Whereas, Student success in transfer is a significant thrust of the California Community College Strategic Plan (Section B: Student Success and Readiness);
Whereas, Successful transfer relies upon full articulation and transfer activities supported by a transfer center;
Whereas, Articulation officers have historically relied upon small, individual, annual grants of approximately $5,000 as their sole guaranteed funding source; and
Whereas, Many California community college students attend more than one community college before attaining their educational goals;
Whereas, Many community college students request course credit based upon Advanced Placement (AP) scores;
Whereas, The awarding of Advanced Placement (AP) credit differs notably both among and between community colleges and universities, creating confusion for career/vocational and transfer students; and
Whereas, Before its demise, the California Articulation Numbering (CAN) system was used widely by students, faculty and staff to identify, through numbers published in catalogs and schedules of courses, the comparability of community college transfer courses and by articulation officers to expedite articulation between institutions;
Whereas, California Education Code recognizes the community college transfer function as an essential component of California's commitment to access and educational opportunity by requiring that "Each community college district governing board shall ensure that its college or colleges maintain student transfer counseling centers or other counseling and student services designed and implemented to affirmatively seek out, counsel, advise, and monitor the progress of potential and identified community college transfer students" (Education Code 66736);
Whereas, Navigating the complex system of the articulation of courses among California's segments of higher education is at best confusing;
Whereas, Articulation System Stimulating Interinstitutional Student Transfer (ASSIST) has been designed to facilitate this navigation;
Whereas, The articulation officers in California's community colleges have requested that the ASSIST database be programmed to enable users to input a single course and receive a list of how that course articulates at the CSU and UC, a "Single Course Query"; and
Whereas, Articulation System Stimulating Interinstitutional Student Transfer (ASSIST) was developed to facilitate student transfer from community colleges to universities;
Whereas, ASSIST is designed to provide full intersegmental participation in the decisions made by ASSIST; and
Whereas, The concerns, perspectives, and recommendations made by community college representatives have not always been honored at ASSIST;
Whereas, H.R. 3975 (Hurricane Regulatory Relief Act of 2005, as of October 6, 2005), sponsored by Representative Bobby Jindal (R-LA) to provide relief to victims of the recent hurricanes, contains an additional provision that denies colleges and universities the right to set transfer policies;
Whereas, The purpose of this bill is hurricane relief, not higher education policy;
Whereas, Processes and procedures for articulation are already in place; and
Whereas, Intrusive federalized institutional transfer policies are an attack on academic freedom;
Whereas, The California Articulation Number (CAN) System was developed to facilitate course articulation and student transfer and was designated by the Chancellor as the mechanism for common course numbering within the California Community College System;
Whereas, The CAN System Office ceased operations in March 2005; and
Whereas, The California community colleges, as directed by legislation, still need a mechanism for common numbering within the system and for identifying articulated courses;
Resolved that the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges propose that the Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates encourage free access for faculty from all segments of postsecondary education to library resources at all public institutions of higher education.
Resolved that the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges direct its members on the Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates to work to modify the language in the considerations involved in determining what constitutes a baccalaureate level course by modifying section C.1.a. to say: "...be directed toward an understanding of theory and concepts which are grounded in the disciplines," and