SB3804 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB097 19789 RPM 65876 b

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
SB3804

Introduced 2/10/2012, by Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

See Index

Amends the Board of Higher Education Act and the Public Community College Act. Requires the Board of Higher Education, in conjunction with the Illinois Community College Board, to establish a Statewide Articulation and Transfer Committee; sets forth the duties of the committee. Requires the Board of Higher Education to collaborate with the Community College Board to recommend to the General Assembly a revised, statewide articulation agreement that shall govern the articulation and transfer of credit between and among this State's secondary and postsecondary institutions; sets forth related requirements. Requires the Board of Higher Education to establish limits on the number of credits that institutions are allowed to require transferring students to complete on campus for graduation in order to minimize the time needed to complete a transfer degree. Provides that the Illinois Community College Board is authorized and it shall be its duty to periodically review student records from students who, having formerly studied at a State community college, have since transferred to a 4-year institution that is authorized to receive Monetary Award Program funds in order to produce a course articulation report and shall also support the Board of Higher Education in convening a Statewide Articulation and Transfer Committee. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

WHEREAS, This State needs to substantially increase the number of skilled students graduating from college each year to meet a goal of 60 percent of adult residents possessing a college credential by 2025; and

WHEREAS, The tightened fiscal environment requires a focus on ensuring all State resources are used as efficiently and effectively as possible; and

WHEREAS, The demand for the Monetary Award Program greatly exceeds the supply of current funding, requiring measures to be taken to reduce student time to obtain a degree and, thus, reduce educational costs without reducing the quality of education; and

WHEREAS, the Illinois Community College Board, the Board of Higher Education, and individual public and private higher education institutions have already created an extensive, voluntary general education and major course articulation program; therefore

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Board of Higher Education Act is amended by changing Section 9.30 as follows:

(110 ILCS 205/9.30)

Sec. 9.30. Course transferability program.

(a) Subject to appropriation, the Board shall implement and administer a statewide program, using the World Wide Web, to assist students, advisors, faculty, and administrators from public and private institutions of higher education in obtaining consistent and accurate information about transfer courses and their applicability towards degree completion by publishing course equivalency guides, academic programs, courses offered, transfer course evaluations, and degree requirements.

(b) Under the program, the Board shall provide appropriate assistance and support to participating public and private institutions of higher education. The Board shall designate participants based on which institutions apply to be part of the program. However, all data shall be managed by each institution of higher education and each institution shall retain complete ownership of the data submitted.

(c) The program's Internet website shall contain the following:

(1) Transfer course articulations, which shall be updated annually.

(2) Institutional reference tables.

(3) Degree requirements, which shall be updated annually.

(4) Course banks, which shall be updated annually.

(5) Academic program pull down menus, which shall be updated annually.

(d) In this subsection (d), "committee" means the Statewide Articulation and Transfer Committee.

The Board, in conjunction with the Illinois Community College Board and in consultation with the State Board of Education, shall establish a Statewide Articulation and Transfer Committee, which shall report to the Executive Director of the Board of Higher Education and the chair of the Joint Educational Leadership Committee. All committee recommendations and decisions must be submitted to the Board for approval on or before October 1, 2013. The committee may include members of the existing Illinois Articulation Initiative committees and shall consist of members equitably representing public universities, public community colleges, and private, non-profit colleges and universities and members representing the State Board of Education. Furthermore, the committee shall include members from private, non-profit colleges or universities that have previously not participated in the Illinois Articulation Initiative, but enroll one or more students who receive MAP grants. The committee shall, with appropriate consultation with faculty senates of institutions of higher education, do all of the following:

(1) Review the report on current articulation provided by the Illinois Community College Board.

(2) Form subcommittees or advisory groups composed of secondary and postsecondary education faculty members, including those representing MAP-eligible institutions that have not fully participated in the existing articulation system, to review and approve or revise the existing (as of July 1, 2012) general education core curriculum and major course learning objectives, determine course comparability and credit hours and, if deemed necessary to reach consensus, curricula or textbooks, and consult on the development of a common, statewide identifier for transferable courses, and other topics deemed necessary to carry out the committee's duties and responsibilities.

