March, 2017 Discipline Stakeholder Meetings: Creating College to University Transfer Pathways

Discipline Stakeholder Meetings Schedule Monday 9 – 11:30 Political Sci. 12 – 2:30 Art Tuesday 9 – 11:30 English 12 – 2:30 Com. Arts Wednesday 10 – 12:30 Spec. Ed. 1 – 3:30 MIS Thursday 9 – 11:30 History 12 – 2:30 Spanish 3 – 5:30 Accounting Friday 9 – 11:30 Mass Comm. 12 – 2:30 Crim. Justice 3 – 5:30 Engineering

2014 Legislation 2015 Legislation Why Transfer Pathways? 2014 Legislation 2015 Legislation Develop a plan to Implement multi-campus articulation agreements that Lead to baccalaureate degree completion Upon earning the number of credits required for the degree minus 60 After earning an associate in arts, associate of science, associate of fine arts degree from a system college. Implement transfer pathways For associate in arts, associate of science, associate of fine arts degrees Toward baccalaureate degree programs To the greatest extent possible in accordance with the March 2015 implementation plan Back in May of 2014, the legislature required the MnSCU Board of Trustees to …develop a plan… [read slide] That 2014 legislation assigned the planning work to one of the Charting the Future teams working on strategic planning. The CTF APC team met from September through February to write the plan. One of the challenging issues for the team was how broad the plan ought to be (“multi-campus articulation agreements” was not specific about numbers of program articulations or numbers of colleges and universities involved). The team decided that regional or other local approaches would only add to student confusion about transfer, and they called for creation of curriculum pathways from the associate degree through the bachelor’s in at least 25-30 of the most popular bachelor’s majors in the system, and to require all colleges and universities to align their related programs to the pathways. After the team’s report was submitted to the Legislature in March 2015, new legislation assigned the board to implement the transfer pathways in accordance with the plan, and to report in March 2016 how the implementation is proceeding. We were excited to be able to report in March that the work is on track, and going well—and that it’s requiring a considerable amount of very serious work by more than 100 individuals at this early stage. It will by the end of the spring semester engage more than 1,500 faculty, hundreds of staff and administrators [60 theatre; 320 psych; 700 business; 410 biology]. By the time it’s done, many tens of thousands of MnSCU faculty, staff, students. Also: California, Pennsylvania, Connecticut

The real Reason Behind Why Transfer Pathways Problem: The system has multiple and differing associate and bachelor degrees created independently, leading to students’ loss of credits, time, money. Solution: Collaboratively create consistent and guaranteed degree pathways that provide common student learning outcomes and lead to more timely degree completion It’s probably worth taking a moment to remind ourselves what problem the Legislature was trying to address with these laws, and what opportunity they presented to us. [read slide] One of the strengths of the system is the breadth of its programs, but they are all created locally and independently, and transfer too often has meant that students lose credits, time, and money, and we think those factors discourage students from finishing their degrees. By consistent pathways, we don’t mean to create identical degrees, but instead to have programs in alignment with one another, as a result of faculty coming to agreement about the learning outcomes in their programs and agreeing which courses should make up the program and at what level—lower division or upper. The goal is to offer a guarantee to students that if they’ve completed the lower-division program for an associate’s degree, they are assured of being prepared to complete, in a timely way, the bachelor’s degree. If a college offers an associate degree with an emphasis in biology, then that associate degree will transfer to all seven of our universities that offer a bachelor’s degree in biology, and the student will be able to graduate in the major with just 60 additional credits. They won’t transfer and then learn that they should not have taken a certain course or should have taken two others.

What are Transfer Pathways? Pathways from associate degrees into the top 25 – 30 majors in the system Each pathway will replace a relevant associate degree at all colleges and will be accepted at all universities with relevant bachelor degrees Students who earn a Transfer Pathway award will enter as a junior and be able to graduate with 60 additional credits. For example, a college will develop an associate degree in biology which will be accepted for entry into the major at any state university [admission to the university is guaranteed although admission to the major is not] About 2/3 of all ~12,000 bachelor’s degrees every year are awarded in those majors

Transfer Pathway Teams How are the pathways being developed? Transfer Pathway Teams Transfer Pathway Coordinating Team Each pathway is created by a Transfer Pathway Team (TPT). Composition of team is a majority of faculty (12/20) but also includes students, staff, and administrators. Teams are co-chaired by one university faculty member and one college faculty member. Oversight is provided by the Transfer Pathway Coordinating Team (TPCT). This team is composed of faculty, students, staff, and administrators. The TPCT is co-chaired by one university faculty member and one college faculty member.

