What does MnSCU expect in the credit-transfer process?

As you may know, MnSCU has been dinged by legislators and students for its transfer rate.

It states that its success rate (depending on how you define it) is over 90 percent (though some students think that estimate is a bit high).

A recent survey of students has also shown that many who have had problems transferring haven't taken the appropriate steps necessary -- including going to a transfer adviser.

Today the MnSCU associate vice chancellor who handles transfers, Mike Lopez, is rolling out a policy change that he says codifies expectations on both sides -- sort of a list of "rights and responsibilities."

He told me that if passed, it should be posted on the Web sites of all MnSCU colleges and universities.

Leaders from the Minnesota State College Student Association told me the move isn't any huge change, but that it should help matters. It should give students a centralized point where they can learn what's expected of them. And the impression I got is that colleges will be advising them more often or more systematically that they should turn to the site.

You can find the policy change here. It's on pages 9-12.

Here's what it contains:

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

MINNESOTA STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

BOARD ACTION ITEM

PROPOSED BOARD POLICY 3.39

TRANSFER RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Policy 3.39 Transfer Rights and Responsibilities 1

2

Part 1. Purpose. To provide an understanding of rights and responsibilities as they relate 3 to transfer of credit. 4

5

Part 2. Definitions. 6

7

Subpart A. Articulation agreement. An articulation agreement is a formal 8 agreement between two or more educational entities to accept credits in transfer 9 toward a specific academic program. 10

Subpart B. Course outlines. Course outlines contain elements of the courses, 11 including the subject, course number, course title, course description, credits, 12 lecture hours, lab hours, prerequisites, co-requisites, Minnesota Transfer 13 Curriculum goals, learning outcomes, and revision histories. 14

Subpart C. Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS). The Degree Audit Reporting 15 System is an electronic system that provides for an evaluation of a student's 16 academic record indicating completion toward the student's academic program 17 requirements. 18

Subpart D. Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC). The Minnesota Transfer 19 Curriculum comprises general education reflecting competencies adopted by the 20 public higher education systems in Minnesota. 21

22

23

24

Part 3. Student Transfer Rights and Responsibilities 25

26

Subpart A. Student transfer rights. Students who transfer have the right to: 27

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1. Receive comparable treatment with respect to course and program 29 requirements, whether they are transfer students or direct entry students at a 30 system institution; 31

2. Receive clear, accurate, and current information about transfer admission 32 requirements and deadlines, degree requirements, transfer policies and 33 procedures, articulation agreements, course equivalencies, and the Minnesota 34 Transfer Curriculum; 35

9

3. Access course outlines, consistent with the requirements of Board Policy 3.21; 1

4. Receive a degree audit report showing how courses transferred, and to receive 2 clarification about transfer evaluations when they have questions; 3

5. Appeal transfer decisions at both the college or university and system levels, as 4 provided in System Procedure 3.21.1; 5

6. Have completed courses that fulfill Minnesota Transfer Curriculum goal areas at 6 the sending institution accepted as counting toward the same goal areas at the 7 receiving institution. 8

7. Receive acknowledgement of fulfilled Minnesota Transfer Curriculum goal 9 areas as designated by the sending college or university. 10

11

Subpart B. Student transfer responsibilities. Students who transfer have the 12 responsibility to: 13

14

1. Plan their courses of study as early as possible by referring to online advising 15 tools and published requirements of all system college and university programs 16 in which they intend to enroll. 17

2. Take advantage of transfer-related orientation, workshops or other training 18 opportunities offered by the system college or university in which they are 19 enrolled and to which they plan to transfer. 20

3. Seek guidance from appropriate institutional advisors at both the sending and 21 receiving institutions throughout their academic careers, especially when 22 academic plans change, in order to understand how the change may impact the 23 transfer of their courses, and to ensure that the change is made to their 24 enrollment information; 25

4. Provide their college or university with all materials required for admission, 26 including official transcripts from all previously attended non-system colleges 27 and universities. Students must notify their college or university of courses 28 taken at other schools after transfer or about any changes to transcripts; 29

5. When planning to follow the requirements of an articulation agreement, seek 30 guidance from appropriate institutional advisors at their current institution and 31 notify the system college or university to which they plan to transfer. 32

33

Part 4. System College and University Rights and Responsibilities 34

35

Subpart A. System college and university rights. System colleges and universities 36 have the right to: 37

38

1. Ensure standards of quality for educational programs offered; 39

2. Determine course equivalencies and admission, program, major, and graduation 40 requirements in accordance with their missions. 41

3. Consider the accreditation of the sending institution and program in making 42 course transfer decisions. 43

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Subpart B. System college and university responsibilities. System colleges and 45 universities have the responsibility to: 46

10

1

1. Provide students access to advising about transfer processes and 2 requirements, and provide appropriate support to advisors. 3

2. Publish their policies and procedures, requirements, and course offerings, 4 including articulation agreements and course equivalencies, and communicate 5 these to students and the public. 6

3. Make electronic course equivalency and degree completion tools available to 7 students, and inform students on how to use these tools to plan for transfer. 8

4. Publish current transfer information and periodically update and archive prior 9 transfer information, including catalogs, articulation agreements, and program 10 guides. 11

5. Continuously improve student access to information about transfer and to 12 improve transfer processes. 13

6. Provide written confirmation to students about their admission and transfer-14 related decisions, including the result of appeals, in a timely manner. 15

7. Provide information necessary for the system office to monitor and evaluate 16 the effectiveness of existing transfer processes. 17

_______________________________

Date of Implementation:

Date of Adoption:

Date and Subject of Revision:

POLICY CONTENT FORMAT:

Single underlining represents proposed new language.

Strikeouts represent existing language proposed to be eliminated

 

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