House File 2455 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY KAUFMANN, WISE, and
UPMEYER
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to articulation agreements between public
2 postsecondary institutions.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
4 TLSB 5229YH 82
5 kh/rj/14
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 256.42 STATE POSTSECONDARY
1 2 TRANSFER AND ARTICULATION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
1 3 1. A state postsecondary transfer and articulation
1 4 oversight committee is established within the department. The
1 5 committee shall consist of five voting members, one of whom
1 6 shall be the director of the department of education or the
1 7 director's designee. The governor shall appoint four members
1 8 as follows:
1 9 a. Two persons who shall be members of boards of directors
1 10 of community colleges.
1 11 b. Two persons who shall represent the institutions of
1 12 higher education governed by the state board of regents.
1 13 2. The committee shall meet to resolve the credit and
1 14 transfer or articulation disputes between the community
1 15 colleges, the regents universities, and students who wish to
1 16 transfer community college credits to a regents university.
1 17 3. The committee shall designate a chairperson, and may
1 18 change the designation. The committee shall meet no less than
1 19 four times per year and may meet at the call of the
1 20 chairperson or upon the written request to the chairperson of
1 21 two or more members. The members appointed by the governor
1 22 shall serve a term of four years, except that the initial term
1 23 of one member appointed pursuant to subsection 1, paragraph
1 24 "a", and one member appointed pursuant to subsection 1,
1 25 paragraph "b", shall be for two years. Members appointed by
1 26 the governor shall be appointed in each odd=numbered year to
1 27 succeed members whose terms expire as provided by section
1 28 69.19. If a vacancy occurs, a successor shall be appointed in
1 29 the same manner as the original appointment to serve the
1 30 unexpired term. A member designated to represent the director
1 31 of the department shall serve at the pleasure of the director.
1 32 A majority of the voting members of the committee constitutes
1 33 a quorum, and the concurrence of a majority of the voting
1 34 members of the committee in any matter within their duties is
1 35 required for its determination. Members are entitled to
2 1 actual expenses necessarily incurred in the discharge of their
2 2 duties as members of the committee. The expenses paid to the
2 3 committee members shall be paid from funds appropriated to the
2 4 department.
2 5 Sec. 2. Section 260C.14, Code 2007, is amended by adding
2 6 the following new subsection:
2 7 NEW SUBSECTION. 22. Enter into a collective statewide
2 8 articulation agreement with the state board of regents
2 9 pursuant to section 262.9, subsection 32. The agreement shall
2 10 provide for the creation of a bachelor of applied science
2 11 degree and equivalent recognition for an applied science
2 12 degree offered at the community college level. The
2 13 cooperation of each community college in abiding by the terms
2 14 of the agreement shall be reviewed and considered by the
2 15 general assembly when making the annual appropriation for the
2 16 community college.
2 17 Sec. 3. Section 262.9, Code Supplement 2007, is amended by
2 18 adding the following new subsection:
2 19 NEW SUBSECTION. 32. a. In consultation with the state
2 20 board for community colleges established pursuant to section
2 21 260C.3, establish and enter into a collective statewide
2 22 articulation agreement with the community colleges established
2 23 pursuant to chapter 260C. The agreement shall provide for the
2 24 creation of a bachelor of applied science degree and
2 25 equivalent recognition for an applied science degree offered
2 26 at the community college level. An accredited private
2 27 institution as defined in section 261.9 may elect to enter
2 28 into the agreement. The policies and procedures set forth in
2 29 the agreement shall be fully operational at each of the
2 30 institutions of higher education under the board's control by
2 31 July 1, 2009. The articulation agreement shall provide for
2 32 the seamless transfer of academic credits from a completed
2 33 associate of arts or associate of science degree program to a
2 34 baccalaureate degree program offered by the institutions of
2 35 higher education under the control of the state board of
3 1 regents, and shall include the following:
3 2 (1) A listing of the general education core courses for
3 3 the associate of arts and associate of science degrees.
