COTA Meeting Minutes October 2004

Participants: Karen Herzog, Steve Lehmkuhle, Jeanie Crain, Karen Finkenkeller, Alton Lacey, Betsy Griffin, Marsha Drennon

MDHE Staff: Robert Stein, Sandra Crews, Susanne Medley, Renee Riley

Guests: Arlen Dykstra, Bill Bott, Nancy Headrick, Gavin Allen, Shawn Bryce

Web Site Demonstration

The meeting began with a working lunch. Renee Riley demonstrated the new MDHE web site. She explained that since the web site was in its first day of operation there were still several kinks to be worked out. She highlighted new features on the web site including the institution/degree search, COTA's portion of the new site, Frequently Asked Questions, and the portion on research, statistics, and trends.

Karen Herzog commented on the use of the label "school" to refer to postsecondary institutions and indicated that this term was used primarily to refer to K-12. She requested that the MDHE review its use of labels and encouraged a change from the label "school" to some other term, e.g., college or educational institution.

New Member Orientation

Karen Herzog welcomed Marsha Drennon as the newest COTA member. As an orientation for Marsha and a review for returning members, Robert Stein summarized the following items in the meeting packet representing past COTA work:

• Pamphlet on Students' Rights and Responsibilities
• Generic Job Description for Transfer/Articulation Officers
• Frequently Asked Transfer/Articulation Questions
• CBHE Credit Transfer Policy
• CBHE Dual Credit Policy and Clarifying Comments
• Principles of Good Practice for Credit Transfer
• Principles of Good Practice for Dual Credit

A description of COTA's structure and responsibilities was also included in the meeting packet. Robert drew attention to the expectation of an annual report and explained that in the past, rather than an annual report, COTA activities were reported to the CBHE throughout the year, based on the level of activity between CBHE meetings. A draft annual report format which had previously been discussed was distributed.

Approval of Minutes

A motion was made by Karen Finkenkeller and seconded by Steve Lehmkuhle that the minutes be approved as distributed. The motion passed unanimously.

Procedures for Alternates

Committee members discussed procedures to use concerning alternates. COTA members agreed that all communication concerning COTA work will be shared with all alternate names provided to Laura Vedenhaupt, Administrative Assistant for Academic Affairs, at MDHE. Each COTA member has the responsibility to ensure that an alternate will be present when the COTA member is unable to attend a scheduled meeting.

OLD BUSINESS

Dual Credit Update

Two institutions, the University of Missouri - St. Louis and Hannibal-LaGrange College had previously been notified by COTA that they were provisionally in compliance with the CBHE Dual Credit Policy because of falling below the threshold for faculty credentials. Both institutions were given time to bring their institutions into compliance with the state guidelines. Letters were received and shared with COTA indicating that each institution has brought their institutions into compliance by having surpassed the 90th percentile for the percent of faculty meeting state guidelines.

Alton Lacey moved and Steve Lehmkuhle seconded that both institutions should be commended for bringing the percentage of faculty teaching dual credit into compliance and should receive notification that they are now in full in compliance with the state guidelines for dual credit delivery. The motion passed unanimously.

Questions were raised about whether other methods beyond self-reporting should be used in the future. It was agreed that self-reporting was limited in ensuring that statewide policy guidelines are being fully implemented on each campus.

NEW BUSINESS

Early Childhood Education Articulation

COTA members reviewed the draft early childhood education articulation guideline. The draft document was developed by a subcommittee of chief academic officers with representation from both public and independent institutions. The subcommittee spent extensive time mapping both career and educational pathways for students interested in early childhood education. The proposed guidelines identify competencies aligned with agreed-upon standards and appropriate titles to use for each certificate and degree level within the profession. The draft document was reviewed by chief academic officers and has been sent to COTA for its review and approval. If approved, the document will serve as a guideline for institutional articulation agreements and as a tool for counselors.

Steve Lehmkuhle made a motion, seconded by Karen Finkenkeller, that COTA approve the early childhood education articulation guidelines, commend the subcommittee for their work, and distribute the guidelines to Missouri institutions encouraging their use. The motion was passed unanimously.

Tech Prep Articulation

Nancy Headrick and the representatives from DESE addressed COTA and provided information about two model statewide articulation agreements for technical programs taught both at the secondary and postsecondary levels. The Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) requires that schools develop articulation agreements. DESE hopes to have a number of statewide articulation guidelines for these types of technical programs in place by July 2006, which will mark the first year of the fourth cycle of MSIP.

