Definitions

Accreditation and Accrediting Bodies

Accreditation speaks to the educational quality of the institution. It is an indicator that the institution meets certain minimum standards of quality. Institutions which have been accredited by bodies recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and, specifically, by the CHEA-recognized Regional Accrediting Organizations (defined below) shall be considered accredited institutions for the purposes of the Ohio Articulation and Transfer Policy.

In order to facilitate evaluation and accreditation of institutions of higher education, CHEA, a national body, has the responsibility for setting standards for accrediting organizations which carry out these activities. CHEA has a formal process of recognition which requires that any accrediting organization so recognized must meet the same standards. CHEA has recognized three types of accrediting bodies: Regional Accrediting Commissions, National Accrediting Organizations, and Specialized/Professional Accrediting Organizations that accredit free-standing professional schools and professional programs in multi-purpose institutions.

Regional accrediting organizations include:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA), Middle States Commission on Higher Education

New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC-CIHE), Commission on Institutions of Higher Education

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA-HLC), The Higher Learning Commission

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
Commission on Colleges

Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC-ACCJC), Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges

Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC-ACSCU), Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities

National Accrediting Organizations that accredit various kinds of specialized institutions have also been recognized, e.g., Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), Association of Advanced Rabbinical and Talmudic Schools (AARTS). CHEA annually publishes a list of these organizations.

Specialized/Professional Accrediting Organizations that accredit free-standing professional schools, in addition to programs within multi-purpose institutions, have been recognized by CHEA, e.g., Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), AACSB International-The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Full listings of recognized accrediting bodies and institutions accredited by these organizations are published by CHEA annually.

ARTICULATION

A systematic coordination by institutions of learning, including professional training programs, to ensure the efficient and effective movement of students among the institution, while guaranteeing the students' continuous advancement in learning and recognizing their pror-learning competencies.

ASSOCIATE OF ARTS / ASSOCIATE OF SCIENCE DEGREE

Usually referred to as the University Parallel or Transfer Program, the degree is designed for students who plan to complete their first two years of college work at an Ohio community college and then transfer as juniors or seniors to Ohio institutions of their choice. Upon completion of the degree students will have completed the "Transfer Module" requirements of the sending institution.

ASSOCIATE OF APPLIED BUSINESS AND ASSOCIATE OF APPLIED SCIENCE DEGREES

The Associate of Applied Business and the Associate of Applied Science degrees prepare students for entry into specific occupations or are designed to articulate with four-year baccalaureate programs. The Associate of Technical Study and the Associate of Individualized Study degrees are technical education programs designed to meet specific needs not available in other formal degree programs.

BACHELOR'S DEGREE OR BACCALAUREATE DEGREE

The degree is granted upon completion of a course of study normally requiring four academic years of college work. College work encompasses both upper and lower division institutional requirements.

BILATERAL ARTICULATION AGREEMENTS

The written agreements reached between individual colleges and universities which detail course equivalency, program-to-program linkages, and undergraduate requirements.

COLLEGE-LEVEL COURSES

These are courses taught at an institution of higher education for which credit is granted toward a particular degree(s). These courses are taught at an intellectual and content level which goes beyond courses taught at the high school level. For the purposes of this policy, the sending institution determines which courses are college-level and thereby eligible for transfer to a receiving institution.

COLLEGE TRANSCRIPT

A college transcript is the complete historic record of a student’s academic experience at an individual college or university including, but not limited to, courses attempted, credit hours assigned, grades received and transfer credit accepted. It is a report forwarded at the request of the student to persons, institutions, or agencies for their use in reviewing the student’s previous academic performance. To be official it typically must be sent directly from the sending institution to the receiving institution and bear the college seal, current date and appropriate signature.

FREE ELECTIVES

College level courses taken for credit outside of specific university, collegial, or departmental degree requirements. Some institutions have prescriptions governing the total hours of free electives permissible within a single degree program.

GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

This is a prescribed course of study, generally in the liberal education area, as defined by institutional faculty and validated by the institution's administration or governing board. This course of study is distinct from a program major, minor, or field of concentration, and is often supplemented with additional liberal education requirements which are related to the needs of the individual degree programs. It is required of all graduates and is intended to ensure that all graduates possess a common core of college-level skills and knowledge. This course of study in A.A., A.S. and baccalaureate degrees encompasses, and is generally broader or more comprehensive than, the Transfer Module defined below. However, this course of study in applied associate degrees tends to include fewer general education courses than the transfer module due to the increased volume of technical courses in these major programs.

INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Two-year and four-year Ohio universities and community and technical colleges, and independent colleges and universities accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools Higher Learning Commission and authorized by the Ohio Board of Regents which formally adopt this policy.

