Appendix 2: List of Best Practices for Receiving Institutions

Policy, Procedure and Record-Keeping

has a well developed, published transfer credit policy;

assesses new students for transfer credit at the time of admission;

has timely process for adjudicating transfer credit appeals;

clearly shows student how transfer credit is determined and how decisions can be appealed;

clearly shows student how transfer credit applies to the current credential;

allows student to compare progress towards different goals;

audits transfer credit early in the student's career;

uses residency, degree and graduation requirements to delimit applicability of transfer credit awarded rather than restricting the number of transfer credits awarded (e.g. to 60 credits);

refuses Letters of Permission only in justifiable situations.

Assessing Transfer and Articulation Requests

establishes clear responsibilities for transfer articulation;

involves instructional staff (faculty);

ensures that faculty attend articulation committee meetings;

has a process for assessing non-equivalent curriculum.

Formal Articulation versus Case-by-Case Assessment

maintains single source precedent database of both articulation agreements and case-by-case evaluations;

honours the BC Transfer Guide if a discrepancy arises;

establishes conditions under which precedents are used in the absence of an articulation agreement;

uses similar evaluation processes for formal articulation and for case-by-case;

allows public online access to its precedent database, linking to the BC Transfer Guide whenever appropriate, presenting a single source of information;

distinguishes in its precedent database between articulated evaluations and case-by-case evaluations and provides date ranges.

Functionality of the Transfer Credit Evaluation System (TCES)

uses functionality of TCES to forward requests electronically to departments;

participates in regular evaluations of BCCAT's TCES and suggests improved functionalities.

Technology and Transfer Credit

receives academic records of prospective transfer students;

electronically and acknowledges their receipt;

uses available automation to determine transfer credit;

advises each applicant what records are needed and when;

advises each applicant that the record has been received.

Training Needs within Institutions

Collaboratively trains its coordinators, evaluators and administrators to ensure consistency and efficiency;

provides opportunities for ongoing training and for frequent communication among evaluators, advisors and admissions personnel.

Effective Date Ranges

Pays close attention to the effective dates of articulation agreements;

monitors own curriculum for changes;

does not change transfer credit retroactively unless the change benefits all students.

Consistency of Process

establishes and honours articulation agreements for all faculties and programs or clearly and publicly identifies exceptions

Volume of Articulation Requests

prioritizes the stock of existing courses at sending institutions;

uses efficient triangulation process wherever possible to establish articulation agreements;

determines a strategy to best meet the receiving institution's needs

Timeliness

completes articulation requests in 30 days

sets up process to ensure that this standard is met consistently

Cost of Articulation

acknowledges the workload generated by both case-by-case and articulation evaluations and provides resources accordingly

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