Kansas Board of Regents Transfer and Articulation Task Force
Proposed Recommendations: Draft
February 22, 2011
Discussions during meetings of the Transfer and Articulation Task Force and outside of the committee meetings revealed significant concerns and problems with the process as it currently exists. These range from students lack of a clear understanding about how their coursework will transfer to other institutions and reports of inconsistency within the process to the confusing nature of institutionally defined general education programs and no central coordination of the transfer and articulation process within the Regents system. To address these concerns and improve the transfer process for all Kansas students the Task Force makes the following recommendations:
I. Create a web-based, searchable “portal” housed by KBOR that will allow Kansas students
to easily determine how coursework completed at a Kansas Community College or Regent's
institution will transfer to other colleges and universities within the system.
A. The first step toward creating such a portal will require each of the four year
schools to clarify how coursework is evaluated on their campus and explain the avenues
for appeal.
B. This information, along with the name of and contact information for the university
point person for transfer and articulation issues, will be published on a university
web site that is easily reached and clearly identified.
C. This web site will also provide detailed information about how courses from each
of the colleges and universities within the Regents system will transfer into their
school.
The creation of the portal will require the Board of Regent's staff to determine how best to centrally organize this information in a manner similar to that found in other states. (Oklahoma was mentioned as one possible model.)
The Task Force sees the creation of this portal as a transitional development that will help clarify problems within the transfer and articulation process that are system wide and have a direct, negative impact of students within Kansas. These problems and related issues that arise with the transfer and articulation process will be regularly reviewed and discussed by an appointed “Transfer and Articulation Advisory Council.”
II. A Transfer and Articulation Advisory Council should be appointed through shared
oversight of the System Council of Chief Academic Officers and the Kansas Board of
Regents to manage the development and implementation of a web-based portal and transfer
process review. Membership will consist of faculty, institutional representatives,
and Board staff. Faculty Representatives (4 total) 2 to be appointed by four year
institutions, 2 to be appointed by two year institutions. Institutional Representatives
(8 total) 4 to be appointed by the four year institutions, 4 to be appointed by two
year institutions. The advisory council will report to the System Council of Chief
Academic Officers.
A. Primary responsibility of the Articulation and Transfer Council will be to promote
collaboration between two and four year institutions to develop articulation and transfer
agreements.
B. Review and make recommendations to the System Council of Chief Academic Officers
for the continued and/or modification of current Kansas Board of Regent policies that
encourage the free and appropriate transferability of general education and lower
division course credit among Kansas Public institutions of higher education.
C. Review and make recommendations to the System Council of Chief Academic Officers
on a system level process for the resolution of transfer disputes as related to general
education and lower division course credit transfer among Kansas Public institutions
of higher education.
III. Implementation Time Line
A. Each of the Regents institutions will have their transfer and articulation web
site, complete with details about institutional contact, transfer equivalencies and
appeals process, up to date by July 1, 2011.
B. KBOR staff will begin the process to identify the best method for creating the
centralized portal once the proposal is approved and report to the Transfer and Articulation
Advisory Council at its first meeting this fall, 2011.
C. The Transfer and Articulation Advisory Council will be staffed in summer, 2011,
and hold its first meeting by the end of August, 2011.