winter issue february 2014 News from the Ohio Articulation & Transfer Network IN THIS ISSUE Special Features Special Features. 1-4 Board of Regents welcomes delegates from Anhui, China Policy & Compliance In October, Chancellor John Carey hosted several university delegates from Anhui, Reports. 4 China for a visit to the Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) offices. Anhui, China has been a sister city to Columbus since 1988 when a group from Columbus traveled Meetings of the Minds. 5 to China to negotiate obtaining a panda bear for the Columbus Zoo. Transfer Technology. 6-7 Delegates were present from Anhui University, Bengbu Medical College, (CT)2 Corner. 7-8 Chuzhou University, Fuyang University, Hefei University, Huaibei Normal College, Staff Happenings. 9 Huangshan College, and Wannan College. Delegates were provided a brief overview of Ohio’s public higher education system by Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) staff members Paula Compton, Charles See, A Note from Paula Jeff Robinson, David Cannon, and Shane DeGarmo. Chancellor Carey responded Even though it has been a long, to questions from the delgates on cold winter, the OATN staff are topics such as supporting STEM faculty keeping warm with the constant and initiatives in Ohio public institutions of higher transfer activities happening education, the Choose Ohio First scholarship, and funding Ohio public higher around the state. We continue education. to be so grateful for our many colleagues around the state The event was arranged by Paula Compton and Lin Ba, with help from the OATN (and beyond with some of staff. Lin Ba is a professor of economics at The Ohio State University’s Newark our long-reaching initiatives) campus. Lin Ba is a graduate of Wuhan University in China and actively assists in whose dedication and passion developing relationships between The Ohio State University and China. He is also for helping students achieve an active member of the Columbus Sister Cities International Hefei Committee, a their highest level of academic group that hosts events such as the Anhui College delegation visit to help foster attainment are bright, warm spots collaboration and growth between Columbus, Ohio and Hefei, China. in these cold winter months. We are looking on the bright side with the recent sunshine and warmer temperatures and hoping spring is on the horizon! In the meantime, enjoy reading about our productive winter! News from the Ohio Articulation & Transfer Network february 2014 Special Features (cont.) Valuing Ohio Veterans state’s education infrastructure by establishing clear requirements and goals for a robust and effective system In our last newsletter, we shared a number of exciting of dual credit in Ohio. happenings related to helping military servicemembers and veteran students in Ohio, including a description Recommendations were made by groups of higher of Executive Order 2013-05K. In the Executive Order, education and K-12 stakeholders that shared their Governor Kasich directs Chancellor Carey to collaborate beliefs about the necessary elements of a successful with presidents of the University System of Ohio (USO) College Credit Plus program. The recommendations institutions to conduct a thorough review of current address program participation requirements; funding institutional policies and practices and recommend considerations; student and parent communication actions that will simplify and improve the process for requirements; coursework quality requirements; and awarding college credit for military training, experience, data collection. and education. We are very pleased to share the Valuing Ohio Veterans Report, which offers a comprehensive To review this issue in more detail and study the look at what state recommendations, please visit: ohiohighered.org/ departments, boards, college_credit_plus. Keep in mind that there have not commissions, and yet been any legislative changes to the Post-Secondary USO institutions Enrollment Options (PSEO) or dual enrollment programs can do to support currently operating in the state. The General Assembly Ohio’s veterans and will use these recommendations as it moves forward servicemembers, with legislative action in shaping the new College Credit and to make Ohio Plus program. Any changes required at the institutional an ideal home for level will come from such legislative action and be veterans seeking to communicated when confirmed. launch their civilian careers. Stay tuned for more details on One-Year Option the implementation of these exciting House Bill 59 also requires Chancellor Carey to establish recommendations! a One-Year Option credit articulation system by no later than June 30, 2014. This option will allow graduates of Ohio Technical Centers (workforce and adult education College Credit Plus centers) who complete a 900-hour program of study and obtain an industry-recognized credential approved Section 363.590 of Ohio House Bill 59 (the legislation by the Chancellor to receive 30 college technical credit for Ohio’s state biennium budget spanning fiscal years hours toward a technical degree upon enrollment in 2014 and 2015) requires Chancellor Carey to make an institution of higher education. The legislation also recommendations to the General Assembly to establish requires the Chancellor to submit a report to the General the College Credit Plus program, whereby high school Assembly on the same timeline to recommend a process students may earn credits through Ohio institutions of for awarding proportional credit toward a technical higher education. It is believed that Ohio’s current dual degree for students who complete a program of study credit system is underutilized and administered with between 600 and 899 hours and obtain an approved varying degrees of efficacy and quality. The General industry-recognized credential. These actions will Assembly’s charge creates an opportunity to transform this system into an indispensable component of the (continued on next page) 2 News from the Ohio Articulation & Transfer Network february 2014 Special Features (cont.) build upon the state’s existing articulation and transfer processes, including the Ohio Transfer Module (OTM), Transfer Assurance Guides (TAGs), and Career-Technical Assurance Guides (CTAGs) and various other approaches used to help students move seamlessly through the higher educational landscape. More details can be found at ohiohighered.org/one-year-option. Ohio Mathematics Initiative on the web: www.ohiohighered.org/mathematics-initiative Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) We let you know about Ohio’s PLA with a Purpose Network in our last newsletter. Since then, the Network has been working hard on recommendations that were shared with Governor Kasich as potential forward action steps with regard to PLA. Discussions are occurring as to how the state will move forward with these recommendations. The PLA Network will continue to meet twice per year as the implementation phase continues, while a smaller subset of the Network will meet more frequently as the steering committee for the initiative. Ohio was recently selected by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) with support from the Lumina Foundation as one of three states to scale PLA using learningcounts.org. The support would underwrite half of the modest first-year fees associated with learningcounts.org for up to six Ohio campuses. The working luncheon with members of the Ohio Higher Education Mathematics Steering Mark your calendars for April 29, 2014 for a one-day Committee and all 36 USO Mathematics Department Chairpersons symposium on the implementation of PLA on campuses. More information will be forthcoming or can be found at ohiohighered.org/PLA as it becomes available. information on the Initiative and information on the national landscape in mathematics. Representatives Ohio Higher Education Mathematics of the Ohio Higher Education Mathematics Steering Initiative Committee discussed the key recommendations as drafted and invited feedback from the chairpersons. The participants were all very engaged in this meeting and Ohio Mathematics Department Chairpersons took the opportunity to share their thoughts with other Meeting colleagues at their tables as well as the Ohio Higher Education Mathematics Steering Committee members On January 10, 2014, the mathematics department assigned to each table during the working luncheon that chairpersons from all 36 University System of Ohio (USO) concluded the day. Many of the participants enjoyed institutions gathered at Pfahl Hall on The Ohio State the conversation so much that they stayed even after University campus to discuss the Ohio Higher Education Mathematics Initiative. The agenda included background (continued on next page) 3 News from the Ohio Articulation & Transfer Network february 2014 Special Features (cont.) lunch was over to continue the discussion. Steering Committee members were appreciative of the insightful feedback they received from this group. Ohio Higher Education Mathematics Steering Committee Retreat The luncheon at the end of the chairpersons’ meeting marked the beginning of a two-day retreat Ohio Higher Education Mathematics for the Ohio Higher Education Mathematics Steering Steering Committee Retreat Committee. The goal of the retreat was to finalize the (back row, L-to-R) Don Van Meter, VMC Consulting; Brian key recommendations of the Steering Committee. The Roget, Ohio Department of Education; Paddy Dowling, retreat started with a group discussion on the feedback Miami University; Rodney Null, Rhodes