LOWER DIVISION

Courses at a level of comprehension usually associated with freshman and sophomore students and offered during the first half of a baccalaureate degree program are called lower division courses. These courses are numbered at a lower level than junior or senior courses (e.g., 100 or 200 instead of 300 or 400). Since there is not a one-to-one correspondence of the concept of baccalaureate lower division courses to community and technical colleges, a course considered lower division by a university may be completed by a student enrolled at a community or technical college during the first and/or second year of a two-year curriculum.

NATIVE STUDENT

A student whose initial college enrollment was at a given institution of higher education and who has not transferred to another institution of higher education since that initial enrollment.

PASS-FAIL

Any system by which a student can take courses for a grade of pass or fail in lieu of a letter grade. This includes systems which count as failing D's and F's or just F's.

PASSING GRADE

Passing grades include the grades of A, B, C, and D. (except as noted above under pass/fail). The grade of D- is also included as passing at some, but not all, Ohio institutions. (See Appendix D, Transfer of D Grades Policy.)

RECEIVING INSTITUTION

The institution of higher education at which a transfer student currently desires to enroll and apply previously earned credit toward a degree program.

SENDING INSTITUTION

The institution of higher education at which transferable academic credit was earned by a transfer student during his/her previous enrollment.

STATEMENT OF TRANSFER CREDIT APPLICABILITY

A report which is designed to compare a student’s academic work, at any point in the student’s career, with the requirements of one or more of the institution’s academic programs. It is a comprehensive report detailing the student’s progress toward meeting those requirements. This report is generally known as the degree audit report. At institutions where the Statement of Transfer Credit Applicability is readily available, it is used for internal advising purposes instead of the transcript.

STATEWIDE TRANSFER GUARANTEE

A systematic agreement, college-level coursework and program credits will transfer and apply toward degree completion in University System of Ohio institutions of higher education without unnecessary duplication or institutional barriers.

STUDENT ACADEMIC RECORD

The information maintained by the institution should reflect the unabridged historical facts of the student’s learning experiences. It may include any other information pertinent to the evaluation of those facts.

TRANSFER

One of the processes of articulation; it is the mechanics of credit, course, and curriculum exchange.

TRANSFER CREDIT

Transfer credit refers to units (hours) of academic credit awarded at a receiving institution in recognition of college level credit earned at a sending institution.

Academic institutions operate under a variety of systems (e.g., semester or quarter, etc.). For example, each unit of academic credit assigned to a course as the credit value for that course under the semester system is known as the semester-hour. The term hour usually refers to a 50-minute period of time. Generally, semester-hours of credit for a course are directly equivalent to the number of classroom contact hours per week for lecture courses. Thus, a three semester-hour course normally will meet for three 50-minute periods per week for 15 weeks and will lead to the award of three semester-hours of academic credits toward degree requirements upon satisfactory completion. Non-lecture type courses may require more contact hours per hour of credit. For example, laboratories generally require two or three hours of class time per semester hour of credit. Semester-hour credit may be converted to quarter-hour credit by multiplying by three and dividing by two (e.g., five semester-hour credits will equate to 7.5 quarter-hour credits).

TRANSFER MODULE

The Transfer Module in A.A., A.S. and baccalaureate programs may be a subset or the complete set of a college’s or university’s general education requirements. It contains 54-60 quarter hours or 36-40 semester hours of course credit in English composition (minimum 5-6 quarter hours or 3 semester hours); mathematics, statistics and formal/symbolic logic (minimum of 3 quarter hours or 3 semester hours); arts/humanities (minimum 9 quarter hours or 6 semester hours); social and behavioral sciences (minimum of 9 quarter hours or 6 semester hours); and natural sciences (minimum 9 quarter hours or 6 semester hours). Oral communication and interdisciplinary areas may be included as additional options. Additional elective hours from among these areas make up the total hours for a completed Transfer Module. Courses for the Transfer Module should be 100- and 200-level general education courses commonly completed in the first two years of a student's residency. (Transfer Module Guidelines, Appendix C)

TRANSFER STUDENT

A student who is applying to an Ohio institution of higher education who has previously attended another Ohio institution of higher education.

UNIVERSAL COURSE EQUIVALENCY SYSTEM

A system developed through the resources of the Higher Education Information System (HEI) to perform three basic functions:

Electronically manage the universal documentation of course equivalencies to learning outcomes and degree requirements statewide.

Eliminate inconsistent and irrational judgments in the application of transfer credit.

Guarantee the application of credits from transfer students will be treated in the same manner as credits for native students in the same degree programs.

UPPER DIVISION

Courses at a level of comprehension usually associated with junior and senior students and offered during the last half of a baccalaureate degree program are called upper division courses. In general, these courses are numbered at a higher level than the freshmen or sophomore level courses (e.g., 300 or 400 numbered courses as opposed to 100 or 200 numbered courses).