COTA Meeting Minutes, November 2005
Committee on Transfer and Articulation (COTA)
Missouri Department of Higher Education
November 15, 2005
Conference Call
Approved December 13, 2005
Participants : Evelyn Jorgenson, Jeanie Crain, Don Doucette, Marsha Drennon, Alton Lacey, Stephen Lehmkuhle, Julio Leon , Kandis Smith
MDHE Staff : Robert Stein, Laura Vedenhaupt,
Chair Evelyn Jorgenson called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. on November 15, 2005.
Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Julio Leon and seconded by Marsha Drennon to approve the October 31, 2005 meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
Discussion of Associate of Arts in Teaching/Teacher Education Articulation
Dr. Jorgenson provided background regarding discussions for a common Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) degree that would be easily transferable to four-year state-approved teacher education programs. To ensure efficient, cost-effective pathways, community colleges would like to avoid multiple tracks and multiple articulation agreements that require students to decide early which four-year program they want to attend.
Dr. Jorgenson and Don Doucette discussed this agenda item at the November 2, 2005, Presidents and Chancellors Council meeting of the Missouri Community College Association. The Council voted unanimously to support efforts to standardize the preparation of teachers at the community college level. The Council further charged Dr. Jorgenson, Dr. Doucette, and Dr. Drennon to continue working with COTA and other organizations to define and shape a common two-year articulated AAT degree program for students at community colleges intending to complete a four-year teacher education degree. The AAT degree would be an joint initiative between interested two-year and participating four-year institutions, and would be presented for the voluntary acceptance of four-year teacher education programs.
Robert Stein informed COTA that Dr. Deborah Carr, current Chair of the Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (MACTE), had to cancel the MACTE discussion about teacher education articulation due to illness. Both she and Ms. Mary Beth Huxel, the chair of the two-year MACTE institutions, remained supportive of a program for statewide teacher education articulation. Ms. Huxel has begun sharing information with the two-year sector in an effort to determine the variation in the tracks/programs offered by community colleges.
Dr. Stein advised that the Executive Board of MACTE was comprised of representatives from public and independent institutions, and the members seemed open and interested in pursuing discussion on the issue of teacher education articulation. Some concerns raised by the Executive Board included student transfer prior to completion of the AAT degree, potential variations in the mathematics requirements, at what level students should undertake behavior management coursework, and how general education or graduation requirement courses required by the independent sector, such as philosophy or religion coursework, would factor into the articulation agreement.
Dr. Jorgenson stated that it would be a step backward to view this initiative strictly from a course viewpoint. Those involved in the development of this program should consider the previous work completed on the Missouri Standards for Teacher Education Programs (MoSTEP) and the mid-preparation benchmarks used by two-year institutions in the development of the plans of work submitted to DESE.
Dr. Doucette stated that not all four-year institutions with teacher education programs have accepted the mid-preparation benchmarks and that the division of skill areas continues to be problematic.
Dr. Stein recommended that the four-year sector consider if the CBASE provides an adequate assessment of the competencies expected of students completing two years of study including general education and the mid-preparation benchmarks for teacher education. COTA members expressed general agreement that work towards a common AAT program should acknowledge and utilize the work completed on similar initiatives in the past.
COTA agreed to encourage both the two- and four-year sectors to explore the feasibility of designing an AAT for two-year students aspiring to become new teachers. The value of separate sector work (two-year and four-year) prior to cross-sector work on this topic was acknowledged. COTA members also agreed that it would be important to communicate its interest about an AAT articulation degree program through chief academic offices and to copy all correspondence to MACTE board members.
Stephen Lehmkuhle stated that some community colleges had expressed concerns about jeopardizing current articulation agreements by pursuing a common AAT degree. Dr. Lehmkuhle believes that it is healthier for the state overall to see the nexus between two- and four-year programs and that this should be used as an opportunity to instill more rigor into teacher education programs at all levels.
Dr. Leon encouraged four-year institutions to take an active role in these discussions.
Subcommittee Report on Restarting a Statewide Transfer Conference
Dr. Jorgenson reported that the subcommittee met on November 7, 2005, in Jefferson City . Background on previous statewide transfer conferences held between 1993 and 2003 was provided. It was the consensus of the subcommittee that transfer conferences were helpful and provided a forum for discussion of new ideas.
The subcommittee made the following recommendations:
- Due to the tight timeline, plan the conference for February 2007
- Confine the conference to one day
- Hold the conference at a central location such as Columbia, which has easy access from around the state
- Have COTA be the official sponsor of the conference
- Seek external funding sources from organizations such as the College Board or ACT
- Ensure that the conference would be self-supporting through conference fees and external funding
- Advertise the conference as an opportunity for policymakers and practitioners to discuss issues
- Include K-12 policymakers and practitioners
The subcommittee provided several issues to be considered for inclusion in the initial conference:
- Transfer-friendly initiative
- Teacher education articulation
- High school to college transition
- Dual credit
- Effectiveness indicators
- Proprietary credit transfer
The subcommittee recommended that a planning group be appointed no later than June 2006 to begin working on the conference. The subcommittee recommended that all sectors be encouraged to actively participate in the planning process so that a statewide perspective would be maintained.
Alton Lacey requested that a one-page briefing document be prepared outlining the subcommittee's recommendations. Dr. Lehmkuhle recommended that the document be forwarded to Chief Academic Officers for their feedback. Dr. Jorgenson indicated that institutions would be encouraged to set aside time for planning committee members to work on the conference and to provide support necessary for travel in conjunction with planning committee duties.
Three institutions -- Moberly Area Community College, the University of Missouri, and Missouri Western State University ? indicated that they would appoint a staff member to participate on the planning committee.
Dr. Stein stated that MDHE staff would prepare the one-page document as recommended by Dr. Lacey and would share the document with CAOs and sector organizations. The document will include a request for volunteers to work on the planning committee.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 13, 2005, at the MDHE offices in Jefferson City. The meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. in the First Floor Conference Room.
