COTA Meeting Minutes, December 2007

Committee on Transfer and Articulation (COTA)
Missouri Department of Higher Education
December 19, 2007

Participants: Evelyn Jorgenson (Chair), Jeanie Crain, Arlen Dykstra, Steven Graham, Steven Kurtz (via phone), Aaron Podolefsky, and Kandis Smith

COTA-AC Representative: Yvette Sweeney (via phone)

MDHE Staff: Hillary Fuhrman, Jeremy Kintzel, B.J. White, and Ken Winn

Dr. Evelyn Jorgenson called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m.

Consent Item

I. Approval of Minutes

A motion was made by Dr. Kandis Smith and seconded by Dr. Aaron Podolefsky to approve the minutes of the November 21, 2007 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

Old Business

II. 2008 Transfer Conference Planning

Mr. Jeremy Kintzel reported that registration for the 2008 conference was open and that Dr. Ken Sauer from the Indiana Commission on Higher Education had agreed to be the keynote speaker for the conference.

Ms. Yvette Sweeney reported that COTA-AC would have a conference call on December 20, 2007 to finalize details on the afternoon breakout sessions. The three breakout sessions will focus on the topics of dual/advanced credit, access to collegiate-level coursework, and the policies and impact of exit-level competencies.

Dr. Jeanie Crain stated that central to the discussion of dual credit and access to collegiate-level coursework were the entry-level competencies currently posted for public comment. She stated that there was concern that some of the competencies were not minimal competencies, rather they went beyond the minimal level required. Dr. Steven Graham noted that chief academic officers would be more receptive to broad based competencies rather than specifics. Dr. Podolefsky concurred.

Dr. Jorgenson inquired as to whether or not Dr. Sauer would specifically address Missouri’s curriculum alignment initiative. Mr. Kintzel replied that he would and that Dr. Sauer would be coordinating his work with Ms. Hillary Fuhrman. Ms. Sweeney added that morning session will be split between Dr. Sauer and Ms. Fuhrman.

Ms. Sweeney asked if COTA preferred for the breakout session participants to only discuss one topic or to have a list of questions to discuss during the session. Ms. Sweeney, continued, stating that some background knowledge on the breakout session topics would be necessary, but that COTA-AC members were concerned that their knowledge of the topics may not be sufficient to develop the breakouts. Ms. Sweeney further stated that she wanted to make sure that the attendees felt that the time they spent in the conference was valuable and asked COTA if they could make recommendations for breakout session facilitators. COTA said that they would make recommendations and Dr. Jorgenson thanked COTA-AC for its work on the conference.

III. Dual Credit

Dr. Jorgenson stated that at the November COTA meeting there had been concern with dual credit especially regarding teacher qualifications. She added that some administration, K-12 and higher education, may not be as aware of the requirements as they should. Dr. Jorgenson asked COTA which direction they would like to go regarding this issue.

Dr. Crain suggested a group of two-year and four-your representatives to study the issue. Dr. Graham stated that Missouri had a reasonable dual credit policy, which if followed, would resolve many of the issues surrounding dual credit. He also suggested a yearly audit of dual credit programs for the purpose of continual improvement not shut a program down. Dr. Graham further stated that if colleges/universities were not compliant with the policy then a plan to become compliant would be developed. Dr. Jorgenson asked who would be responsible for the audit. Dr. Dykstra stated that the CAO would have to be vested in the process to ensure progress. Dr. Dykstra also suggested that a simple survey could be developed to check if institutions had processes in place to ensure compliance with the dual credit policy.

Dr. Dykstra asked who had the authority to enforce the dual credit policy. Dr. Graham mentioned that there was a paragraph in the policy regarding compliance reporting. Dr. Jorgenson noted that the compliance data probably had not been collected recently. Dr. Crain suggested looking at old surveys used to collect compliance data and updating them to be used again. Dr. Jorgenson concurred and added that COTA should also look at NACEP standards for dual credit. Dr. Graham reiterated that the survey should be used for improvement purpose, not punishment and offered to develop additional questions for the survey. Dr. Jorgenson noted that part of COTA’s role is to inform the institutions and encourage self-review of dual credit programs.

Dr. Jorgenson stated that COTA’s next steps would be to distribute the dual credit policy to K-12 and higher education administrators, review previous compliance surveys to develop a new survey, and that Drs. Dykstra and Graham would gather NACEP standards and develop some additional survey questions, respectively.

Dr. Dykstra also suggested that a dual credit seminar might be beneficial for administrators. Dr. Crain noted that wiping the slate clean and reinstituting annual compliance reporting could resolve some of the current concerns with dual credit. Dr. Jorgenson asked that any other suggestions for dual credit be forwarded to her.

New Business

IV. Making Opportunity Affordable Grant

Dr. Ken Winn reported that the Lumina Foundation and Jobs for the Future were providing a grant program titled Making Opportunity Affordable (MOA). The goal of MOA is for states to broaden opportunity while increasing efficiency and completions. Dr. Winn stated that only one entry from each state would be accepted and the ten states would receive $100,000 for a planning year. From those ten, five would be chosen to receive $2,000,000 over four years to implement their plan. Dr. Winn stated that MDHE staff had thought that AAT-like degrees would fit well with the goals of the grant. Mr. Kintzel noted that, in Missouri, this grant would involve many other initiatives such as P-20 and curriculum alignment. Ms. Fuhrman noted that the AAT-like degrees proposed to be developed by this grant could benefit from the technological support that this grant could provide.

Mr. Kintzel stated that the four main objectives of the MOA grant were:

• Increasing the percentage of college-educated adults.
• Containing costs and strategically investing resources.
• Strengthening institutional and system capacity to serve larger and more diverse student populations.
• Improving student learning.

Dr. Crain noted that there had been some reservations among COPHE about developing more AAT-like degrees and that COPHE wanted a joint group to get together to discuss the issue.

Dr. Graham noted that any proposal should go in the same direction as the institutions. Dr. Winn replied that the proposal would take institutional efforts and other statewide efforts into account.

Other

COTA expressed some interest in further exploring guidelines for appointments and membership.

Adjournment

Dr. Jorgenson adjourned the meeting at 3:56 p.m.

Next Meeting

The next COTA meeting is scheduled for January 23, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. via conference call.