| Speaking of the
Senate by Peggy Renner
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Peggy Renner,
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I know that a few of us
understand what I am talking about when I write IMPAC, but most of us
don’t. Because its work is central to ours I want to share some
knowledge and invite you to consider joining in these efforts to
facilitate the transfer process. IMPAC means
Intersegmental Major Preparation Articulated Curriculum. It originated in
the Intersegmental Committee of Statewide Senates (ICAS) of the California
Community Colleges, the University of California and the California State
University systems to look for ways to improve the transfer of students
from two- to four-year schools. Funded by a $2.75 million grant, it now
funds a five-year effort to bring faculty from the two- and four-year
schools together to discuss issues, concerns, and academic procedures that
could be developed or changes made that would facilitate transfer. Faculties
from the three systems of higher education have been meeting for three
years. Specifically they gathered to discuss and search for agreement on
the elements to be included in the lower division preparation for the
major that will be accepted in transfer by the four-year schools. Some of
this discussion has focused on efforts to improve the language descriptors
for the California Articulation Numbering (CAN) project. These discussions
have also introduced faculty to the Articulation System Stimulating
Inter-institutional Student Transfer (ASSIST), and explored the
similarities and differences in requirements in the Inter-segmental
General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC), The many
disciplines of the academy have been divided into clusters. The Science
cluster was the first to meet. In 2000, biology, chemistry, physics and
mathematics faculty met. In 2001, cluster 2, the Applied Sciences, met.
This group included agriculture, computer science, earth science,
food/science/nutrition, and nursing. In 2002, the third cluster, Business
and Government, met. Among the disciplines in this cluster were computer
information systems, criminal justice, business, economics, and political
science. In mid-year, engineering and geography were added to this
cluster. The fourth cluster, anthropology, history, psychology (including
human development), and sociology, began meeting in 2003. The next
cluster, English, ESL, foreign language, communications/speech, and
journalism, will begin to meet in 2004. And in 2005, the Arts and
Humanities cluster, art/fashion/interior design, theatre arts, humanities,
music, and philosophy, will meet. Disciplines
in each year have addressed the questions that pertain to transfer as they
apply to the given discipline, and in the subsequent years they have
looked for suggestions and proposed changes across the disciplines. In
computer information systems, for example, faculty have explored questions
regarding “languages” that should be taught and the evolving nature of
computer sciences and what that means for planning programs. There are no
CAN numbers for computer science yet, and so faculty has begun to explore
for course descriptors that everyone might agree to that could start the
CAN rolling (no pun intended). Changes in course expectations are
necessary in computer science, but these changes frustrate faculty
teaching at all levels; these frustrations are nightmares for students.
Conversations among faculty from the CCs, CSUs and UCs offer some hope for
remediation. Several
disciplines suggest ways of “giving credit” for work done without
formally accepting a course in transfer. For example, in math, the IMPAC
faculty has recommended that the four-year schools that set a requirement
for differential equations at the upper level give “content” credit
for the course to a student who has taken the course successfully at a
two-year school. Other areas of the sciences have made suggestions that
apply to their areas of study. The history IMPAC faculty is discussing a
revision to the U. S. survey class to include instruction about
Reconstruction in both halves of the survey. I cannot
hope to report all the interesting or important findings of the many
groups that have met, but I can invite you to review the report that has
been published. Copies are available in the Senate office, AD 249. The
longer that the disciplines have been meeting, the more detailed the
report is, but that by no means says the discussion is completed. Let me also
suggest that you visit the IMPAC’s web page at http://cal-impac.org,
where you will find much more information. And finally, let me invite you
to attend the statewide meeting scheduled for April 25 and 26 in Los
Angeles. If you want to register, all you need to do is visit the IMPAC
homepage. This meeting will allow you to meet others in your discipline
and to join in the discussion of ways for facilitating transfer. In the
months that lie ahead, as we all search for ways of cutting our budget, we
need to think about ways we can continue our mission of encouraging and
facilitating transfer of our students to the four-year schools.& |
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