DESE presented two agreements: Automotive Technology and Cisco Networking Associate. For both agreements, the student must indicate an intention to articulate, maintain a 2.5 GPA overall, and a hold a minimum GPA of 3.0 in the technical area of the articulation agreement. Both agreements identify competencies to be taught in the curriculum that students must meet. The agreements are predicated on the assumption that curriculum is aligned with competencies as defined, that students will demonstrate their mastery of the identified competencies, and that collegiate credit will granted. DESE intends to involve other stakeholders including institutional administrators in reviewing the agreements and providing feedback.

DESE was encouraged to expand their list of stakeholders beyond community colleges, e.g., to include four-year institutions with applied technology degrees and proprietary institutions. In addition, it was suggested that a single page summarizing the process used and the objectives intended would be helpful. COTA members agreed to review the agreements with their constituents, to collate their findings, and to communicate back to DESE about the receptivity of colleges and universities to this approach.

COPHE/MCCA Transfer Discussions

Steve Lehmkuhle shared information about COPHE/MCCA discussions regarding transfer. Steve explained that two- and four-year chief academic officers hold joint meetings at least once a year and traditionally discuss issues about transfer. At the 2003 joint meeting, a workshop on transfer issues and challenges was facilitated by Barbara Townsend, a national expert on transfer and articulation. Chief academic officers identified several transfer challenges and suggested initiatives that would benefit Missouri's transfer system. A report card on transfer and a joint statement by presidents and chancellors in support of transfer were both included in the list.

Steve explained that a subcommittee of COPHE/MCCA has been discussing a common legislative agenda for COPHE/MCCA, the content of a joint statement for presidents and chancellors, and a list of lingering transfer challenges. The attached summary sheet was distributed and discussed. According to Steve, several presidents and chancellors have raised questions about the effectiveness of the current transfer system, especially in light of proposed legislation that was introduced last year. Presidents and chancellors have agreed to continue to work on a joint statement that will be supportive of transfer and new financial aid initiatives that will support completion of associate degrees. In addition, the subcommittee is working on a framework for lingering transfer issues including lower-division requirements for general education, transfer of more than 64 lower-division credit hours, and reduction of course duplication for courses with similar content and labels offered at different levels.

The work of COPHE/MCCA is not intended to circumvent the work of COTA. Any policy changes that result from the COPHE/MCCA work would be shared with COTA for review and comment prior to being sent to the CBHE. Steve also indicated that some presidents and chancellors believe there would be value in having the COPHE/MCCA subcommittee serve as an informal group to address complaints about policy implementation at public campuses. This would not supplant COTA as the formal appeal board but would serve to address issues in an informal setting.

Articulations in Other Disciplines

COTA members discussed the value of having statewide guidelines for articulation agreements in specific disciplines beyond early childhood education and the two tech prep areas presented by DESE. Based on the state's priority of enhancing the quality of new teachers, COTA members agreed to explore the potential of developing statewide guidelines for articulation for teacher education programs. Previous study committees have focused on teacher education and proposed recommendations for consideration by COTA. Marsha Drennon moved, seconded by Jeanie Crain, that COTA should review the past study and survey institutions about the scope and content of current articulation agreements as important first steps. The motion passed unanimously.

Work Session

Karen Herzog shared her concern that several COTA members were not present. The group agreed that a formal work session should be held when all members could be in attendance. At the same time, they also agreed to spend 20 to 30 minutes discussing informally major COTA issues. Bill Bott served as facilitator. The attached sheet includes highest priority and secondary issues identified by the group.

Parent Complaint

Robert shared information about a complaint made by a concerned parent about the treatment of her son. According to the parent, the son completed the 42-hour block of general education credit at a community college and transferred prior to completing an associate degree to a four-year institution. The transcript did not include notation that the 42-hour block of general education credit was complete. In turn, the receiving institution would not guarantee that the student's general education credit was complete and sent the student back to the receiving institution. The sending institution indicated that its computer systems were not set up to put notification on the transcript and that a transcript analysis would have to be completed. COTA asked Robert to notify the sending institution of its responsibility to stamp transcripts of students completing the 42-hour block of general education credit so this problem would be rectified.

Adjournment

A motion to adjourn, made by Karen Finkenkeller and seconded by Marsha Drennon, passed unanimously.