The British Columbia Transfer System

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The British Columbia Transfer System

• CIAC Conference
• April 2009

Presented by Jennifer Orum
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What will be covered

• Brief history of the BC transfer system
• Institutions participating in the transfer system
• Mandate structure of BCCAT
• Role of Articulation Committees
• TCES the BC Transfer Guide
• Beyond course-to-course transfer
• Research program Student Mobility
• Recent developments
• Issues facing transfer system

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Brief History of the BC Transfer System

• 1958 Public Schools Act amended to allow School
  Boards to establish 2-year colleges to be
  affiliated with the University of BC
• 1963 Public Schools Act allowed establishment of
  autonomous colleges under School Board control
• Institutions to offer two years of Arts Science
• 1966 First college transfer students accepted at
  universities through informal agreements
• 1966 First research studies initiated on
  transfer student performance

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Brief History of the BC Transfer System

• 1968 Decision to develop first standing
  committees to deal with transfer problems in
  specific disciplines
• Solve problems ourselves or government will
• Each university subsequently develops own
  transfer guide
• 1974 Creation of Post-Secondary Articulation
  Coordinating Committee
• Role of overseeing articulation and transfer
• Membership from all colleges and universities

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Brief History of the BC Transfer System

• 1989 Establishment of the BC Council on
  Admissions Transfer
• 1990 First single transfer guide published
• 1990s BCCAT implements a comprehensive research
  program to measure transfer student effectiveness
  and student mobility
• 1995 Web-based transfer guide published

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Institutions participating in the BC Transfer
System 2009

• Public Universities 11
• Research intensive 4
• Special purpose teaching 7
• Public Colleges 12
• Public Institutes 3
• Private Universities 5
• Private Colleges 5
• Total 36

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BC Transfer System
20 University of British Columbia - Vancouver
Campus 21 University of Phoenix (private) 22
Vancouver Community College Northern BC 23
College of New Caledonia 24 Northern Lights
College 25 Northwest Community College 26
University of Northern BC Thompson
Okanagan/Cariboo 27 Nicola Valley Institute of
Technology 28 Okanagan College 29 Thompson
Rivers University 30 TRU-Open Learning 31 UBC -
Okanagan Campus Vancouver Island 32 Camosun
College 33 North Island College 34 Royal Roads
University 35 University Canada West 36
University of Victoria 37 Vancouver Island
University Yukon 38 Yukon College

• Fraser Valley
• 1 Kwantlen Polytechnic University
• 2 University of the Fraser Valley
• 3 Trinity Western University (private)
• Kootenays/Rockies
• 4 College of the Rockies
• 5 Selkirk College
• Lower Mainland
• 6 Alexander College (private)
• 7 British Columbia Institute of Technology
• 8 Capilano University
• 9 Columbia College (private)
• 10 Coquitlam College (private)
• 11 Corpus Christi College (private)
• 12 Douglas College
• 13 Emily Carr University of Art Design
• 14 Fairleigh Dickinson University (private)

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BC Council on Admissions TransferMandate

• To facilitate admission, articulation and
  transfer arrangements among BC post-secondary
  institutions

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BC Council on Admissions Transfer

• encourages institutions to develop policies and
  practices regarding the transferability of
  post-secondary credit courses so that credit
  granted at one institution can be applied toward
  credentials at other institutions
• examines issues pertaining to capacity, demand,
  and student mobility, and recommends policies and
  practices related to the admission process for
  direct entry and transfer students
• oversees an articulation process that ensures a
  focus on program quality

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BCCAT Council Structure

• Appointed by BC provincial government minister
  responsible for post-secondary education
• Reps from universities, colleges, institutes,
  university and college faculty, post-secondary
  students, private post-secondary institutions,
  and the public secondary school system
• 16 members and 2 Co-chairs plus 8 staff

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BCCAT Transfer Articulation Cmte

• to provide advice to BCCAT and Articulation
  Committees on issues of articulation and transfer
  policy
• to oversee Articulation Committees
• to initiate, implement, and monitor projects or
  initiatives designed to improve or enhance
  transfer

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Articulation Committees

• play a critical role in facilitating smooth
  student mobility between institutions in the
  Transfer System
• 68 articulation committees currently recognized
• Exist in most disciplines or programs delivered
  in more than one BC post-secondary institution
• Normally meet once a year to discuss curricular
  matters, particularly those affecting student
  mobility

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Transfer Credit Evaluation System

• Used by institutions to create maintain
  course-to-course articulation agreements
• Walks users through submissions of new and
  revised transfer credit requests
• Reminder systems to track status of requests
• Notification system for institutions to inform
  articulation partners of course changes
• Maintains course outlines for articulation
  purposes

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www.bctransferguide.ca

• Dynamically updated via the TCES
• 112,000 course-to-course transfer agreements
• 10,000 individual sending institution courses
• 66,000 active course transfer agreements
• Allows searches by sending receiving
  course, multiple courses/institutions at same
  time

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www.bctransferguide.ca

• Includes information beyond course-to-course
  articulations
• 900 block transfer agreements
• An International Baccalaureate Advanced
  Placement Transfer Guide
• Program specific transfer guides

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(No Transcript)
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BCCAT Student Mobility Research

• 2008/2009 projects
• Student Flows Among All Public PS institutions
• Adult Basic Education Student Mobility
• Admissions Transfer Experiences of Students
  Continuing Their Post-Secondary Education in BC
• BC College Transfer Student Profile Reports

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Recent Developments

• Recalibrating the BC Transfer System
• Facilitating the entry of more private
  institutions into the transfer system through an
  acceptable quality assurance process
• Focus on establishing Flexible Pre-major
  agreements
• Interprovincial and Pan-Canadian transfer
  initiatives

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Some issues facing the BC Transfer System

• Maintaining enhancing the Culture of Transfer
• Establishing a central data system for all
  post-secondary institutions in the system
• The lack of a national accreditation system in
  Canada

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Jennifer Orum Special Projects Coordinator jorum_at_b
ccat.ca (604) 412 - 7679 www.bccat.ca