COTA Meeting Minutes, October 2006
Committee on Transfer and Articulation (COTA)
Missouri Department of Higher Education
October 25, 2006
Approved November 22, 2006
Participants : Evelyn Jorgenson, Jeanie Crain, Marsha Drennon, Arlen Dykstra, Karen Finkenkeller, Stephen Lehmkuhle, Kandis Smith
MDHE Staff: Robert Stein, Hillary Fuhrman, Jeremy Kintzel, Laura Vedenhaupt, B.J. White
Chair Dr. Evelyn Jorgenson called the meeting to order at 12:15 p.m.
Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Dr. Arlen Dykstra and seconded by Ms. Karen Finkenkeller to approve the minutes of the September 27, 2006 conference call. The motion passed unanimously.
Update
Dr. Jorgenson and Dr. Robert Stein updated COTA on the meeting between Governor Blunt and the presidents and chancellors of public two-year and four-year institutions regarding appropriation requests for FY2008, as well as discussions of a revised accountability framework and tuition policies for higher education.
Transfer Conference
Mr. Jeremy Kintzel updated COTA on preparations for the Transfer Conference in January. Mr. Kintzel said that the conference would be structured in three phases: the issuance of a Data Sourcebook in early January, a one day work session for practitioners linked to a conference of two- and four-year Chief Academic Officers (CAOs) on January 24, 2007, and a half day policy discussion with CBHE member and Presidents and Chancellors on February 6, 2007 at the CBHE work session in Jefferson City. The December 2006 COTA meeting has been changed to a conference call, and COTA will meet face-to-face at the Transfer Conference. Dr. Stephen Lehmkuhle stated that the University of Missouri would act as fiscal agent.
Mr. Kintzel disseminated a draft invitation letter to the Transfer Conference and a draft outline of a data sourcebook on transfer. It was determined that there would be a COTA signature on the letter, and that the letter, addressed to transfer and articulation officers and copied to institutional leadership, would also recommend attendance of institutional research and other interested staff.
Dr. Lehmkuhle suggested that the data sourcebook should focus on the characteristics of what constitutes a successful transfer system. Dr. Stein stated that the data sourcebook could act as a foundation of data that would address this focus by providing information on the scope and magnitude of different aspects affecting transfer.
Dr. Jeanie Crain wanted to know what would be required of institutions in order to prepare the data sourcebook. Mr. Kintzel responded that most of the data was already available at the MDHE and that he would contact institutions if any additional data was needed. Dr. Stein suggested that the sourcebook be distributed to institutional research staff for review and comment prior to the Transfer Conference.
Dr. Lehmkuhle asked if the Joint Statement on Commitment to Transfer could be renewed in some way at the Conference. Dr. Drennon suggested that the Joint Statement be published in the data sourcebook to serve as a set of guiding principles and as a focus of re-commitment.
COTA directed MDHE staff to follow up with absent COTA members about the upcoming conference.
Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) Degree
Dr. Jorgenson expressed her pride at COTA's guidance in the collaboration and production of the AAT. She also commended Dr. Don Doucette and Dr. Lehmkuhle for their work with the two- and four-year sectors on the AAT.
Dr. Lehmkuhle announced that he had contacted each of the four-year universities about the AAT proposal and that consensus on the AAT could not be reached as long as the "Education of Exceptional Learners" course was in the teacher education core. Dr. Lehmkuhle reported that some Council on Public Higher Education (COPHE) members felt that the AAT should not adversely affect institutional accreditation by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) for teacher education programs. Dr. Lehmkuhle advised that if suggested changes were made to the proposed AAT that is currently posted on the MDHE website, all Missouri public four year universities would be signatories to an articulation agreement. The changes proposed by the COPHE were:
- Remove the course "Education of Exceptional Learners" from the core requirements (3 Credits).
- Add one hour of credit to the core course ?Teaching Profession with Field Experience,? resulting in a three-hour course and a total core of 12 hours.
- Add two hours of elective credit for a total of eight elective credits. "Education of Exceptional Learners" could be used and would transfer as an elective course. The student might still be required to take a similar course at the four-year institution of their choice.
Dr. Jorgenson and Dr. Drennon were of the opinion that the Missouri Community College Association (MCCA) would support these proposed changes to the AAT.
Dr. Dykstra said that he would contact independent institutions for their opinions of the proposed changes to the AAT. Dr. Dykstra advised that Missouri Baptist University would be a signatory to the AAT articulation agreement if the program did not affect NCATE accreditation.
2006 ? 2007 Goals
COTA engaged in a discussion of potential goals that might be pursued over the 2006 ? 2007 academic year. Potential areas of focus included:
- Developing a more effective P-20 transfer system.
- Increasing the number of successful degree completions among METS transfers.
- Developing of state policy guidelines defining college entry-level work.
- Defining pre-collegiate and collegiate-level work.
- Developing assessment design principles in coordination with the Missouri Assessment Consortium (MAC) with particular focus on transfer student learning gains.
Adjournment
Dr. Jorgenson adjourned the meeting at 2:20 p.m.
Next Meeting
The next COTA meeting will be a conference call held on November 22, 2006, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
