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.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    WHEREAS, This State needs to substantially increase the
3number of skilled students graduating from college each year to
4meet a goal of 60 percent of adult residents possessing a
5college credential by 2025; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The tightened fiscal environment requires a focus
7on ensuring all State resources are used as efficiently and
8effectively as possible; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The demand for the Monetary Award Program greatly
10exceeds the supply of current funding, requiring measures to be
11taken to reduce student time to obtain a degree and, thus,
12reduce educational costs without reducing the quality of
13education; and
 
14    WHEREAS, the Illinois Community College Board, the Board of
15Higher Education, and individual public and private higher
16education institutions have already created an extensive,
17voluntary general education and major course articulation
18program; therefore
 
19    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
20represented in the General Assembly:
 

 

 

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1    Section 5. The Board of Higher Education Act is amended by
2changing Section 9.30 as follows:
 
3    (110 ILCS 205/9.30)
4    Sec. 9.30. Course transferability program.
5    (a) Subject to appropriation, the Board shall implement and
6administer a statewide program, using the World Wide Web, to
7assist students, advisors, faculty, and administrators from
8public and private institutions of higher education in
9obtaining consistent and accurate information about transfer
10courses and their applicability towards degree completion by
11publishing course equivalency guides, academic programs,
12courses offered, transfer course evaluations, and degree
13requirements.
14    (b) Under the program, the Board shall provide appropriate
15assistance and support to participating public and private
16institutions of higher education. The Board shall designate
17participants based on which institutions apply to be part of
18the program. However, all data shall be managed by each
19institution of higher education and each institution shall
20retain complete ownership of the data submitted.
21    (c) The program's Internet website shall contain the
22following:
23        (1) Transfer course articulations, which shall be
24    updated annually.
25        (2) Institutional reference tables.

 

 

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1        (3) Degree requirements, which shall be updated
2    annually.
3        (4) Course banks, which shall be updated annually.
4        (5) Academic program pull down menus, which shall be
5    updated annually.
6    (d) In this subsection (d), "committee" means the Statewide
7Articulation and Transfer Committee.
8    The Board, in conjunction with the Illinois Community
9College Board and in consultation with the State Board of
10Education, shall establish a Statewide Articulation and
11Transfer Committee, which shall report to the Executive
12Director of the Board of Higher Education and the chair of the
13Joint Educational Leadership Committee. All committee
14recommendations and decisions must be submitted to the Board
15for approval on or before October 1, 2013. The committee may
16include members of the existing Illinois Articulation
17Initiative committees and shall consist of members equitably
18representing public universities, public community colleges,
19and private, non-profit colleges and universities and members
20representing the State Board of Education. Furthermore, the
21committee shall include members from private, non-profit
22colleges or universities that have previously not participated
23in the Illinois Articulation Initiative, but enroll one or more
24students who receive MAP grants. The committee shall, with
25appropriate consultation with faculty senates of institutions
26of higher education, do all of the following:

 

 

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1        (1) Review the report on current articulation provided
2    by the Illinois Community College Board.
3        (2) Form subcommittees or advisory groups composed of
4    secondary and postsecondary education faculty members,
5    including those representing MAP-eligible institutions
6    that have not fully participated in the existing
7    articulation system, to review and approve or revise the
8    existing (as of July 1, 2012) general education core
9    curriculum and major course learning objectives, determine
10    course comparability and credit hours and, if deemed
11    necessary to reach consensus, curricula or textbooks, and
12    consult on the development of a common, statewide
13    identifier for transferable courses, and other topics
14    deemed necessary to carry out the committee's duties and
15    responsibilities.
16        (3) On or before July 1, 2013, make recommendations to
17    the Board of Higher Education with respect to improvements
18    to the existing articulation system, including the
19    revisions to the existing articulation agreement to
20    improve articulation of general education core curriculum
21    and approved Illinois Articulation Initiative major
22    coursework to institutions enrolling one or more students
23    receiving the MAP grant. The committee shall also make
24    recommendations to the Board of Higher Education for
25    creation of a simple, statewide, common course identifier,
26    that shall make identification of statewide transferrable

 

 