Each TPT has a semester to develop the pathway What is the general timeline for a transfer pathway team? Each TPT has a semester to develop the pathway Feedback is sought for the draft pathway via a Discipline Stakeholder Meeting and surveys Feedback informs the final pathway The TPCT approves the final pathway Each college and university has a year for local work: modifying or creating courses approving the pathway using the template making changes in the catalog informing students, etc.

Biology Business Psychology Theatre Spring 2016: pilot transfer pathways teams Biology Business Psychology Theatre Spring 2016 TPTs begin development of 4 pathway Final Spring 2016 pathways approved for campus implementation Campus process for curriculum review and development 16-17 academic year Spring 2016 pathways available for student enrollment Fall 2017

New TPTs are being launched What is happening during the 2016-2017 academic year? New TPTs are being launched 12 disciplines fall semester 14 disciplines spring semester Campus curriculum work will begin in order to implement Spring 2016 pathways by Fall 2017 Campuses will develop plans for communicating with and advising students

Fall 2016 transfer pathway teams and timeline Chemistry Communications, General Computer Science Criminal Justice, Police Early Childhood Education – focused on the birth to third licensure Economics Elementary Education Kinesiology and Exercise Science Mathematics Nursing Social Work Sociology Fall 2016 TPTs begin development of 12 pathways September 2016 Proposed pathways presented for review at discipline stakeholder meetings November 14-17, 2016 Final Fall 2016 pathways approved for campus implementation February, 2017 Campus process for curriculum review and development Fall 2017 Fall 2016 pathways available for student enrollment Fall 2018

Spring 2017 transfer pathway teams and timeline Accounting Art Addiction Studies Communication Arts and Literature Education Criminal Justice Engineering English Health/Physical Education History Management Information Systems Mass Communication Political Science Spanish Special Education Spring 2017 TPTs begin development of 14 pathways December 2016 Proposed pathways presented for review at discipline stakeholder meetings March 27 – 30, 2017 Final Spring 2017 pathways approved for campus implementation May 7, 2017 Campus process for curriculum review and development Fall 2017 Fall 2016 pathways available for student enrollment Fall 2018

Implementing the Pathways Advising Process Encoding Process Program Approval Process College and University Curriculum Process TPCT Pathway Approval Process . After receiving statewide feedback, the teams are finishing their pathway curricula and then the campus-based work will begin throughout the system: faculty on all affected campuses will make adjustments in their courses or curricula; registrars will revise their catalogs; advisors, faculty, and other related staff will get training; and we’ll put a push on communications to get the word out clearly to students. Transfer Pathways Campus Implementation Toolkit available online!

COLLEGE IMPLEMENTATION: PROGRAMS Existing Programs Associate of Arts Emphasis degrees will be retired when an Associate of Arts Transfer Pathway in that discipline is offered Associate of Fine Arts degrees will be retired when an Associate of Fine Arts Transfer Pathway in that discipline is offered Associate of Science (AS) degrees may be kept IF they are significantly different from the Associate of Science Transfer Pathway degree is established for a discipline. When there are two AS degrees in the same field, those differences must be made clear to students In the liberal arts and sciences many new AA and AS degrees in specific disciplines will be implemented as new programs Julie New Programs

RESOURCES www.asa.mnscu.edu/transfer/pathways Newsletter and brochure FAQs Approved pathway templates Transfer Pathway Team meeting summaries Campus Implementation Toolkit In the works: a central Transfer website template for Program Guides

Gregg Marg Gregg.marg@mnsu.edu Glenn Merrick g.merrick@lsc.edu Key contacts Transfer Pathways Coordinating Team Co-chairs Gregg Marg Gregg.marg@mnsu.edu Glenn Merrick g.merrick@lsc.edu System Office Staff Lynda Milne, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Lynda.milne@so.msncu.edu Brenda Lyseng, Transfer Pathways Project Manager, Brenda.Lyseng@so.mnscu.edu