At Wednesday's Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development committee meeting, members received an update on the MnSCU transfer pathways work.
Lynda Milne, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, provided members with the background on the 2014 legislation that assigned the planning work to one of the Charting the Future teams. That Academic Planning and Collaboration team developed the plan that called for the creation of curriculum pathways from the associate degree through the bachelor's in at least 25-30 of the most popular bachelor's majors in the system, and to require all colleges and universities to align their related programs to the pathways. New legislation in 2015, assigned the Board of Trustees to implement the transfer pathways in accordance with the plan. A report was submitted to the legislator in March 2016 with a progress report.
Milne noted that the work is on track and going well and that it's requiring a considerable amount of very serious work by more than 100 individuals at this early stage. By the end of the spring semester, more than 1,500 faculty , hundreds of staff and administrators will have participated and engaged in the four pilot pathways (biology, business, psychology, and theatre).
What will this mean for students? Milne stated that it will guarantee for associate to bachelor's transfer in 25-30 disciplines, with junior status and the same opportunities for program admission as students who entered the university as a freshman. Those guarantees won't be like the ones goverened by articulation agreements from one college to one university. They will work from all colleges to all universities within MnSCU.
Tim St. Claire, vice president for the MN State College Student Association (MSCSA) shared with the committee that the transfer pathways may be the biggest changes to transfer in over a decade as students were on average taking 138 credits to earn 120 credit bachelor degree. St. Claire commended the student orientation and focus of the Transfer Pathways Coordinating Team. He stated that the pilot pathways will serve as a model for future pathway teams which will result in invaluable transparency and efficiency for students.
Dean Frost, professor of business administration at Bemidji State University, is a co-chair of the business pathways team, shared with the committee that the transfer pathways goal was to identify 9-credits that could be built into an associate degree for the pathway. The team has identified 18-20 credits of required courses that will be guaranteed to transfer to the seven MnSCU universities.
Anne Byrd, instructor of theatre at Normandale Community College, shared with the committee that this was challenging and hard work but appreciated being able to come together and to talk about programs challenges and successes. Byrd shared that ultimately, she feels that they have created a pathway that has aligned the curriculum that allows a student to move from college to university successfully.
Jim Anderson, associate director of admissions at Minnesota State University Moorhead, shared with members that they are looking at three c's: cooperation, collaboration, and communication which are being demonstrated in this work.
Sen. Miller stated that this is one of the most successful pieces of legislation that has a direct positive impact on students.
The full presentation is available for viewing HERE.
