Summary:

Recognizing the ability and responsibility of the Board of Regents to declare and set goals for the MUS, and the board consensus that MUS management can carry out BOR goals on their own initiative and competence; the BOR should charge the Commissioner of Higher Education to achieve the some realistic transferability goals.

In November of 2001, there was a failed attempt to give management a clear transferability directive. At the conclusion of that meeting, board consensus directed the Deputy Commissioner to create a transferability steering committee--one whose specific objectives have never been made very clearly to the Board of Regents. It is at least apparent to the author of this proposal that merely having the somewhat ambiguous (yet declared ambitious) goal of maximizing transferability (or striving to make seamless transferability in the MUS a reality) is very weak board policy and an ineffective directive for management. The board has still not specifically, nor formally, told OCHE management what it really expects and wants in regards to transferability.

Every Regent's understanding of what OCHE is going to accomplish likely differs to some degree. Current transferability objectives are an open ended goal whose success and failure cannot be measured, simply because the Board of Regents failed to properly direct management to achieve a set of specific goals when a specified amount of time. This proposal seeks to remedy this, by giving management very specific goals with some very specific deadlines.

The presented proposal below finally gives management some real and measurable board goals to accomplish. The proposal does not; however tell management how to accomplish the goals. The author of this proposal has faith in the abilities of the Commissioner's management team to use their own discretion and competence to meet these below objectives. Specifically, transferability steering committees, executive action, and articulation agreements amongst MUS campuses may all be appropriate tools for the Commissioner and his staff to use in order to achieve success at accomplishing board goals.

Once again, the below items are not proposed policy changes. They are merely goals for the MUS to accomplish within eight years:

Semi-Annual Review of Transferability Progress:

Until the Commissioner's success and achievement of all goals, and at least twice a year, the Commissioner shall briefly inform the Board of Regents of his progress towards accomplishing the below goals.

Regents Course Progress Transferability Goal by the Conclusion of Year 1:

In recognition of existing BOR policy, all college level course credits earned from one MUS campus will be received and applied by all campuses of the Montana University System, and by the community colleges, towards the free elective requirements of the Associate and Baccalaureate degrees.  Per the accepting campus, MSU course-credits may either be counted as free electives or progress towards a specific degree program. The MUS student must have earned at least a minimum 2.0 grade point average or it's equivalent (regarding any "transferred credits") at the receiving MUS institution.

Regents Course Progress Transferability Goal by the Conclusion of Year 2:

In reference to BOR policy 89-001-R1195, all campuses of the Montana University System will recognize the integrity of general education programs offered by units of the Montana University System and the three publicly supported community colleges in Montana. Undergraduate students who have completed an approved general education program of between 30 and 45 lower division credit hours at one of the institutions noted above and who transfer to another of those institutions will be deemed to have met the lower division general education requirements of the campus to which the students have transferred. Students who have not completed such an approved general education program will have their general education course-credit progress transferred seamlessly towards the general education program of any other MUS campus. The MUS student must have earned at least a minimum 2.0 grade point average or its equivalent (regarding any "transferred credits") at the receiving MUS institution. Additionally, depending upon the major program into which the student transfers, additional lower division requirements may still be necessary for the transfer student to complete as part of the published programmatic prerequisites.

Regents' Course Progress Transferability Goal by the Conclusion of Year 4:

The BOR expects that within the respective University of Montana and Montana State University sides of the MUS there will exist the assured ability for seamless transferability of any (UM or MSU) student's credits and course-credit progress regarding specific degree programs. All student credits and course-credit progress from one specific MUS degree program will be fully transferable to any other liked named and substantially equal degree program within the respective UM and MSU sides. The MUS student must have earned at least a minimum 2.0 grade point average or its equivalent (regarding any "transferred credits") at the receiving MUS institution.

Regents' Course Progress Transferability Goal by the Conclusion of Year 8:

The transferability goal in year four will be expanded to encompass the entire MUS. There will exist the assured ability for seamless transferability of any MUS student's credits and course-credit progress in a specific degree program to any other liked named and equal degree program at any other MUS institution where that like named and equal degree program is offered. The MUS student must have earned at least a minimum 2.0 grade point average or its equivalent (regarding any "transferred credits") at the receiving MUS institution.

 

Submitted by Student Regent Hur