(3) On or before July 1, 2013, make recommendations to the Board of Higher Education with respect to improvements to the existing articulation system, including the revisions to the existing articulation agreement to improve articulation of general education core curriculum and approved Illinois Articulation Initiative major coursework to institutions enrolling one or more students receiving the MAP grant. The committee shall also make recommendations to the Board of Higher Education for creation of a simple, statewide, common course identifier, that shall make identification of statewide transferrable courses immediately obvious to students, without changing or conflicting with individual institutional course numbering systems. These recommendations shall also take into account existing dual credit, 2 Plus 2, and common course standard initiatives.

(4) As needed, develop policies to align articulation and transfer policies established by individual educational institutions or community college districts, including, but not limited to, admissions criteria and advising and counseling.

(5) Ensure that all articulation and transfer policies and practices approved by the committee are compliant with the rules and regulations of all relevant, recognized, accrediting agencies.

(6) Perform other duties as required by the Board and the General Assembly.

On or before January 1, 2014, the Board shall collaborate with the Community College Board to recommend to the General Assembly a revised, statewide articulation agreement that shall govern the articulation and transfer of credit between and among this State's secondary and postsecondary institutions. The statewide articulation agreement shall, at minimum, do all of the following:

(A) Guarantee the transfer of general education courses and common degree program prerequisites.

(B) Guarantee that every student who has completed the general education core curriculum approved by the committee at an institution of higher education shall be deemed to have met all general education and core curriculum requirements and shall not be required to take any additional general education courses to fulfill baccalaureate degree requirements.

(C) Encourage MAP-eligible institutions to accept for equal credit transferrable major courses identified by the committee and completed by transferring students at another MAP-eligible institution.

(D) Provide for acceptance by postsecondary educational institutions of credits earned in accelerated programs, such as dual enrollment, the International Baccalaureate, and Advanced Placement programs.

(E) Guarantee the transfer of equivalent courses registered under the statewide general education core curriculum.

(F) Establish the statewide transferable course identifier, which shall be a required designation for course catalogs and transcripts to clearly indicate which courses fall under the general education core curriculum and major core curriculum.

(G) Require institutions of higher education to request from the Board and the Illinois Community College Board, in writing, prior to the beginning of the semester, approval to refrain from honoring any course entered in the general education core curriculum.

The Board shall also establish limits on the number of credits that institutions are allowed to require transferring students to complete on campus for graduation in order to minimize the time needed to complete a transfer degree. The Board shall adopt those policies and procedures considered necessary to fulfill these duties well and in a timely manner. The policies and procedures are binding on all educational institutions enrolling one or more students who receive MAP grants, unless otherwise determined by the Board.

Nothing in this subsection (d) shall be construed to contradict the standards already governed by State and federal privacy laws.

(Source: P.A. 94-420, eff. 8-2-05.)

Section 10. The Public Community College Act is amended by changing Section 2-11 as follows:

(110 ILCS 805/2-11) (from Ch. 122, par. 102-11)

Sec. 2-11. (a) The State Board in cooperation with the four-year colleges is empowered to develop articulation procedures to the end that maximum freedom of transfer among community colleges and between community colleges and degree-granting institutions be available, and consistent with minimum admission policies established by the Board of Higher Education.

(b) The State Board is authorized and it shall be its duty to periodically review student records from students who, having formerly studied at a State community college, have since transferred to a 4-year institution that is authorized to receive Monetary Award Program funds under Section 35 of the Higher Education Student Assistance Act in order to do all of the following:

(1) Conduct a study of student transcripts, making all legal and appropriate allowance for student privacy, to better understand how and when students are receiving credit for general education and major coursework, including, but not limited to, those courses that form the general education core curriculum.

(2) Produce a report indicating where improvements are needed to maximize course articulation between 2-year and 4-year colleges in order to reduce student time to obtain a degree.

(3) Report these findings to the General Assembly and the Board of Higher Education, with the initial report due on November 1, 2012.

The State Board shall also support the Board of Higher Education in convening a Statewide Articulation and Transfer Committee under Section 9.30 of the Board of Higher Education Act, whose primary purpose is to agree upon a general education core curriculum and major learning objectives and create a plan for implementation of a statewide articulation agreement and common, statewide transferable course identifier.

Nothing in this subsection (b) shall be construed to contradict the standards already governed by State and federal privacy laws.

(Source: P.A. 78-669.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.