Dr. Philip Parnell Coordinator for Articulation and Transfer North Dakota University System

Dr. Philip ParnellCoordinator for Articulation and Transfer

North Dakota University System

Exciting Developments in Statewide Articulation: Taking Programmatic

Articulation to the Next Level

Institute for the Study of Transfer Students

Introduction• Collaborative Education Program

– Designed to simplify transfer of courses taken from different institutions simultaneously.

• One bill• One transcript• Very popular with students

– Result: many students took advantage of the program and became jumpers

– Unintended consequence: undermining of campus-to-campus articulation agreements

Institute for the Study of Transfer Students

Baccalaureate Campuses

• DSU• MaSU• MiSU• NDSU• UND• VCSU

Community College Campuses

• BSC

• LRSC

• MiSU-BC

• NDSCS

• WSC

North Dakota University System

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Other Campuses Involved with University System Programs

• Cankdeska Cikana Community College

• Fort Berthold Community College

• Sitting Bull College

• Turtle Mountain Community College

• United Tribes Technical College

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North Dakota Private Colleges

• Jamestown College

• Trinity Bible College

• University of Mary

• MedCenter One

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North Dakota Demographic Information

• State population – 630,000 (Tarrant County/Fort Worth has a population of more than 1,360,000)– Ranks 17th in size, but 47th in population– 21 of 53 ND counties had fewer than 100 graduates

in 2002• Declining high school population – 31% by 2017

– 8,100 grads in 2003 vs. a projected 5613 in 2017• University System headcount – 42,503 students

– 65% of ND higher ed students are from in-state– Roughly 60% of these students transfer credit

Institute for the Study of Transfer Students

Common General Education• General Education Requirements Transfer Agreement

(GERTA)– Includes 10 categories: English composition,

communication, fine arts activities, humanities, history, social sciences, laboratory sciences, mathematics, computer science, and science/technology

– Includes all public campuses (11) and all tribal colleges (5) in North Dakota

– Allows for transfer of AA or AS degrees (and gen eds) to or from any of the 16 campuses

– Provides for the transfer of individual courses or entire GER or degree packages

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GERTA

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GERTA

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Common Course Numbering System

• Roughly 700 shared courses– Majority are lower division courses with a few

upper division courses– Courses determined by faculty groups

selected to represent each campus

• Includes all system all tribal colleges

• Ongoing project to develop common competencies as well as number, title, and description for all 700 courses

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CCNS

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Advanced Placement/CLEP

• Common standards for awarding credit

• Common course equivalency for exams

• Common number of credits awarded

• Currently working to standardize DANTES and International Baccalaureate

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Articulation Agreement Information

• Nearly 1500 articulation agreements from the 11 University System campuses—3/4 with in-state institutions

• One articulation agreement for every 28 students

• Roughly 40 staff (not counting faculty) at the eleven campuses are needed to create or maintain them

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Articulation Information

• Time-consuming and costly to publish • Impossible (sometimes) to locate• Complex to maintain/update academic

changes• Meaningless for students who attend

multiple campuses prior to transferring• Confusing for students, staff and faculty• Tough to coordinate between and within

campuses

Institute for the Study of Transfer Students

Statewide Articulation Agreements• Idea began with a jumper’s parent’s

complaint to the governor

• Year-long negotiations led to an “under-standing” between colleges of education– That “understanding” later included community

colleges and became the basis for the first statewide discipline-specific articulation agreement

– The agreement outlined the transfer of credit to include (in most cases) a full two-years of coursework from any college to any college

Institute for the Study of Transfer Students

Statewide Articulation Agreements

• Since implementing the elementary education agreement, a total of nine additional education agreements have been devised with four more pending.

• Other discipline groups (Math, Agriculture, Chemistry, Biology, Social Work, etc) have requested similar agreement for their discipline groups

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Statewide Articulation Agreements

• Use pre-existing faculty groups (Common Course Numbering)

• Set to update at regularly-scheduled intervals (coordinated with CCN meetings)

• Access for students and parents (multiple agreements and multiple campuses) at one location

• Web “linkable” to one central location• Update and maintained at one central location

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Statewide Articulation Agreements

• Guaranteed by senior campus academic officer and the institution president

• List the courses available at each participating campus

• Pipeline guarantee built into the agreement

Dr. Philip ParnellCoordinator for Articulation and Transfer

North Dakota University System

Email: philip.parnell@ndus.nodak.eduPhone: 701.777.0885

Questions