COTA Meeting Minutes, February 2006

Committee on Transfer and Articulation (COTA)
Missouri Department of Higher Education
February 21, 2006

Approved April 18, 2006

Participants: Evelyn Jorgenson, Marsha Drennon, James Scanlon, Stephen Lehmkuhle, Kandis Smith, Jeanie Crain, Don Doucette, Arlen Dykstra

MDHE Staff: Robert Stein, Laura Vedenhaupt, Jeremy Kintzel

Chair Dr. Evelyn Jorgenson called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.

Approval of Minutes

A motion was made by Dr. Don Doucette and seconded by Dr. Kandis Smith to approve the minutes of the January 17, 2006 conference call. The motion passed unanimously.

CBHE-Recommended High School Core Curriculum

Dr. Robert Stein stated that a letter had been distributed seeking volunteers for the Subcommittee for the Review of Admissions Standards (SRAS). As currently conceived the draft charge to the committee includes the larger framework of admissions standards. Dr. Stein indicated the importance of looking beyond the recommended high school core curriculum in order to have a total context for the review.

It was pointed out that since the work of the Critical Choices Task Force in 1992, some institutions have indicated concerns with the tiered admissions guidelines which were directed to public four-year institutions only, with no guidance to other sectors. Dr. Stephen Lehmkuhle said that current admissions policies, based on combined ACT composite and class rank percentile scores, has negatively impacted some high school students' course-taking patterns. Dr. Lehmkuhle said that the experience of the University of Missouri indicates that the best predictor of freshman post-secondary success is GPA in the core curriculum, which was not incorporated into the policy. In addition, fewer high schools are providing class rank on student transcripts. Dr. Jeanie Crain pointed out that class rank was less meaningful for students from smaller schools, and non-existent for home-schooled students. Dr. Lehmkuhle also suggested that freshman success might be a more important measure of accountability for admissions, given exception rates which are often above the 10 percent guideline set by the CBHE. Dr. James Scanlon said the SRAS should examine the connection between tiered admissions and student socio-economic background. Dr. Scanlon also questioned the current structure given the high exception rates acknowledged by institutions.

Dr. Doucette shared his concern about including developmental education in the review, especially since there is another group already working on this topic. Attendees agreed that the work of the Missouri Developmental Education Consortium (MODEC) should be considered by SRAS and that at least some members should serve as liaisons between the two groups. COTA also discussed the growing use of ACT as a placement instrument, i.e. in Kentucky, and questioned whether it was an appropriate instrument. Dr. Doucette said there is value in offering placement testing to younger students, so they have time to react and emphasized that institutions are best suited to design systems for working with under-prepared students.

Dr. Stein pointed out that COTA could serve as a vehicle for the state to develop admission policies that establish minimum thresholds for access to collegiate level work. Institutional policies would then determine treatment of student below and above state thresholds. This approach would help create consistent messages to high school students about preparation needed for access to collegiate level coursework.

COTA members discussed the advantages of starting with a review of the high school core curriculum guidelines and then moving at a later phase to other admissions criteria. COTA reached consensus that a phased charge to the SRAS would be most appropriate, that Drs. Jorgenson, Crain, and Smith would co-chair the subcommittee, and that MDHE staff would draft a charge for approval by Dr. Jorgenson.

Articulation of Teacher Education Programs

Dr. Doucette said he was working on a task force to discuss the proposed articulated associate of arts in teaching degree (AAT). Drs. Jorgenson and Lehmkuhle planned to attend a MACTE executive committee meeting in Columbia on Friday, February 24, 2006, and a full MACTE meeting was scheduled for March 23, 2006. COTA members discussed concerns that the four-year sector was not involved, and was awaiting the proposal of a degree by two-year institutions. COTA members said that four-year institutions should be involved in preliminary discussions, but that participation by institutions in all sectors would be voluntary. Dr. Doucette indicated that the degree as currently conceived would include the articulated 42-hour block of general education, would require passage of the C-BASE exam, and would be based on mid-preparation benchmarks. Dr. Doucette said some two-year institutions were resistant to replacing current (though varied) articulation agreements. Dr. Dykstra said independent institutions would be interested.

Dual Credit Policy

Dr. Jorgenson said that community colleges were concerned about "bidding wars" for dual credit students, as well as compliance of all institutions regarding faculty qualifications. Dr. Stein said that the Dual Credit Policy directed consistency of tuition/fees across all an institution's dual credit sites, but not consistency with tuition/fees for on-campus instruction. COTA discussed differences in how dual credit instructors (especially secondary teachers) might be compensated by postsecondary institutions. COTA also discussed the value of studying compliance. Dr. Scanlon said that failing to meet faculty compliance guidelines in the Dual Credit Policy would also be an issue of concern for the Higher Learning Commission. Dr. Stein said that IPEDS data does not clearly define "dual credit" for study making it difficult to determine scope and magnitude of this activity in Missouri. In addition, he noted that the U.S. Department of Education has encouraged states to increase the number of Advanced Placement courses offered in high school. Factors for a new dual credit study/survey by COTA might include:

• Scope and magnitude of course offerings and enrollment
• Faculty qualifications
• Tuition charges
• Student eligibility measures
• Structures for program/faculty oversight
• Acceptance of transfer credit
• Grade patterns
• Postsecondary persistence/completion of enrolled students

COTA members discussed the value of "triangulating" a survey by involving secondary schools. Dr. Doucette suggested meeting with high school principals to encourage collaboration with compliant postsecondary institutions. Dr. Stein suggested inviting Dr. Jim King, executive director of the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals, to the April 18, 2006 COTA meeting for further discussion of dual credit.

Transfer and Articulation Conference

Dr. Stein said that a core committee had been formed to plan a Missouri Transfer/Articulation Conference, tentatively scheduled for February 2007. MDHE staff will call a meeting of the initial four sector representatives.

Legislative Updates

Dr. Stein said that the transfer incentive scholarship had not gotten out of committee. COTA discussed the scholarship as designed to encourage baccalaureate completion following an associate's degree. COTA members were informed that one form of the proposed legislation would allow four-year institutions to grant the scholarships to students who had completed associate's degrees at that same institution. Dr. Dykstra said that ICUM had questioned whether independent colleges were appropriately represented in the currently proposed legislation.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 18, 2006, at the MDHE offices in Jefferson City. The meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. in the First Floor Conference Room.