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Sept. 17, 2002--The University of Delaware and Delaware Technical and Community College (Del Tech) have made it possible for more of the two-year college’s graduates to enter UD as juniors.
For some time, the two schools have had department-to-department articulation agreements allowing Del Tech students to follow a prescribed curriculum and automatically transfer into that major at UD.
But, in 1996, according to Stephanie Smith, college-wide articulation coordinator for Del Tech, officials at both institutions decided to embrace the concept and make it available to a wider range of students.
At UD, the articulation process was placed under the supervision of the provost’s office, a new model contract was developed, the process was enhanced and the number of majors expanded. Seven baccalaureate majors were added to what became the Associate-Baccalaureate Articulation Agreement Program.
“We realized that we should make it easier for qualified Del Tech graduates to continue their education at the University of Delaware,” UD Acting Provost Dan Rich said. “A good foundation for expanding our partnership was already in place. The new articulation agreements enhance the educational opportunities available to Delawareans. By strengthening the ties between Delaware Tech and UD, we’ve provided Delawareans with new educational options, and we anticipate further expansion in the years ahead.”
In the language of the agreements, articulation is a joint venture that Del Tech and UD enter into to “strengthen the cooperative bond between the two schools” in order to “enhance educational opportunities for the citizens of the state of Delaware.”
The new model agreements are five-year renewable contracts between the community college and UD that specify what courses Del Tech students can take and pass with at least a C that will be considered equal to courses at UD. When a Del Tech student–following articulation agreement guidelines–graduates from the two-year college with the required minimum grade point average, he or she can transfer to UD as an articulation agreement major.
As of September, the seven majors under the enhanced program include:
criminal justice, early childhood development and education, electrical engineering, family and community services, hotel, restaurant and institutional management, medical technology and nursing.
And, the sister institutions are now working on agreements for math education and science education majors that will bring the number to nine.
“These new model agreements represent the level of cooperation and respect the institutions have for each other, enrich the working relationships between the administrations and faculties of the two schools and translate into a better use of resources for both institutions,” Smith said.
Under the new articulation system, “the academic departments are still very involved and make all the key decisions but with administrative support,” she said, adding that the new agreements show both institutions’ commitment to creating conditions that eliminate artificial barriers to the education process and transcend self-interest in the best interest of the students.
Academic departments at both schools painstakingly develop the agreements. It can take three months to a year to complete the process.
The result is an associate/bachelor’s degree connected curriculum that lists the Del Tech courses that are already on UD’s transfer of credit matrix [http://www.central.dtcc.edu/matrix/] plus enough transferable lower division courses for UD to recognize the first two years as completed.
Del Tech’s articulation agreement students differ from transfer students in that their degree completion at UD is facilitated; All of the articulated courses they pass with the required grade point average transfer, and they can begin their junior year without having to retake courses.
“As college transfer literature explains, articulation eliminates redundancy, loss of credit, delay and confusion for students. Articulation students enter UD feeling more confident and competent,” Smith said.
For UD and for Del Tech, it’s an advantage to have a strong statewide partnership in higher education. For students, these agreements provide a means to recognize their hard work and to inspire them to pursue their educational goals.
Article by Barbara Garrison
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