Oregon Transfer Council News: Legislative Reports
At the December 8th HECC Commission meeting, two legislative reports focusing on transfer were approved for submission to the Oregon legislature. The first was a report on Common Course Numbering (CCN) and the second was on progress made in 2022 on the Transfer Portal Project.
The CCN report provides an overview of the work of CCN Subcommittees, from April to November 2022. It also details Transfer Council's role in CCN, creation of the CCN course list, and detailed recommendations from CCN Subcommittees.
The Transfer Portal report provides an overview of the project, namely the identification of resources needed for the development of an electronic system for the dissemination of information regarding foundational curriculum (i.e., Core Transfer Maps) and unified statewide transfer agreements (i.e., Major Transfer Maps). So far, the State has completed a contract to conduct a business case analysis for an online system and is negotiating a contract to develop the artifacts necessary to obtain the Department of Administrative Services Enterprise Information Services ("DAS-EIS") approval. This past year, the project funded two phases: 1. Development of an Oregon Higher Education Credit Transfer Environmental Assessment, and 2. an overview of the research and development needed to create the Transfer Portal.
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Transfer Spotlight
Each edition of the Transfer Hub will spotlight a group, subcommittee, institution, or organization that is working with the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to improve the transfer experience for students in Oregon. This winter's Spotlight is on a roundtable discussion with the Chair/Co-chairs of the Common Course Numbering (CCN) Subcommittees for 2022.
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[Opinion] Common Course Numbering and Improving Student Transfer Success
By Jane Denison-Furness, Postsecondary Transfer Specialist for Community Colleges and Workforce Development at the Higher Education Coordinating Commission
On January 13, 2023, 10 of 11 Chair/Co-chairs from the Common Course Numbering (CCN) Subcommittees for 2022 met online to discuss their experience aligning courses. CCN Subcommittees were created to support the alignment work being done by Transfer Council. This article is based on a transcript of the conversation.
Q1: What parts of Common Course Numbering (CCN) work in 2022 were successful?
Co-chairs shared that the task, while daunting, was collaborative and successful. They are proud of the work done by their subcommittees, which demonstrates what can be achieved with collaboration.
Julia: We successfully aligned 10 of the most transferred courses in Oregon. I think the real success is that we all worked together and got this accomplished. It worked and is working. It’s remarkable.
Tristan: We figured out a process for alignment on the fly, learning as we worked through the process and encountered things naturally. We met challenges and found consensus, which was remarkable. I’m proud of that.
Kerrie: We had a safe place to agree to disagree. We allowed everybody to speak and allowed everyone’s voice to be heard, even when we disagreed. I learned so much from my colleagues at other institutions.
Laura: When we got to our last meeting, people were like, “That’s it? We’re going to miss being a part of this work!” That kind of surprised everybody. It was so productive for us to work together.
Chris: I don’t recall any real weaknesses or missed opportunities in the leadership of our group and that was due to the different skills and strengths we brought to the table. It worked out well.
Nikki: The collaboration that has been prompted by this legislation is fantastic because it’s bringing all of us together to try to get a common vision about what these courses are at all our institutions.
Vicki: I am concerned about the lasting impacts these changes will have for my institution. I do think that making transfer classes within the state a simple process is a worthwhile goal.
States with Common Course Numbering 2022
Do you know which states have adopted a common course numbering system? This past year, Oregon joined 30 other states who have implemented common course numbering, a “uniform numbering convention used at … public postsecondary institutions for lower-division courses” (The Education Commission of the States, 2022).
Throughout December, January, and February, HECC will be updating webpages. This is in preparation for the upcoming migration to a new website platform, slated to be completed by June 2023. Here are some highlights on information that can be found on the revised Resources for Common Course Numbering webpage:
List of CCN Approved Courses: A summary of the CCN courses recommended to the HECC by Transfer Council for approval (to be considered at the HECC Commission meeting on 2/9/2023). This list communicates the first round of CCN courses that will appear in college and university catalogs for 2023-24.