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1    courses immediately obvious to students, without changing
2    or conflicting with individual institutional course
3    numbering systems. These recommendations shall also take
4    into account existing dual credit, 2 Plus 2, and common
5    course standard initiatives.
6        (4) As needed, develop policies to align articulation
7    and transfer policies established by individual
8    educational institutions or community college districts,
9    including, but not limited to, admissions criteria and
10    advising and counseling.
11        (5) Ensure that all articulation and transfer policies
12    and practices approved by the committee are compliant with
13    the rules and regulations of all relevant, recognized,
14    accrediting agencies.
15        (6) Perform other duties as required by the Board and
16    the General Assembly.
17    On or before January 1, 2014, the Board shall collaborate
18with the Community College Board to recommend to the General
19Assembly a revised, statewide articulation agreement that
20shall govern the articulation and transfer of credit between
21and among this State's secondary and postsecondary
22institutions. The statewide articulation agreement shall, at
23minimum, do all of the following:
24        (A) Guarantee the transfer of general education
25    courses and common degree program prerequisites.
26        (B) Guarantee that every student who has completed the

 

 

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1    general education core curriculum approved by the
2    committee at an institution of higher education shall be
3    deemed to have met all general education and core
4    curriculum requirements and shall not be required to take
5    any additional general education courses to fulfill
6    baccalaureate degree requirements.
7        (C) Encourage MAP-eligible institutions to accept for
8    equal credit transferrable major courses identified by the
9    committee and completed by transferring students at
10    another MAP-eligible institution.
11        (D) Provide for acceptance by postsecondary
12    educational institutions of credits earned in accelerated
13    programs, such as dual enrollment, the International
14    Baccalaureate, and Advanced Placement programs.
15        (E) Guarantee the transfer of equivalent courses
16    registered under the statewide general education core
17    curriculum.
18        (F) Establish the statewide transferable course
19    identifier, which shall be a required designation for
20    course catalogs and transcripts to clearly indicate which
21    courses fall under the general education core curriculum
22    and major core curriculum.
23        (G) Require institutions of higher education to
24    request from the Board and the Illinois Community College
25    Board, in writing, prior to the beginning of the semester,
26    approval to refrain from honoring any course entered in the

 

 

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1    general education core curriculum.
2    The Board shall also establish limits on the number of
3credits that institutions are allowed to require transferring
4students to complete on campus for graduation in order to
5minimize the time needed to complete a transfer degree. The
6Board shall adopt those policies and procedures considered
7necessary to fulfill these duties well and in a timely manner.
8The policies and procedures are binding on all educational
9institutions enrolling one or more students who receive MAP
10grants, unless otherwise determined by the Board.
11    Nothing in this subsection (d) shall be construed to
12contradict the standards already governed by State and federal
13privacy laws.
14(Source: P.A. 94-420, eff. 8-2-05.)
 
15    Section 10. The Public Community College Act is amended by
16changing Section 2-11 as follows:
 
17    (110 ILCS 805/2-11)  (from Ch. 122, par. 102-11)
18    Sec. 2-11. (a) The State Board in cooperation with the
19four-year colleges is empowered to develop articulation
20procedures to the end that maximum freedom of transfer among
21community colleges and between community colleges and
22degree-granting institutions be available, and consistent with
23minimum admission policies established by the Board of Higher
24Education.

 

 

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1    (b) The State Board is authorized and it shall be its duty
2to periodically review student records from students who,
3having formerly studied at a State community college, have
4since transferred to a 4-year institution that is authorized to
5receive Monetary Award Program funds under Section 35 of the
6Higher Education Student Assistance Act in order to do all of
7the following:
8        (1) Conduct a study of student transcripts, making all
9    legal and appropriate allowance for student privacy, to
10    better understand how and when students are receiving
11    credit for general education and major coursework,
12    including, but not limited to, those courses that form the
13    general education core curriculum.
14        (2) Produce a report indicating where improvements are
15    needed to maximize course articulation between 2-year and
16    4-year colleges in order to reduce student time to obtain a
17    degree.
18        (3) Report these findings to the General Assembly and
19    the Board of Higher Education, with the initial report due
20    on November 1, 2012.
21    The State Board shall also support the Board of Higher
22Education in convening a Statewide Articulation and Transfer
23Committee under Section 9.30 of the Board of Higher Education
24Act, whose primary purpose is to agree upon a general education
25core curriculum and major learning objectives and create a plan
26for implementation of a statewide articulation agreement and

 

 

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1common, statewide transferable course identifier.
2    Nothing in this subsection (b) shall be construed to
3contradict the standards already governed by State and federal
4privacy laws.
5(Source: P.A. 78-669.)
 
6    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
7becoming law.

 

 

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1 INDEX
2 Statutes amended in order of appearance
3    110 ILCS 205/9.30
4    110 ILCS 805/2-11from Ch. 122, par. 102-11