Appendix C: Delisiting Inactive Articulation Committees

Introduction

About sixty-eight articulation committees currently operate in the British Columbia Transfer System: one for most disciplines offered by more than one institution. The BC Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) establishes and sponsors the committees who report to the Council’s Transfer and Articulation Committee (TAC). BCCAT’s publication The Articulation Committee Companion describes the main purpose of articulation committees as being “to expand educational opportunities for students by facilitating transfer of students from one educational institution to another.” Committee members participate from various sectors of the BC education system. Most are experienced faculty in the relevant discipline, while some represent the secondary school system, the Ministries of Education and Advanced Education, private institutions, licensing bodies or other system agencies. Each committee’s membership selects their Chair or Co-Chairs and cooperates with the TAC to appoint a System Liaison Person (SLP).

Part of BCCAT’s mandate is to oversee the work of articulation committees. This includes hosting an annual meeting for Chairs and SLPs, receiving and responding to minutes, posting meeting dates, minutes and contact information on our website and helping to resolve any issues requiring intervention or assistance. Since articulation committees are funded by institution budgets, it is important that they demonstrate accountability for public money by holding effective meetings that focus on their mandate. It is vital, therefore, that all committees forward their minutes to their member institutions and to BCCAT and alert us to any change in the committee name, structure or leadership contacts.

Inactive Committees

The evolution of post-secondary disciplines sometimes makes particular articulation committees irrelevant and they may, for this or other reasons stop meeting. Where a committee has not supplied contact information, has not returned requests for information or appears not to have met for two academic years, it is considered inactive. Notification of its pending removal from the list of BCCAT approved committees will be sent to the last recorded Chair and SLP and will also be posted on the BCCAT website. To the extent possible, institutions that participated in the articulation committee will also be notified. If no response is received, the inactive committee will be deleted from BCCAT’s list of approved articulation committees. All relevant institutions will be notified that the committee is now inactive, and therefore the institution is no longer obliged to fund travel for their articulation committee representative. To be re-instated, the committee must re-apply for approval, using the format developed for the approval of new committees (see Appendix B: Process for Establishing a New Articulation Committee).