In recent years, the Arizona Legislature has directed the state's public community colleges and universities to cooperate in articulating course transfers and academic programs, and to collaborate in identifying and meeting the postsecondary education needs of Arizona citizens. In response to legislative direction, the Arizona Board of Regents and the State Board of Directors for Community Colleges of Arizona have established statewide committees to discuss issues, and propose and implement solutions. A primary mechanism for achieving cooperation and collaboration has been the oversight of the Joint Conference Committee (JCC) consisting of members of both Boards.
The progress report which follows consolidates two previously separate reports into a single annual report that addresses both articulation and postsecondary needs. It is the first in a series of two annual reports submitted to the Legislature in response to a budgetary footnote included in the community college and university budgets for FY 2000 and FY 2001.
During 1999, the Arizona public community colleges and universities have acted jointly to meet the postsecondary needs of Arizona citizens. The report reflects progress in continuing community college/university partnerships, increasing access to baccalaureate programs, and implementing a review process to resolve issues related to postsecondary needs.
Community College/University Partnerships
Partnerships are formed when community colleges and universities cooperate to allow
students to complete a combination of community college and university courses and earn a
bachelor's degree without traveling to a distant campus. All three public universities are
engaged in such partnerships, and students from all public community colleges benefit from
partnership agreements.
Increasing Access to Baccalaureate Programs Through New University Degrees
To improve access to baccalaureate education, Arizona's public universities have
initiated new Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degrees. Arizona State University-East
Campus was the first to offer the BAS, starting in the fall of 1998. The BAS degree is
currently offered by ASU-East, ASU-West, and Northern Arizona University. University of
Arizona-South Campus recently received authorization to plan a BAS curriculum. Broadly
defined, Arizona's BAS degrees are designed to articulate with a community college
Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree. Nearly 200 students are enrolled in Arizona BAS
programs.
Increasing Access to Baccalaureate Programs Through New Partnerships
Arizona's public community colleges have increased access to baccalaureate
programs by forming partnerships with Arizona's public and private universities, as well
as with out-of-state universities. Three community college districts report partnerships
with out-of-state universities: Maricopa, Pima, and Yavapai. Baccalaureate programs
offered include Liberal Arts, Vocational Education, and International Education. These
partnerships meet the needs of community college students who are time and place-bound by
offering instruction using the Internet and other distance learning approaches. Over 150
students are enrolled in community college partnerships programs with out-of-state
universities.
Implementing the New Joint Review Committee
In 1997 and 1998, the Higher Education Study Committee (HESC) met at the
direction of the Legislature to study Arizona's postsecondary needs, and to develop a
system for identifying and meeting demonstrated needs statewide. In a December 1998 report
to the Legislature, the HESC recommended the continuation of an existing informal process
to meet needs and the adoption of a new formal process, including a Joint Review
Committee, to identify and meet demonstrated needs for postsecondary education.
The Joint Review Committee met for the first time in February 1999. At that and subsequent meetings the JRC adopted a schedule which requires the committee to convene no less than every 60 days, adopted a process for handling referrals to the JRC, reviewed a hypothetical request for JRC review, issued a notice of JRC activation to the community colleges and universities, and informed the Higher Education Study Committee of JRC activation. As of November 1999, the Arizona public community colleges and universities have identified and acted to meet needs without raising any issues for referral to the JRC.
During its March 1999 meeting, the JRC considered these emerging issues:
The Joint Conference Committee (JCC) of the Arizona Board of Regents and the State Board of Directors for Community Colleges of Arizona considered the JRC's issues and, in October 1999, the JCC amended the JRC process to allow the Arizona public universities to request a review before the JRC, noting that neither existing partnerships nor partnerships with in-state private universities will be subject to review. The JCC's action enhanced the process for identifying and meeting Arizona's postsecondary needs. The existing informal process which has already led to several successful partnerships will continue to operate. Should the informal process fail to resolve issues, both the community colleges and the universities will have access to the formal JRC review process.
The report outlines the considerable progress made in 1999 in implementing the New Transfer Model. The new model, designed by the statewide Transfer Articulation Task Force (TATF), has benefited from the active involvement of community college and university staff, faculty, and administrators, and from the fiscal support of the Legislature. Leadership in implementing the new model is provided by the Arizona Board of Regents and the State Board of Directors for Community Colleges of Arizona through the Joint Conference Committee (JCC) of the two Boards. Implementation oversight is provided by the Academic Program Articulation Steering Committee (APASC), with strong support from the statewide Articulation Facilitator and several joint community college-university committees and task forces: Course Equivalency Guide Steering Committee, Academic Advising Articulation Task Force, General Education Articulation Task Force, and 38 discipline-specific faculty articulation task forces each representing an Arizona postsecondary academic subject area (i.e., Art, Business, English, Math, etc.).
Progress in Implementing the New Transfer Model
In its October 1996 report to the legislature, the Transfer Articulation Task
Force proposed a New Transfer Model that includes new transfer degrees, new general
education requirements, new common requirements for equivalent majors, new limits on the
amount of work that can be transferred from a community college into a baccalaureate
program, and the concept of transfer blocks, all resulting in new pathways for transfer
students. The New Transfer Model was completed on January 1, 1999.
Review of the New Transfer Model
During the 1999-2000 Academic year there will be an on-going review of decisions and
agreements reached by the discipline specific faculty articulation task forces regarding
transfer pathways and common courses. This review is intended to ensure that the student
who follows a prescribed pathway can transfer without loss of credit or time to degree.
Initial findings of the review are promising. More than 90% of the degrees reviewed were
consistent with the designated pathway. Recommendations to the articulation task forces
and the universities will be to identify additional common courses for lower-division
preparation and/or to review general education/liberal studies requirements. These changes
will be discussed throughout the 1999-2000 academic year and implemented for 2000-2001.
Progress in Implementing Support Systems
Consistent with the Transfer Articulation Task Force recommendations, the following
components of a statewide approach to management and oversight have been developed to
support the New Transfer Model: improvement of organizational structure, enhanced
staffing, review and clarification of responsibilities, upper/lower-division course
criteria, improved program articulation, faculty selection and training for
discipline-specific articulation task forces, and accountability.
New Advising System
Each institution has developed information on the New Transfer Model for dissemination to
students. Each community college and university has identified a transfer student
ombudsperson to work with students, faculty, and staff in fielding and resolving transfer
student problems. Many community colleges and universities have added transfer information
to their web site, some have developed brochures describing the transfer model and all
have developed "check sheets" for student use.
New Computer-Based Information Systems
Continued funding by the Legislature has enabled the further development of systems under
the umbrella name of Arizona Transfer Articulation Support Systems (ATASS)¹, including the Course Applicability System
(CAS) and the Transfer Student Data Warehouse, also known as the Arizona State System for
Information on Student Transfer (ASSIST). A security plan has been approved to provide for
data sharing while complying the privacy restrictions of the Federal Family Education
Right to Privacy Act (FERPA).
Arizona continues to serve as a national model for the successful transfer of credits and students from the community colleges to the universities. Arizona community colleges and universities are continuing their long-standing practice of informal collaboration and partnerships to meet the postsecondary needs of Arizona citizens while innovating to offer more access to place and time-bound students.
¹ ATASS, which is jointly funded by the Arizona Legislature and the public community colleges and public universities, includes the following elements: the Course Applicability System, the Transfer Student Data Warehouse, the Articulation Facilitator, the CAS Technical Analyst, and the Data Warehouse Transfer Analyst.
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