GUIDELINE A-031

SUBJECT: Required Components of Articulation Agreements Involving Vocational-Technical Education

A.  Compliance with Accrediting Agencies

All specific articulation agreements with community colleges should be in compliance with the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Principles of Accreditation on Programs (reference 3.4), the Commission’s Position Statement on the “Transfer of Academic Credit,” and its policy on “The Transfer or Transcripting of Academic Credit.”

Specific articulation agreements between secondary education and the Tennessee Technology Centers must comply with the Council on Occupational Education’s Handbook of Accreditation and its Policies and Rules.

Specific articulation agreements between the Tennessee Technology Centers and the community colleges will comply with those policies and guidelines set forth by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Principles of Accreditation and other relevant documents.

Articulation agreements must be in compliance with all applicable program accrediting agencies.

B. Articulation Agreements

Articulation agreements must demonstrate compliance with the TBR Policy 2:01:00:03.  Articulation agreements should ensure that students are not forced by college/TTC procedure or regulation to pursue educational/training experiences that duplicate competencies skills the individual already possesses for the individual to acquire a credential

Each specific articulation agreement should include:

• Competencies that indicate that the learning outcomes specified in courses offered by the lower-level institution satisfy learning outcomes in similar courses offered by the  upper-level institution  Syllabi and competency lists of the courses from the institutions involved must be maintained in the appropriate offices of both institutions.
• Details of the working articulation procedure;
• Descriptions of required proficiency levels and criteria for measurement;
• The evaluation plan and process; and
• A renewal date for the agreement (Note: Because technology changes so rapidly it is suggested that the period of review be no more than every three years).  
   

C. Articulation and challenge assessments

If the upper-level institution develops an option which permits the awarding of credit by examination the following requirements should be met:

1.   Award by assessment may be for up to one-half of the semester credit hours required for the associate degree.

2.   Credit awarded must be for specific courses.

3.   The credit must be awarded only on the basis of successfully passing a challenge examination or competency-based assessment procedure for which the standards for proficiency are approved and accepted by the department and institution.

4.  If the upper-level institution’s faculty develops the challenge examination or competency-based assessment, and the content is equivalent to the regular on-site course’s competency-based assessment the institution has the option of awarding a letter grade, rather than a non-quality grade of  “pass/fail,” and therefore count toward calculation of the grade point average.  The award of a letter grade must be in accordance with the policies, regulations and guidelines of the institution’s accrediting agency.

D.  General requirements for students

Students are required to conform to all institutional requirements for admission, testing and placement.

It is at the option of the awarding institution whether articulated credit will be held in escrow until such deficiencies are erased or to grant direct transcription of the credit.

Source: President’s Meeting, February 13, 2007