SB 19

This bill requires the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

and the Technical College System Board to implement a universal course numbering

and credit transfer system within five years. The bill also eliminates a restriction

on the respective educational roles of the UWS and TCS.

Under current law, one of the purposes of the TCS is to provide a collegiate

transfer program, which is a full-time program at a technical college in which the

credits earned may be transferable to a four-year institution of higher education.

Collegiate transfer programs may not comprise more than 25 percent of the approved

credit hours offered in any technical college district.

The TCS Board and the Board of Regents may agree to designate courses as

transferable for credit between the TCS and UWS, and must enter into an agreement

identifying at least 72 credits of core general education courses that are transferable

between the UWS and TCS. The TCS Board and the Board of Regents must also

enter into an agreement to identify, promote, support, and prioritize

“program-to-program articulation agreements” that articulate how the completion

of requirements for a specified program of study at one institution transfers toward

the completion of requirements for a specified program of study at another

educational institution. Private colleges and tribal colleges may also participate in

agreements related to course credit transfers and the program-to-program

articulation agreements. The Board of Regents must establish policies for the

appropriate transfer of credits between UWS institutions, and may establish policies

for the appropriate transfer of credits with other educational institutions. The Board

of Regents must further establish and maintain a computer-based credit transfer

system.

This bill requires the TCS Board and the Board of Regents to implement a

universal course numbering and credit transfer system under which credits for

courses with the same universal course number are automatically transferable

among UWS institutions and technical colleges. If a UWS institution or technical

college offers a course, other UWS institutions or technical colleges must award

academic credit to a student who has successfully completed a course with the same

universal course number at any other UWS institution or technical college; the

course credit awarded must be applied toward degree requirements, as applicable.

This bill also eliminates the following prohibitions relating to the respective

educational roles of the UWS and the TCS: 1) that the Board of Regents not broaden

the UWS mission to include training for semiprofessional or skilled-trade

occupations beyond that offered during the 1972-73 academic year unless the TCS

Board approves; and 2) that the TCS Board not broaden TCS collegiate transfer

program offerings beyond those in existence during the 1972-73 academic year

unless the Board of Regents approves.