COTA Meeting Minutes, October 2005
Committee on Transfer and Articulation (COTA)
Missouri Department of Higher Education
October 31, 2005
Approved November 15, 2005
Participants: Evelyn Jorgenson, Marsha Drennon, Don Doucette, Stephen Lehmkuhle, Jeanie Crain, Alton Lacey, Arlen Dykstra
MDHE Staff: Robert Stein, Laura Vedenhaupt , Jeremy Kintzel
Chair Evelyn Jorgenson called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. on October 31, 2005.
Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Don Doucette and seconded by Jeanie Crain to approve the September 13, 2005 conference call minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
Discussion of Letter on Credit Transfer From Proprietary Schools
Dr. Jorgenson described the background and context that resulted in COTA sending an email letter to chief academic officers and transfer/articulation officers on the transferability of proprietary school credits (see attachment). The letter reinforced the Credit Transfer Agreement, in which institutions are encouraged to develop articulation agreements with proprietary institutions that have accreditation from an accrediting agency recognized by the USDE and certification from the MDHE to operate in Missouri. The letter also reinforced the understanding that institutions have the right to determine their own acceptance policies and that transfer credit decisions are made at the local level. Dr. Doucette stated that there had been some pushback at the Metropolitan Community Colleges based on COTA's letter. Robert Stein stated that proprietary schools were beginning to acknowledge their own variance. Stephen Lehmkuhle said that the University of Missouri was learning about proprietary schools based on interactions with administrators from that sector.
COTA members agreed that students with community college degrees that include transfer credit should not have their credit questioned when they transfer.
Dr. Stein acknowledged the increased national interest about the portability of credit and briefed COTA on a report by the Government Accountability Office. This report recommended that Title-IV eligible schools would not be allowed to deny credits in transfer based solely on the accreditation of the sending institution. A Chronicle of Higher Education article presented arguments supporting regional accreditation as the most efficient basis for determining the acceptability of transfer credits. Dr. Jorgenson advised that the Higher Leaning Commission has accepted applications from proprietary schools for accreditation.
A motion was made by Dr. Doucette and seconded by Dr. Lehmkuhle to lodge two proposals for future consideration by COTA :
- COTA should encourage proprietary institutions to work with other institutions of higher education in Missouri to develop articulation agreements to facilitate the transfer of credit within the state.
- COTA should encourage proprietary institutions to seek regional accreditation as a means of facilitating transfer credit in the state of Missouri.
During discussion, Dr. Stein suggested that COTA could also promote these positions in its regular report to the CBHE. Dr. Crain suggested that proprietary institutions would argue in favor of the rigor of their current accreditation processes.
The motion carried unanimously. Dr. Jorgenson advised that both proposals will be reported to CBHE as consent items and discussed at a future COTA meeting following input from the proprietary sector.
Update on MACTE Recommendation re: Articulation of Teacher Education Programs
Jeremy Kintzel reported that the October MACTE meeting had been postponed and that a new MACTE meeting had not yet been scheduled. COTA will be informed when a new meeting is scheduled.
Dr. Doucette asked what COTA could do to move the process forward. Dr. Stein said he believed there would be intense discussion at MACTE. The current MACTE leadership, Dr. Deborah Carr and Ms. Mary Beth Huxel, support the exploration of a common two-year teacher education program. However, in the past the teacher education community has been resistant to uniformity in the first two years of an education degree. Dr. Doucette indicated that the mid-preparation benchmarks had been resisted by some four-year institutions, in part because they believed that some of the competencies do not belong at the lower division level.
Dr. Jorgenson said that students were at a disadvantage. Those students pursuing a teaching degree have to decide on a receiving institution at the beginning of their postsecondary education so that they will take only those courses that will transfer to the four-year institution. The process of reforming teacher education articulation needs to begin with two-year institutions.
