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POLICY 03:08:01

ARTICULATION AND TRANSFER

PURPOSE
In accordance with Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Policy No. 2:00:01:06 it is the purpose of this policy to establish the criteria and process for articulation and transfer agreements between Pellissippi State and other institutions of higher learning, including technical colleges, other community colleges, and baccalaureate granting institutions following TBR system-wide or state-wide articulation programs.

DEFINITIONS
Articulation – refers to the process by which one institution matches its courses or requirements to course work completed at another institution and subsequently acknowledges the validity of that course work towards fulfillment of the requirements of an academic credential.

Technical college — means a Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology in the TBR System.

Technical education — is used herein to refer to the career educational programs delivered at the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology that result in the mastery of competencies and that are measured by clock hours in preparation for job entry or career advancement.

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is the regional accrediting body of the 13 TBR community colleges.

Council on Occupational Education (COE) is the national accrediting body of the 27 TBR technical colleges.

Academic credential is a collective term that includes the academic awards of degree, diploma, technical certificate, academic certificate and proficiency certificate conferred by a technical or community college or university.

Extra-institutional learning refers to competencies, knowledge or skills gained from experiences outside of a formal higher education environment that results in the attainment and demonstration of competencies and/or learning outcomes required by a college course.

Competency-based assessment is a measure of ability, skill and knowledge that is aligned with the expected learning outcomes of a college course.

Certification refers to an industry or nationally recognized certification or other third-party endorsement of specific skills and knowledge resulting in formal documentation and recording of those skills and knowledge.

Licensure is the formal acknowledgement of demonstrated skills and knowledge by a state agency or other government entity resulting in the permission to use an occupational title and to practice that occupation.

Tennessee Transfer Pathways (TTP) refer to established curricula in specific disciplines that transfer fully to Tennessee’s public universities that offer a degree in those disciplines in compliance with the Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010.

POLICY

  1. All Articulation Agreements entered into by Pellissippi State shall meet the following criteria:
    1. All requirements of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) for community colleges or the Council on Occupational Education (COE) for technical colleges shall be met;
    2. Articulation agreements and the subsequent awarding of transfer credit must be in compliance with all applicable program accrediting agencies;
    3. Articulation agreements are developed, implemented and sustained in accordance with the Procedures listed below.
  2. Pellissippi State will comply with established system-wide articulation agreements between institutions and programs and with statewide transfer agreements including but not limited to the Tennessee Transfer Pathways. Said agreements do not preclude Pellissippi State from entering into institution to institution articulation agreements.
  3. PROCEDURES
    Required components of all articulation agreements between two institutions:

    1. All articulation agreements entered into by Pellissippi State must be approved and executed by the President or the President’s designee
    2. All articulation agreements entered into by Pellissippi State must be submitted to the TBR System Office of Academic Affairs.
    3. Renewals of articulation agreements or substantial revisions to articulation agreements including terminations must also be submitted to the TBR System Office of Academic Affairs.
    4. Agreements which require consortia or cooperative arrangements with other institutions, agencies, or associations, in addition to being approved and reported as set out in parts A. and B. above, shall be submitted to the System Office for approval by the Chancellor or the Chancellor’s designee. Examples of such agreements include:
      1. Either credit or non-credit academic programs or public service activities to private or state agencies and institutions in the fulfillment of that agency’s responsibility for state-wide services or governmental training.
      2. Coordinated or cooperative offering of any credit or non-credit programs or activities or in which certificate or degree requirements are met or credit is given for coursework or activities offered by another institution.
      3. Renewals of consortia or cooperative arrangements agreements do not require approval by the Chancellor or the Chancellor’s designee if no changes have been made. However, a copy of the executed renewal shall be provided to the TBR System Office.
    5. Articulation agreements must ensure that students are not required by university, college or technical college procedure or regulation to pursue educational/training experiences that duplicate competency skills the individual already possesses for the individual to acquire an academic credential from the receiving institution
    6. Each articulation agreement will include the following:
      1. A crosswalk of the list of courses for which credit shall be awarded and the corresponding equivalency of each course from the receiving institution. Syllabi and lists of the courses from both institutions involved must be maintained in the appropriate offices of both institutions.
      2. Details of the articulation procedure for the awarding of credit.
      3. An evaluation process to ascertain that the articulation agreement is serving student transfer needs.
      4. A renewal date for the agreement no more than five years from the date of the most recent agreement.
    7. Articulation agreements are not exclusive, and either party may enter into similar agreements with another institution.
    8. If an articulation agreement is terminated, students admitted under the articulation agreement will continue to receive the benefits of the agreement throughout their continuous enrollment at the receiving institution
  4. Articulation between Pellissippi State and a technical college.
    Articulation to a technical college certificate and/or diploma program