Subcommittee Information: Subcommittee lists for 2022-23 and 2023-24, with names of members and their institutional affiliation; the charge for Faculty CCN Subcommittees and the charge for the Systems and Operations Subcommittee; the Nomination Process for CCN Subcommittees, and the CCN Handbook, which is a guide for CCN Subcommittees.
Course Information: The CCN Process for Webforms (for community colleges), a list of the 80 Most Transferred Courses in Oregon (created by registrars from OR public colleges and universities), Transfer Council’s List of CCN Courses, and a Summary of Approved CCN Courses.
CCN Reports & Memos: Here you will find reports from Subcommittees. There are two types of reports: Recommendation Reports, which are used to communicate the results of alignment work, and Minority Reports, which can be written by two or more members of a subcommittee who disagree with a Recommendation Report. Memos from various subcommittees to Transfer Council can also be found in this document.
Other links on this page: Information on Transfer Council, Transfer Map Implementation Resources, Tools for Transfer Students, a Public Meeting calendar, links to Oregon’s community colleges and public universities, and contact information for the HECC.
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Student Spotlight
Transfer student success stories.
Matt Lynch, pursuing a BS in Social Science at Portland State University. Previously, he attended Pitzer College in California, where he was pursuing a BA in Psychology.
Q: Tell us about your transfer pathway. What was challenging, and what was helpful?
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A: I have been a musician my whole life. I grew up in Iowa but moved to California to go to college. Initially, I enrolled because it was an option for me and it was expected, but my heart was really in being a performer and as a result, I left college before finishing.
A friend invited me to visit Portland, and I fell in love with the city and decided to move. After that, I worked in music stores and vocational sites for adults and kids with developmental disabilities, while continuing to perform as a musician. Eventually, I got married and started a family. During that time, I quit my job to be a stay-at-home dad, which I did for about 10 years. While taking care of my daughter, I became familiar with the burgeoning kids’ music scene in Portland. This is when I stumbled into the most successful chapter of my music career. I’ve performed around town, mostly playing guitar, bass, and percussion, singing at public shows and private events at schools and libraries.
Then, in the past few years, between the pandemic and a divorce, it became obvious that being a musician was not viable anymore. That’s when I realized that my skills and experience are well suited for teaching, so I decided to explore finishing my undergraduate degree so I could pursue a Masters in teaching.
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Student Spotlight
Transfer student success stories.
Mimi Sek, pursuing an AA in Education at Portland Community College, will transfer to Portland State University fall 2023, to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in English.
Q: Tell us about your transfer pathway. What was challenging, and what was helpful?
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A: I am a first-generation college student and the youngest of three siblings. As a person of color, I’ve always felt like I need to be more than average. Excelling and doing above what is expected is the norm in my family. My parents’ expectation was that I would go to a university right after high school. Then COVID hit. I had been accepted to the University of Oregon and even paid for my housing, but it didn’t seem worth paying thousands of dollars to get sent home to do school from my bedroom. When I told my parents I was going to community college, they were upset because I was turning down an offer from a university. I was fortunate, because I got so many grants and scholarships that I was able to pay for my own education. I’m so glad I made the decision to go to Portland Community College (PCC) because I had no idea what I was getting into and community college became a safe haven for me. I felt like I had the opportunity to slow things down and buy myself a bit more time to get used to college.
I’ve started to transfer to university several times. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this chance for so long. My original plan was to go to community college for one year, then transfer back to the University of Oregon, where I had been accepted. But that changed when I got to PCC because I realized that they had a great teaching program, which is what I am interested in. I interviewed for their program and when I was admitted, they told me I needed to complete one more year before transferring to Pacific U. Going from PCC to Pacific U. also meant transitioning from the quarter system to semesters, which was overwhelming because the university told me I had to make up for that by taking even more classes. That was really hard to hear.
CCN Course Alignment Process in Oregon
In January, Transfer Council voted to recommend to the HECC Commission the first round of commonly numbered courses. The following infographic demonstrates the process for approving CCN courses, based on the guidelines in Senate Bill (SB) 233 and processes established by Transfer Council in the Faculty Subcommittee Charge and the Systems and Operations Subcommittee Charge.
