Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford

Filed: 3/26/2012

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3804

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3804 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Findings and declarations. The General
5Assembly finds and declares the following:
6        (1) This State needs to substantially increase the
7    number of skilled students graduating from college each
8    year to meet a goal of 60% of adult residents possessing a
9    college credential by 2025.
10        (2) The tightened fiscal environment requires a focus
11    on ensuring all State resources are used as efficiently and
12    effectively as possible.
13        (3) The demand for the Monetary Award Program greatly
14    exceeds the supply of current funding, requiring measures
15    to be taken to reduce student time to obtain a degree and,
16    thus, reduce educational costs without reducing the
17    quality of education.

 

 

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1        (4) It is recognized that substantial efforts have been
2    made to facilitate student transfers through the creation
3    of extensive transfer and articulation agreements between
4    and among public and private post-secondary educational
5    institutions in this State, including the voluntary
6    statewide articulation agreement known as the Illinois
7    Articulation Initiative.
 
8    Section 5. The Board of Higher Education Act is amended by
9changing Section 9.30 as follows:
 
10    (110 ILCS 205/9.30)
11    Sec. 9.30. Course transferability program.
12    (a) Subject to appropriation, the Board shall implement and
13administer a statewide program, using the World Wide Web, to
14assist students, advisors, faculty, and administrators from
15public and private institutions of higher education in
16obtaining consistent and accurate information about transfer
17courses and their applicability towards degree completion by
18publishing course equivalency guides, academic programs,
19courses offered, transfer course evaluations, and degree
20requirements.
21    (b) Under the program, the Board shall provide appropriate
22assistance and support to participating public and private
23institutions of higher education. The Board shall designate
24participants based on which institutions apply to be part of

 

 

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1the program. However, all data shall be managed by each
2institution of higher education and each institution shall
3retain complete ownership of the data submitted.
4    (c) The program's Internet website shall contain the
5following:
6        (1) Transfer course articulations, which shall be
7    updated annually.
8        (2) Institutional reference tables.
9        (3) Degree requirements, which shall be updated
10    annually.
11        (4) Course banks, which shall be updated annually.
12        (5) Academic program pull down menus, which shall be
13    updated annually.
14    (d) The Board of Higher Education is authorized and it
15shall be its duty, in collaboration with the Illinois Community
16College Board, to periodically review student records for
17students who, having formerly studied at a public community
18college in this State, have since transferred to a 4-year
19institution that is authorized to receive Monetary Award
20Program (MAP) funds under Section 35 of the Higher Education
21Student Assistance Act in order to do all of the following:
22        (1) Collaborate with the Illinois Community College
23    Board to conduct an initial study or audit of student
24    transcripts, making all legal and appropriate allowance
25    for student privacy, to better understand how and when
26    students are receiving credit for general education and

 

 

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1    major coursework, including without limitation whether
2    students receive equivalent or elective credit, whether
3    transferring students receive junior status upon transfer,
4    how many credit hours on average students must repeat in
5    similar general education and major coursework when they
6    transfer to public and private institutions, as well as
7    patterns in course transfer within sectors and program
8    types, the impact on student time to obtain a degree, and
9    the average cost of repeated or similar coursework.
10        (2) Produce, in collaboration with the Illinois
11    Community College Board, a report indicating where
12    improvements are needed to maximize course transfer
13    between 2-year and 4-year colleges in order to reduce
14    student time to obtain a degree and, in consultation with
15    the Illinois Community College Board, prepare an initial
16    report with these findings on or before June 30, 2013.
17        (3) After June 30, 2013, in consultation with the
18    Illinois Higher Education Center, the Illinois Community
19    College Board, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission,
20    and the State Board of Education, conduct and issue an
21    annual report of student transfer, to be named the
22    Post-Secondary Transfer and Completion Report. The report
23    shall make use of data gathered through the State
24    longitudinal data system to track course credit transfers,
25    which may include, but not be limited to, student records
26    tracked by institution and by major, transfer of the

 

 

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1    Illinois Articulation Initiative general education common
2    core and major course recommendations, reverse transfer of
3    credit, patterns in transferability and applicability of
4    course credit, additional time to obtain a degree for
5    students with coursework that does not transfer for equal
6    credit, and comparisons of the performance of transferring
7    students by institution or other variables. These entities
8    are authorized to require additional data elements to be
9    reported by institutions to complete the study, when
10    necessary and by the most economical means. The data
11    elements shall be developed in consultation with the
12    appropriate data and technical committees to make use of
13    existing data collection and definitions wherever
14    possible. The report shall be annually provided to the
15    Illinois P-20 Council and the General Assembly.
16    Nothing in this subsection (d) shall be construed to
17contradict the standards already governed by State and federal
18privacy laws.
19    (e) In this subsection (e), "committee" means the Statewide
20Articulation and Transfer Committee.
21    The Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community
22College Board, and the Illinois P-20 Council shall establish a
23Statewide Articulation and Transfer Committee, which shall be
24chaired by the head of the Illinois P-20 Council or his or her
25designee. The committee may include members of the existing
26Illinois Articulation Initiative committees and shall consist

