Frequently Asked Questions
- Who pays for articulation committee meetings?
- How can we arrange to have a System Liaison Person appointed to our committee?
- When is it appropriate to invite representatives from private post-secondary institutions?
- When is it appropriate to ask members, SLPs or guests to leave for part of an articulation committee meeting?
- What happens to committees that don't meet?
- What is the process to be followed when an institution changes its curriculum?
- Are we able to organize some other activities in conjunction with the articulation committee meeting?
- Our committee is concerned that an institution has not sent a member for several years. How can we encourage them to attend?
- When do Ministry representatives attend articulation meetings?
- Our meetings have a tendency to go off track. How do we avoid that?
- My institution is hosting the meeting this year. What is expected of us?
- As chair of my articulation committee, I have been asked to sit on a provincial committee. Is this part of my duties?
- What do institutional reports normally consist of?
1. Who pays for articulation committee meetings?
The budget for institutional representatives to attend articulation committee meetings is disbursed to each institution by the Ministry as part of the annual budgetary allocation process. Funds are not earmarked for articulation purposes; rather they are embedded in the overall grant received from the Ministry. Therefore, each institution is responsible to pay for the costs associated with sending a representative.
BCCAT reimburses the expenses of articulation committee chairs only to attend its Annual Meeting of Articulation Committee Chairs and System Liaison Persons. BCCAT does not cover costs associated with articulation committee meetings, apart from the attendance of BCCAT staff members.
2. How can we arrange to have a System Liaison Person appointed to our committee?
If the SLP position on your committee is vacant, schedule an item on the committee’s upcoming meeting agenda entitled, “Identifying Candidates for System Liaison Person.” Then, at the meeting, ask committee members whether they believe that a Dean, Associate Dean or other instructional administrator at their institution might make a good System Liaison Person for the committee. Hopefully this discussion should generate two or three possible names.
Notify BCCAT at articulation@bccat.ca and we will contact those candidates to determine their willingness and availability to serve as the committee’s SLP. If one of the candidates is willing, BCCAT will make the appointment and let the committee chair know. If none of the identified candidates are willing to serve, BCCAT will canvass the system for additional names for the committee to consider either online or at their next meeting. Finding the right SLP can take a while, but it is worth the effort.
3. When is it appropriate to invite representatives from private post-secondary institutions?
Private institutions that are members of the BC Transfer System are required to send representatives to the meetings of appropriate articulation committees. These representatives are full voting members. Inviting individuals from other private institutions is at the discretion of the committee. It is in the best interest of both public and private institutions to maintain as open a communication as possible in curricular areas where significant articulation agreements exist or where the private institutions are offering similar programs. In these cases, articulation committees can decide whether representatives from private institutions should be invited to attend and whether they should participate as visitors/observers, as associate members, or as full members.
4. When is it appropriate to ask members, SLPs or guests to leave for part of an articulation committee meeting?
All articulation committee discussions are a matter of public record and the minutes are published on the BCCAT web site. Discussions of a private nature should be held in some other forum than the articulation committee meetings. Part of the Council’s mandate is to facilitate cooperation between all post-secondary institutions and stakeholders and part of the articulation committees’ mandate is to foster collegial relations between disciplinary colleagues. There is a clear conflict between those goals and the practice of asking any members, SLPs or guests to leave an articulation committee meeting. For these reasons, members, SLPs or guests should not be asked to leave a meeting.
5. What happens to committees that don't meet?
It is understood that due to the evolving nature of post-secondary fields, articulation committees which may once have been needed, may no longer be relevant and may stop meeting. Where a committee has not supplied contact information, has not returned requests for information, or does not appear to have met for a period of two academic years, BCCAT will assume that the committee is no longer operative. Notification that this committee will be removed from the list of BCCAT approved committees will be sent to the last recorded chair and SLP of the committee, and will also be noted on the BCCAT website. Institutions which participated in the articulation committee will also be notified to the extent possible.
If no request to continue is received, or no activity occurs, the committee will be deleted from the list of approved articulation committees following the procedure outlined in Appendix C: Delisting Inactive Articulation Committees. To be reinstated, the committee must re-apply for approval, using the format described in Appendix B: Process for Establishing a new Articulation Committee.
6. What is the process to be followed when an institution changes its curriculum?
One of the primary purposes of articulation committees is to provide a forum for the discussion of curricular issues, especially as they relate to articulation. Institutions that receive transfer students should discuss at articulation meetings upcoming changes which may/will affect transfer. They also have a duty to ensure that all sending institutions are well informed about proposed changes even if they do not have a representative at the articulation meeting.
