

http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/10GREGOIREBROCHURE.PDF

University System of Maryland

http://www.usmd.edu