SJ0022 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SJ0022 LRB101 09042 ALS 54135 r

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In 1993, the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board, and the Transfer Coordinators of Illinois Colleges and Universities brought together faculty from public and independent, associate and baccalaureate degree-granting institutions across the state to develop the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI); and

WHEREAS, The goal of IAI is to facilitate the transfer of courses from one participating college or university to another in order to complete a baccalaureate degree; the three key concepts providing the underlying foundation for IAI are: (1) that "associate and baccalaureate degree-granting institutions are equal partners" in educating college freshmen and sophomores, (2) that "faculties should take primary responsibility for developing and maintaining program and course articulation", and (3) that "institutions are expected to work together to assure that lower-division baccalaureate programs are comparable in scope, quality, and academic rigor"; and

WHEREAS, Today's college students can get the degree they desire, close to home, and with the assurance of a successful career right here in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Cutting-edge academic programs, such as iTransfer.org and MyCreditsTransfer, are available to serve recent high school graduates and those who are balancing their education with working, parenting, and service to our country; and

WHEREAS, While Illinois is a leading state for college completion rates for adult learners and transfer students from community colleges, Illinois needs to increase the number of high-quality postsecondary credentials to meet the demands of the economy and an increasingly global society; and

WHEREAS, With the rising costs of higher education for Illinois students and families, the State needs to ensure that the General Education Core Curriculum courses Illinois residents enroll in at higher education institutions and as a part of dual credit in high school in Illinois will transfer with full credit for the student and be accepted at an Illinois public or private institution as they pursue a baccalaureate degree; and

WHEREAS, Illinois can do this by improving transitions all along the education pipeline; for postsecondary education, this means strengthening articulation through stable funding and the expansion of transfer tools, such as Transferology and the IAI through development of an objective measure of transfer and acceptance of credits; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board jointly identify any shortcomings in attaining the goals of Public Act 99-636 that the General Education Core Curriculum courses transfer between institutions with full credit towards a baccalaureate degree; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we direct each four-year institution within the IAI to review the transfer credits of all incoming transfer students at its institution to find any instances where courses are not deemed transferable with full credit, including those courses that serve as prerequisites within a major; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we direct each public institution that participates in the Illinois Articulation Initiative to work with the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board to assure their compliance with the law that their General Education Core curricula: (1) are aligned with the IAI course codes, (2) accept, with full credit, toward a baccalaureate degree any courses students have taken in the General Education Core Curriculum Package for other public institutions in Illinois, (3) do not require transferring students to retake general education as prerequisites core curriculum courses that were part of the IAI curriculum packages, or take additional general education courses beyond the package, and (4) the course numbering systems at each institution adequately reflect the corresponding course codes used by the Illinois Articulation Initiative; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we direct the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board to work with the Illinois State Board of Education and each institution to educate and inform high school counselors across the State on the workings of the IAI and the General Education Core Curriculum and its course transferability processes and procedures; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we direct the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board to develop a report on the results of this review of the Illinois Articulation Initiative and recommend to the Governor and the General Assembly any actions necessary to achieve the stated goals of this resolution by January 9, 2020.