Dr. Lehmkuhle recommended the development of an associate of arts in teaching (AAT) degree, which would include passing the CBASE exam as a requirement for graduation. Arlen Dykstra agreed that the key to acceptance by four-year institutions would be the CBASE exam. Dr. Stein suggested that community colleges might collectively define the degree and work with a self-selected group of four-year receiving institutions.
It was agreed that MACTE would be advised of this discussion. It was further agreed that DESE should be engaged in the process. Dr. Jorgenson indicated that the concept would be discussed at an upcoming MCCA Presidents and Chancellors Council meeting.
Update on "Good Practices" Subcommittee Work
Mr. Kintzel briefed COTA on the progress of the Good Practice Subcommittee, which met face-to-face on September 23, 2005.
Subcommittee members discussed and revised a survey for institutional representatives regarding transfer policies and practices. The subcommittee expects to distribute the survey at the MCCA conference in November and to other representatives via email and regular mail. Dr. Crain indicated that the survey should explicitly reference its connection to COTA.
Dr. Doucette said that the subcommittee may find useful information on the Council for Adult and Experiential Learners (CAEL) website. CAEL is piloting a self-assessment toolkit to help determine if institutions are "adult learner-friendly". Some of the instruments may be adapted to benefit Missouri's initiative on transfer-friendly.
Subcommittee members were uncomfortable with a rating system that may embarrass some institutions. Dr. Jorgenson said that a voluntary seal would not necessarily be negative for non-participating institutions, but it would provide an incentive for improving practice. Dr. Lehmkuhle said that institutional failure to ?walk-the-walk? was not necessarily intentional but that a process or incentive to drive discipline down into the institution was needed.
Dr. Stein advised that the subcommittee requested that its report to COTA be postponed to January 2006 because it has taken longer than anticipated to create ownership in the subcommittee and to construct the survey. The revised deadline will allow time for a thorough evaluation of survey results and time to arrive at a consensus in the subcommittee's final recommendations and rationale.
CBHE Recommended High School Core Curriculum
COTA reviewed the State Board of Education's (SBE) new graduation requirements. Dr. Stein said it made no sense for the CBHE core high school curriculum to be lower than that prescribed by the SBE. Dr. Lehmkuhle stated his conviction that core curriculum requirements have improved graduation and retention rates for the University of Missouri and he cited studies that two years of foreign language are especially valuable for students with borderline ACT scores.
COTA discussed how the CBHE core curriculum should be utilized by independent and open enrollment institutions.
A motion was made by Dr. Doucette and seconded by Dr. Lehmkuhle to recommend to the CBHE that its core curriculum might be outdated and should be at least equivalent to that required for graduation by the SBE, and the CBHE should recommend a process for revision. The motion carried unanimously.
Course Applicability System (CAS)
Dr. Lehmkuhle asked if it would be worthwhile to have a representative from CAS speak with COTA regarding the system. Dr. Stein advised that nine states had adopted the system and asked if COTA would be interested in a conference call with representatives from those states. Dr. Stein said the discussion might include system capabilities and limitations, as well as in what ways the system was driven by course titles and seat times. Dr. Doucette stated that the system seemed very student-centered but it was unclear how competencies were addressed. Dr. Crain inquired about maintenance costs, and Dr. Doucette asked for information on the extent that college personnel were responsible for maintenance.
Dr. Doucette also suggested that COTA may review the work of ConnectEdu, a company that is involved in a pilot project with three Missouri community colleges.
COTA directed MDHE staff to contact representatives of CAS for participation at a future COTA meeting and to explore with community college representatives their experiences with ConnectEdu.
Development of Transfer/Articulation Resources
COTA discussed the accessibility of documents and other resources on credit transfer in Missouri and in other states. Dr. Lehmkuhle suggested that a web page dedicated to transfer resources should post internal resources, including state policies, separate from external resources.
COTA directed MDHE staff to create a draft web resource for review at the next face-to-face meeting.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held via conference call on November 15, 2005 beginning at 2:00pm. Due to the proximity of meetings, this call will be a limited agenda with major focus on teacher education articulation.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 3:15 p.m.
