Whereas, AB 1985 (Williams, 2016) required that the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges develop a uniform policy to award course credit to any student who passes an Advanced Placement (AP) examination, and that policy mandated that all community colleges grant course credit for any student who earns a score of three or higher on an AP exam;
Whereas, Academic Senate for California Community Colleges Resolution 18.03 SP 2016 “Local Determination of Advanced Placement Credit at California Community Colleges” stated that “determination of appropriate credit for AP exam results is a curricular matter over which local faculty have purview,” yet, by mandating that all community colleges grant course credit for any student who earns a score of three or higher on an AP Exam, AB 1985 (Williams, 2016) contradicted that resolution;
Whereas, AB 1512 (Carillo, 2019), using AB 1985 (Williams, 2016) as precedent, aimed to mandate that the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges develop a uniform policy to award course credit to any student who passes an International Baccalaureate (IB) examination and require each community college district to adopt and implement the policy, and that policy would mandate that all community colleges grant course credit for any student who earns a score of four or higher on an IB exam; and
Whereas, In addition to instituting AP policies at all California community colleges as required by AB 1985, the California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California Systems offer credit for International Baccalaureate scores of 4 or more and College Level Examination Program (CLEP) scores of 50 or more, yet how IB and CLEP scores are evaluated and course credit awarded is determined inconsistently across the California community colleges, causing confusion and other issues for students;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges encourage local academic senates and curriculum committees to work with discipline faculty to conduct regular reviews of processes and practices for awarding credit for International Baccalaureate and College Level Examination Program scores in order to ensure that students receive all proper credit and are not required to duplicate coursework;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to prepare a model policy to be considered for adoption by all colleges that establishes a consistent standard for awarding of course credit for specific levels of performance on International Baccalaureate exams as a proactive response to intent of members of the California Legislature;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to prepare a model policy to be considered for adoption by all colleges that establishes a consistent standard for awarding of course credit for specific levels of performance on College Level Examination Program exams; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges encourage local colleges to regularly review policies and practices regarding the awarding of credit for external examinations like AP, IB, and CLEP due to the continually developing nature of external examination content and structure.
MSU