 

 

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1of members equitably representing public universities, public
2community colleges, and private, non-profit colleges and
3universities and members representing the General Assembly.
4Furthermore, the committee shall include members from private,
5non-profit colleges or universities that have not fully
6participated in the Illinois Articulation Initiative, but
7enroll one or more students who receive MAP grants. The
8committee shall, with appropriate consultation with faculty
9senates of institutions of higher education, do all of the
10following:
11        (1) Review the report on course transfer provided by
12    the Illinois Community College Board and the Board of
13    Higher Education and review additional reports by
14    individual institutions, as needed.
15        (2) Consult with existing Illinois Articulation
16    Initiative general education and major directive
17    subcommittees, the Federation of Independent Illinois
18    Colleges and Universities, and faculty representatives
19    from MAP-receiving institutions that have previously not
20    fully participated in the Illinois Articulation Initiative
21    on ways to improve the existing system, including, but not
22    limited to, a common, statewide identifier to maximize and
23    clarify course transferability for MAP students at public
24    and private institutions.
25        (3) On or before January 1, 2014, make recommendations
26    to the Illinois Community College Board and the Board of

 

 

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1    Higher Education with respect to improvements to the
2    existing system of course transfer and articulation to
3    maximize course transfer of general education and major
4    coursework to institutions enrolling one or more students
5    receiving the MAP grant. The committee shall also make
6    recommendations to the Illinois Community College Board
7    and the Board of Higher Education for creation of a simple,
8    statewide, common course identifier, which shall make
9    identification of statewide transferrable courses
10    immediately obvious to students. These recommendations
11    shall also take into account existing dual credit, 2 Plus
12    2, and common course standard initiatives.
13        (4) As needed, develop policies to align articulation
14    and transfer policies established by individual
15    educational institutions or community college districts,
16    including, but not limited to, admissions criteria and
17    advising and counseling.
18        (5) Ensure that all articulation and transfer policies
19    and practices approved by the committee are compliant with
20    the rules and regulations of all relevant, recognized,
21    accrediting agencies.
22        (6) Perform other duties as required by the Illinois
23    Community College Board, the Board of Higher Education, and
24    the General Assembly.
25    All committee recommendations and decisions must be
26submitted to the Board of Higher Education for approval on or

 

 

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1before January 1, 2014 for presentation to the General
2Assembly.
3    Nothing in this subsection (e) shall be construed to
4contradict the standards already governed by State and federal
5privacy laws.
6(Source: P.A. 94-420, eff. 8-2-05.)
 
7    Section 10. The Public Community College Act is amended by
8changing Section 2-11 as follows:
 
9    (110 ILCS 805/2-11)  (from Ch. 122, par. 102-11)
10    Sec. 2-11. (a) The State Board in cooperation with the
11four-year colleges is empowered to develop articulation
12procedures to the end that maximum freedom of transfer among
13community colleges and between community colleges and
14degree-granting institutions be available, and consistent with
15minimum admission policies established by the Board of Higher
16Education.
17    (b) The State Board shall collaborate with the Board of
18Higher Education and institutions of higher education to review
19student records from students who, having formerly studied at a
20community college, have since transferred to a 4-year
21institution that is authorized to receive Monetary Award
22Program funds under Section 35 of the Higher Education Student
23Assistance Act in order to do all of the following:
24        (1) Collaborate with the Board of Higher Education to

 

 

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1    conduct an initial study or audit of student transcripts,
2    making all legal and appropriate allowance for student
3    privacy, to better understand how and when students are
4    receiving credit for general education and major
5    coursework, including without limitation whether students
6    receive equivalent or elective credit, whether
7    transferring students receive junior status upon transfer,
8    how many credit hours on average students must repeat in
9    similar general education and major coursework when they
10    transfer to public and private institutions, as well as
11    patterns in course transfer within sectors and program
12    types, the impact on student time to obtain a degree, and
13    the average cost of repeated or similar coursework.
14        (2) Share the resulting data with the Board of Higher
15    Education and, on or before June 30, 2013, collaborate with
16    the Board of Higher Education to produce a report
17    indicating where improvements are needed to maximize
18    course transfer between 2-year and 4-year colleges in order
19    to reduce student time to obtain a degree.
20        (3) Routinely submit additional data on transferring
21    students to the State longitudinal data system for annual
22    course credit transfer reports.
23    Nothing in this subsection (b) shall be construed to
24contradict the standards already governed by State and federal
25privacy laws.
26(Source: P.A. 78-669.)
 

 

 

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1    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2becoming law.".