Articulation Committees: Terms of Reference

Purpose of Articulation Committees

Articulation committees are established with the purpose of expanding educational opportunities for students by facilitating students' transfer of credits from educational institution to another. Articulation committees achieve this purpose through endeavouring to:

• provide a mechanism for exchanging information and enhancing cooperation and coordination among institutions providing instruction in a given area of study;
• promote course and program equivalency where appropriate; and
• aid in the process of achieving inter-institutional transfer credit.

Goals of Articulation Committees

• To foster understanding of course objectives in the discipline/program.
• To provide for liaison among instructors of the subject at all levels.
• To exchange information about entry requirements, measures of achievement, course numbering systems, instructional practices, textbooks, and learning materials.
• To discuss new developments in the field, and to identify common professional issues and opportunities for program development.
• To liaise and maintain communications with appropriate external organizations.
• To discuss any changes contemplated in courses and/or programs that may affect transfer relationships.
• To foster understanding of the Principles and Guidelines for Transfer (Appendix A).
• To identify significant transfer issues and forward such issues to BCCAT's attention.

Top

Membership and Representation

• Articulation committees exist for most academic disciplines, and most career, vocational and developmental programs. New committees require approval by the Transfer and Articulation Committee through its Process for Establishing a New Articulation Committee (Appendix B).
  
  
• Sub-committees may evolve out of the approved articulation committees, either on an ad-hoc basis or an ongoing basis as a sub-discipline of the parent committee. In either case, the meetings and activities of sub-committees are conducted under the sponsorship of, and guided by the same principles and responsibilities as, the parent committee.
  
  
• Sub-committees that evolve to the extent that they operate separately from the parent committee should apply to the Council’s Transfer & Articulation Committee (TAC) for approval as a new, formally recognized committee. A new proposal should follow the format outlined in Process for Establishing a New Articulation Committee (Appendix B).
  
  
• Institutions are expected to send one representative to each articulation committee for which they deliver a program of study. In cases where a committee is multidisciplinary (e.g., modern languages, human services) it may be appropriate for the institution to send more than one representative.
  
  
• Articulation committees consist of representatives from institutions in the BC Transfer System which offer, or plan to offer, instruction in the respective discipline or program. Private institutions that are members of the BC Transfer System are expected to send a representative to each relevant articulation committee. These representatives are voting members of the committee.
  
  
• Committee members should be experienced representatives of their department and be well informed regarding articulation matters. Members should serve for at least two years in order to build understanding and continuity.
  
  
• At its discretion, an articulation committee may invite guests or observers to its meetings. In addition, appropriate Ministry staff and representatives from counterpart committees (e.g., the ABE Math Working Group and the Mathematics and Statistics committee) may attend meetings from time-to-time.
  
  
• An articulation committee may invite representatives from other institutions, public or private, to participate as either voting or non-voting members, at its discretion. Some committees include members from private institutions outside the BC Transfer System. Committees considering this should place this item on the agenda for discussion. If consensus is reached, a formal motion should be put forward and the decision recorded in the minutes. BCCAT can work with other organizations, such as the BC Career Colleges Association, to identify appropriate private member candidates.

 

Top

Meetings and Costs

• BCCAT does not pay for articulation meetings. It is the position of the Ministry and the Council that funds for articulation activities, including articulation committee meetings, are included in the block transfer of funds from the province to public institutions. Therefore, institutions approve and pay for representatives to attend articulation meetings.
  
  
• Individual committee members should communicate to their institutions the important nature and purpose of articulation committee meetings to ensure that their respective institutions remain informed and supportive. When seeking approval to attend, members inform their institutions of the following:
  
  
  • when and for how long the meeting is occurring;
  • where the meeting is taking place;
  • if the articulation committee meets more often than once per year;
  • if the meeting is in a particular locale which may be deemed inappropriate
    (e.g., outside the province, in an expensive location);
  • or if the meeting includes additional events, such as professional development, conferences or curriculum development.
    
    
• Committees normally meet once a year for one or two days. The date of the meeting is set by the chair in consultation with the committee. Whenever possible, the meeting should take place during non-teaching duty time.
  
  
• The location of each meeting will be determined by each committee but will most often be in the Greater Vancouver area for reasons of economy and convenience.
  
  
• The chair will coordinate and distribute an agenda well in advance of each meeting through canvassing committee members for topics of discussion.
  
  
• While course articulation is normally related to first and second year courses, the inter-relationship between upper and lower level courses may also be explored in the context of articulation committee meetings.

 

Top

Committee Chairs, Co-chairs and System Liaison Persons (SLPs)

Articulation committee meetings are led by the committee chair; however, the chair’s responsibilities extend beyond the meeting. The chair is BCCAT’s main contact person for the committee, and continues to be responsible for the committee throughout the year.

• The chair is elected or appointed by the committee membership. Committees benefit substantially from having chairs who serve for a minimum of two years. We recommend that every committee adopt a chairing or executive structure which ensures efficiency, continuity, and distribution of work among members.
  
  
• The location of each meeting will be determined by each committee but will most often be in the Greater Vancouver area for reasons of economy and convenience.
  
  
• The chair should appoint a member or ask for a volunteer member to record and submit minutes of each meeting. The chair collects those, along with minutes of any associated sub-committee meeting minutes, and submits them to BCCAT within four weeks of the meeting(s). Keeping in contact with BCCAT in this manner is expected of committee chairs and co-chairs.
  
  
• The committee membership may decide that it is necessary to elect or appoint a co-chair. Co-chairs are beneficial when the committee is divided between two or more sub-committees to address different disciplinary focuses or as succession planning to ensure continuity of leadership.
  
  
• A System Liaison Person (SLP) is appointed to a committee by BCCAT in consultation with the committee chair and/or membership. The SLP provides liaison with administrative groups and acts as a non-voting resource person. The SLP is generally an instructional administrator in a discipline related to that of the articulation committee to which he/she is appointed.

 

Top

Accountability and Reporting

• Articulation committees operate under the sponsorship of the BC Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) and report to the Council through its Transfer and Articulation Committee (TAC).
  
  
• Committees demonstrate accountability by keeping in contact with the Articulation Coordinator; by forwarding up to date contact information for the committee leadership; by sending draft minutes within one month of meeting; and by ensuring that matters requiring intervention or assistance are drawn to the attention of BCCAT.
  
  
• The Council and the TAC demonstrate accountability by assisting with matters that require it and by making committee contact information and minutes publicly accessible by posting them on the BCCAT website.
  
  
• Meeting proceedings are a matter of public record. There should be no expectation of privacy regarding the proceedings of any articulation committee meeting.
  
  
• Where a committee has not supplied contact information, has not submitted minutes, has not returned requests for information or appears not to have met for two academic years, it is considered inactive. In this case, the TAC will be asked to consider removing the committee from its list of recognized committees following the procedure outlined in Appendix C: Delisting Inactive Articulation Committees.
  
  
• If a substantial portion of the committee’s work is delegated to a sub-committee, or if the committee’s work is split between two or more disciplinary subcommittees, these subcommittees are responsible for maintaining records and reporting to the committee chair. The minutes of any subcommittee meetings should be attached to or incorporated within the draft minutes of the parent committee’s annual meeting minutes that are submitted to BCCAT.
  
  
• Because the public funds that support articulation committees come from institutional budgets, keeping institutions informed regarding articulation activity is of paramount importance. Each member of the committee is responsible for acting as a liaison between his/her home institution and the committee. Members are to ensure that faculty and relevant administrators receive copies of committee meeting minutes and are informed regarding transfer issues, curricular change, program initiatives or any items likely to affect the home institution.

 

Top