Featured Reading on Transfer and Common Course Numbering
- American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). 2019. Guide to best practices: Articulation agreements. Washington DC.
- Baker, R. (2016). The effects of structured transfer pathways in community colleges. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 38(4), 626-646. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373716651491
- Bers, T. H. (2013). Deciphering articulation and state/system policies and agreements. New Directions for Higher Education, 2013(162), 17-26.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/he.20053
- Crisp, G. (2021). An overview of transfer and articulation agreements. Washington DC: American Council of Education (ACE).
- The Ford Family Foundation. (2019). Supporting transfer student success in Oregon: Lessons from Oregon community colleges and universities. [White Paper]
- Giani, M. S. (2019). The correlates of credit loss: How demographics, pre-transfer academics, and institutions relate to the loss of credits for vertical transfer students. Research in Higher Education, 60(8), 1113-1141.
- Gordon, L. (2021). What’s in a college course number? Lots of confusion.
- Hodara, M., Martinez-Wenzl, M., Stevens, D., & Mazzeo C. (2016). Improving credit mobility for community college transfer students: Findings and recommendations from a 10-state study. Portland, OR: Education Northwest.
- King, G. (2019). A path toward completion? The impact of statewide articulation agreements on enrollment and attainment. [Doctoral dissertation, North Carolina State University].
- National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. (2022). Oregon higher education landscape study.
- Shaat, D. (2020). The effects of statewide transfer agreements on community college enrollment. [Working Paper]. https://files. webservices. illinois. edu/9475/danashaatjmp. pdf.
Transfer Council: Common Course Numbering Updates
At the December Transfer Council meeting, Chairs and Co-chairs of Subcommittees presented Recommendation Reports and a Minority Report. These reports detailed the results of subcommittee deliberation, which resulted in alignment of 10 of the most transferred courses between community colleges and public universities in Oregon. In January, Transfer Council voted to recommend these courses to the HECC Commission for final approval.
Discussions of course learning outcomes during the December Transfer Council meeting led to creation of a charge for a CCN System Outcomes Assessment Subcommittee, which is charged with “locating, refining, and recommending a guide for writing clear, observable, and measurable course learning outcomes based on recognized best practices.” This new subcommittee will serve as a resource for Subcommittees and Transfer Council, and will be made up of four members from public community colleges and four members from public universities. Recruitment is underway. If you would like to submit a nomination for this subcommittee, use the Bio-sketch form in the Nomination Process CCN Subcommittees form and send all relevant information to TransferCouncil@hecc.oregon.gov, c/0 Transfer Council Co-chairs Teresa Rivenes and Susan Jeffords.
For more on Common Course Numbering (CCN) in the State of Oregon, visit the HECC’s Resources for Common Course Numbering webpage.
Transfer Council: Major Transfer Maps Update
The Major Transfer Maps (MTMs) are strong and standing agreements and to keep them strong, subcommittees of faculty are dedicated to reviewing each of these agreements annually to assure that each one is current, with an eye toward clearing away obstacles to student success. At this time, HECC staff are working with academic leaders at the state's public universities and community colleges to reboot the standing MTM subcommittees to align with the requirements set out in SB 233. Once this work is complete, the MTM subcommittees will be called together to tackle this important work.
For more on Major Transfer Maps (MTMs), see the Core Transfer Maps and Major Transfer Maps: Questions & Answer document, the HECC’s Tools for Transfer Students: Oregon Transfer Compass, or Major Transfer Maps: Memoranda of Understanding for a complete list of all approved MTMs.
Join in the Public Process
Winter 2023 Transfer Council Public Meeting Schedule
Transfer Council welcomes public comment on public meetings relating to transfer. Sign up for public meeting notices here to receive final meeting dates and links to agendas, supporting documents, etc. Upcoming meeting dates are listed below:
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Transfer Council: 2/16, 3/16, 4/20, 5/18, and 6/15; all meetings are held 10 am to 12:30 pm.
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Transfer Council Subcommittees: CCN and MTM Subcommittees are in the process of scheduling meetings. For dates and times, see the public meetings page, linked above.
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