There are three key elements to this consultation process:
- All details of the proposed curricular changes should be explicit. Information such as calendar descriptions and course outlines; significant changes in assessment/ evaluation practices; proposed changes in prerequisites, degree or credential requirements; changes to course levels (e.g., from lower division to upper division) should be provided. Feedback from affected sending institutions should be sought. Within the sending institutions it is important that the articulation contact person inform other faculty and relevant administrators of the proposed changes.
- Adequate timelines should be established for the implementation of curricular changes which will allow for sending institutions to respond. This response may include adapting their own curriculum to fit the proposed changes and this can be a time-consuming process requiring "grand-parenting" provisions
- The implications for transfer should be thoroughly examined, including the implications outside the immediate department. For example, if a credit value changes from assigned to unassigned for a certain Math course, will that course still be acceptable as fulfilling the Math requirements in another program?
7. Are we able to organize some other activities in conjunction with the articulation committee meeting?
Many articulation committees organize professional development events in conjunction with the meeting, or schedule their meeting to coincide with a conference related to their discipline. Others take the opportunity to engage in work related to curriculum development. The important thing is to distinguish between what is articulation committee business (see the Terms of Reference for articulation committees) and what is "other" business. The agenda that goes out to all members in advance of the meeting should be clear on this point. While all post-secondary institutions in BC recognize the importance of professional development and instruction-related activities, and in many cases the advantage of tying such events to articulation committee attendance, most have different budgeting mechanisms for this type of travel.
8. Our committee is concerned that an institution has not sent a member for several years. How can we encourage them to attend?
A personal approach by the articulation committee chair, such as a phone call or e-mail to the appropriate department, school or division chair/head, can help to clarify why a representative is not attending, and provide encouragement to do so. If the chair perceives a problem, he/she can also request help from BCCAT.
9. When do Ministry representatives attend articulation meetings?
Several committees deal with subject areas which have corresponding responsibilities within the Ministry, looked after by a Coordinator, Manager or Director. Depending on the subject area, Ministry representation at articulation meetings may be well-established and ongoing, occasional or project-specific. Ministry representation is especially important in cases where curriculum review, new program development, or changes to provincial regulations which may affect your subject area, are being directed or coordinated within the Ministry. If you are not sure whether or not to invite a Ministry representative, or whom to contact, BCCAT will be glad to put you in touch with the appropriate person. This refers to the ministries responsible for both the secondary and the post-secondary sectors.
10. Our meetings have a tendency to go off track. How do we avoid that?
When faculty from the same discipline get together from all over the province, there is a natural inclination to discuss items of common concern. The challenge is to make sure that such discussions are germane to the Terms of Reference for articulation committees as outlined in the Articulation Committee Companion. Chairs should help orient the whole group to the mandate of the committee, the process of articulation and the relationship of the committee to BCCAT. Some time can be spent at the beginning of each meeting (especially when guests have been invited or where many members are new) on such a discussion/orientation.
11. My institution is hosting the meeting this year. What is expected of us?
Many committees rotate their meeting location among member institutions. If you are hosting the meeting, it's a good idea to ensure that you have the support of your institution. Since the host department does not incur travel costs to send a representative to the meeting, it is usually able to provide a meeting room, food, and miscellaneous support such as photocopying. However, this is sometimes beyond the budget of the department, and in this case the committee usually covers the expenses by sharing the costs among members.
12. As chair of my articulation committee, I have been asked to sit on a provincial committee. Is this part of my duties?
Since articulation committees represent considerable bodies of expertise in subject areas, they may be asked from time to time to send representatives to other committees or task forces. Such involvement can be desirable and mutually beneficial, but it can also present a dilemma for the committee. There is normally no funding for members' or chairs' activities beyond the committee meetings themselves and invitational workshops held by BCCAT, and no release time from teaching duties for additional responsibilities. Chairs or representatives are advised to request any necessary funding from the organization requesting the representation. They should also seek the permission and support of their own departments to engage in "extra" activities.
13. What do institutional reports normally consist of?
BCCAT highly recommends that articulation committee members submit a one-page institutional report for circulation in advance of the meeting, or in the context of the meeting. The range of subject matter presented in institutional reports varies; however, an institutional report should, at a minimum, indicate the following:
- Any institutional, departmental or program changes that are anticipated to have an effect on articulation and transfer (e.g., curriculum changes); and
- Any items that may be of interest to the committee membership (e.g., assessment tools, textbooks and other learning resources).
Sharing written reports in advance of the meeting can prevent a large amount of meeting time being devoted to oral reports. Sticking to the highlights of written institutional reports can result in more fruitful roundtable discussions, and allow more time for questions and answers.
Next Section: Appendix A: Principles and Guidelines for Transfer