    1. A Pellissippi State student may be eligible to receive clock hours toward a diploma or certificate program based upon the evaluation of the student’s college transcript and course syllabi by the technical college faculty.
    2. The institutions involved must agree that the learning outcomes specified in Pellissippi State courses satisfy learning outcomes in similar courses and/or programs offered by the technical college. Syllabi of the courses from the institutions involved must be maintained and documented.
  5. Articulation from a technical college certificate and/or diploma program
    1. A technical college student may be eligible to receive semester credit hours toward a community college degree or technical certificate program based upon the evaluation of the student’s technical college transcript and course syllabi by Pellissippi State faculty.
    2. The institutions involved must agree that the competencies specified in qualified courses offered by the technical college satisfy the student learning outcomes in similar courses and/or programs offered by Pellissippi State. Syllabi including competencies/learning outcomes of the courses from the institutions involved must be maintained and documented.
  6. Articulation/Transfer between Pellissippi State and individual baccalaureate-granting institutions
    1. Articulation/transfer agreements between Pellissippi State and individual baccalaureate-granting institutions must abide by those requirements listed in Section I of this policy.
    2. Pellissippi State will provide specific advisement for transfer students through the Advising Office, designated faculty advisors, or other appropriately designated student services offices.
      1. The Office of Academic Affairs will provide academic and administrative coordination of inter-institutional articulation and transfer. The identity and respective roles of these offices will be published in institutional websites, catalogs and other appropriate publications, and Pellissippi State programs designed for transfer shall be clearly identified in the catalog
      2. The content of student orientation programs shall include information designed specifically for transfer students.
      3. Transfer students shall be afforded all the privileges and opportunities of native students at the receiving institution.
      4. Credit based on Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) at another TBR institution will be accepted in transfer and applied toward the student’s degree comparable to other types of transfer credit. (See Exhibit 1: Recommended Standards in Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Policy and Practice for Tennessee Public Colleges and Universities – August 7, 2012).
  7. Transfer of credit related to system-wide or state-wide articulation arrangements
    1. System-wide articulation agreements between technical colleges and community colleges
      1. Technical colleges and community colleges who offer programs in a similar academic field shall cooperate and collaborate to develop system-wide articulation agreements that establish the transfer semester credit hours to be awarded by a community college upon the successful completion of the corresponding technical college program by a student.
      2. Institutions entering into such agreement must agree that the equivalent competencies specified in related technical college programs satisfy the learning outcomes in similar courses and/or programs offered by the community colleges.
      3. Within each comparable field of study between the technical colleges and community colleges, representative community college and technical college faculty of aligned programs will convene to establish a crosswalk between technical college courses/programs and corresponding semester hour credit courses at the community college.
      4. Proposed system-wide technical college to community college articulation agreements are to follow a prescribed process to gain institutional agreement (see Exhibit 2).
      5. Technical colleges and community colleges that add a program already covered by a system-wide articulation agreement must recognize and abide by such agreement.
    2. State-wide articulation/transfer arrangements
      1. Pellissippi State will participate in the Tennessee Transfer Pathways (TTP) to the fullest extent of their course offerings to meet the curricular requirements of each specific TTP.
      2. Community college faculty and staff members will engage in the regular review and revision processes for quality assurance and currency of each TTP in collaboration with like public university representatives.
      3. Pellissippi State faculty and staff members will participate in the development of new TTP as they are identified based upon student demand in collaboration with like public university representatives.
      4. Pellissippi State will provide students who plan to transfer to a Tennessee university with advisement and academic and administrative support related to the appropriate TTP.
      5. Pellissippi State will publicize the TTP in institutional websites, catalogs and other appropriate publications
  8. Awarding of transfer credit from proprietary colleges or other non-regionally accredited institutions
    1. Awarding of transfer credit from proprietary colleges is to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
    2. To document the validity of courses requested for transfer from proprietary colleges, Pellissippi State requires students to submit an official transcript and catalog course description for each courses requested for transfer. In some cases, additional supporting documentation, such as a course syllabus, may be requested.
    3. Deans of the appropriate academic department will review the documentation submitted and recommend that the transfer request be approved or denied. The chief academic officer reviews the deans’ recommendation and renders a final decision. There are no appeals of the final decision

Approved: President Allen G. Edwards, May 6, 2003
Editorial Changes, April 19, 2007
Recommended: President’s Council, March 31, 2014
Approved: President L. Anthony Wise, Jr. March 31, 2014
Recommended: President’s Council, March 9, 2020
Approved: President L. Anthony Wise, Jr., March 9, 2020