SB3804sam001 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford

Filed: 3/26/2012

09700SB3804sam001 LRB097 19789 NHT 67808 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3804

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3804 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Findings and declarations. The General Assembly finds and declares the following:

(1) This State needs to substantially increase the number of skilled students graduating from college each year to meet a goal of 60% of adult residents possessing a college credential by 2025.

(2) The tightened fiscal environment requires a focus on ensuring all State resources are used as efficiently and effectively as possible.

(3) 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.

(4) It is recognized that substantial efforts have been made to facilitate student transfers through the creation of extensive transfer and articulation agreements between and among public and private post-secondary educational institutions in this State, including the voluntary statewide articulation agreement known as the Illinois Articulation Initiative.

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

(1) Collaborate with the Illinois Community College Board to conduct an initial study or audit 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 without limitation whether students receive equivalent or elective credit, whether transferring students receive junior status upon transfer, how many credit hours on average students must repeat in similar general education and major coursework when they transfer to public and private institutions, as well as patterns in course transfer within sectors and program types, the impact on student time to obtain a degree, and the average cost of repeated or similar coursework.

(2) Produce, in collaboration with the Illinois Community College Board, a report indicating where improvements are needed to maximize course transfer between 2-year and 4-year colleges in order to reduce student time to obtain a degree and, in consultation with the Illinois Community College Board, prepare an initial report with these findings on or before June 30, 2013.

(3) After June 30, 2013, in consultation with the Illinois Higher Education Center, the Illinois Community College Board, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, and the State Board of Education, conduct and issue an annual report of student transfer, to be named the Post-Secondary Transfer and Completion Report. The report shall make use of data gathered through the State longitudinal data system to track course credit transfers, which may include, but not be limited to, student records tracked by institution and by major, transfer of the Illinois Articulation Initiative general education common core and major course recommendations, reverse transfer of credit, patterns in transferability and applicability of course credit, additional time to obtain a degree for students with coursework that does not transfer for equal credit, and comparisons of the performance of transferring students by institution or other variables. These entities are authorized to require additional data elements to be reported by institutions to complete the study, when necessary and by the most economical means. The data elements shall be developed in consultation with the appropriate data and technical committees to make use of existing data collection and definitions wherever possible. The report shall be annually provided to the Illinois P-20 Council and the General Assembly.

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

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

The Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board, and the Illinois P-20 Council shall establish a Statewide Articulation and Transfer Committee, which shall be chaired by the head of the Illinois P-20 Council or his or her designee. 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 General Assembly. Furthermore, the committee shall include members from private, non-profit colleges or universities that have not fully 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 course transfer provided by the Illinois Community College Board and the Board of Higher Education and review additional reports by individual institutions, as needed.

(2) Consult with existing Illinois Articulation Initiative general education and major directive subcommittees, the Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities, and faculty representatives from MAP-receiving institutions that have previously not fully participated in the Illinois Articulation Initiative on ways to improve the existing system, including, but not limited to, a common, statewide identifier to maximize and clarify course transferability for MAP students at public and private institutions.

(3) On or before January 1, 2014, make recommendations to the Illinois Community College Board and the Board of Higher Education with respect to improvements to the existing system of course transfer and articulation to maximize course transfer of general education and major coursework to institutions enrolling one or more students receiving the MAP grant. The committee shall also make recommendations to the Illinois Community College Board and the Board of Higher Education for creation of a simple, statewide, common course identifier, which shall make identification of statewide transferrable courses immediately obvious to students. 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 Illinois Community College Board, the Board of Higher Education, and the General Assembly.

All committee recommendations and decisions must be submitted to the Board of Higher Education for approval on or before January 1, 2014 for presentation to the General Assembly.

Nothing in this subsection (e) 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 shall collaborate with the Board of Higher Education and institutions of higher education to review student records from students who, having formerly studied at a 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) Collaborate with the Board of Higher Education to conduct an initial study or audit 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 without limitation whether students receive equivalent or elective credit, whether transferring students receive junior status upon transfer, how many credit hours on average students must repeat in similar general education and major coursework when they transfer to public and private institutions, as well as patterns in course transfer within sectors and program types, the impact on student time to obtain a degree, and the average cost of repeated or similar coursework.

(2) Share the resulting data with the Board of Higher Education and, on or before June 30, 2013, collaborate with the Board of Higher Education to produce a report indicating where improvements are needed to maximize course transfer between 2-year and 4-year colleges in order to reduce student time to obtain a degree.

(3) Routinely submit additional data on transferring students to the State longitudinal data system for annual course credit transfer reports.

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.".