3 4 (2) Policies and procedures for the seamless transfer and
3 5 application of academic credits from a completed associate
3 6 degree program to a baccalaureate degree program, including a
3 7 guarantee that an associate of arts degree or an associate of
3 8 science degree awarded by a community college established
3 9 pursuant to chapter 260C, shall be fully transferable and
3 10 credited as the first two years of a baccalaureate degree
3 11 program at the institutions of higher education under the
3 12 board's control to which a student is admitted.
3 13 (3) Policies and procedures for the implementation of an
3 14 appeals process for students and institutions to resolve
3 15 disputes regarding the transfer of academic credits.
3 16 (4) Policies and procedures for the annual review and
3 17 updating of the agreement.
3 18 (5) Policies and procedures for the collection of data by
3 19 the board to ensure that its institutions of higher education
3 20 are in compliance with the provisions of this subsection and
3 21 to ensure that the agreement is fostering both a seamless
3 22 transfer process and the academic success of transfer students
3 23 at the board's institutions of higher education. The board
3 24 shall annually determine the data to be collected and shall
3 25 notify each institution in a timely manner of the data to be
3 26 collected.
3 27 b. Direct the institutions of higher education under its
3 28 control to allow for the transfer of up to eighty hours of the
3 29 credits earned by a student who has completed an associate
3 30 degree program prior to transferring into a baccalaureate
3 31 degree program at the institution.
3 32 c. Prepare an annual report summarizing the data collected
3 33 pursuant to paragraph "a", subparagraph (5), and including an
3 34 analysis of the effect of the agreement on the transfer
3 35 process and on the academic success of transfer students at
4 1 the institutions of higher education under its control, and an
4 2 analysis of each institution's compliance with the provisions
4 3 of this subsection. The board shall submit the report to the
4 4 general assembly and the governor by January 15 of each year.
4 5 The cooperation of each institution of higher education under
4 6 the board's control in abiding by the terms of the agreement
4 7 shall be reviewed and considered by the general assembly when
4 8 making the annual appropriation for the institution. However,
4 9 this subsection shall not be construed to require any of the
4 10 institutions of higher education to admit any student or to
4 11 waive its admission standards and application procedures for
4 12 any student.
4 13 EXPLANATION
4 14 This bill relates to articulation between the state's
4 15 postsecondary institutions by establishing a state
4 16 postsecondary transfer and articulation oversight committee,
4 17 directing the boards of directors of the community colleges
4 18 and the state board of regents to enter into a collective
4 19 statewide articulation agreement to create a bachelor of
4 20 applied science degree and equivalent recognition for an
4 21 associate of applied science degree offered at the community
4 22 college level, and by requiring the board of regents to direct
4 23 its universities to allow the transfer of up to 80 hours of
4 24 credit earned as a community college student.
4 25 The agreement must include a listing of the general
4 26 education core courses for the associate degrees; a guarantee
4 27 that an associate degree awarded by a community college is
4 28 fully transferable; and policies and procedures for an appeals
4 29 process for students and institutions to resolve academic
4 30 credit transfer disputes, the annual review and updating of
4 31 the agreement, and for the collection of data by the state
4 32 board of regents to ensure compliance and to ensure that the
4 33 agreement is fostering both a seamless transfer process and
4 34 the academic success of transfer students at the regents
4 35 universities.
5 1 The state board of regents is also to direct the
5 2 universities under its control to allow for the transfer of up
5 3 to 80 of the credits earned by a student who has completed an
5 4 associate degree program prior to transferring into a regents
5 5 university degree program.
5 6 The bill establishes a state postsecondary transfer and
5 7 articulation oversight committee within the department of
5 8 education. The committee consists of five voting members:
5 9 the director of the department of education or the director's
5 10 designee and four members appointed by the governor. Two of
5 11 the members appointed by the governor must be members of the
5 12 boards of directors of community colleges and the remaining
5 13 two are to represent the institutions of higher education
5 14 governed by the state board of regents. The committee shall
5 15 meet to resolve the credit and transfer or articulation
5 16 disputes between the community colleges, the regents
5 17 universities, and students who wish to transfer community
5 18 college credits to a regents university.
5 19 LSB 5229YH 82
5 20 kh/rj/14.1