It may soon get easier for students to transfer credits between universities and colleges.
The Ontario government intends to design and implement a credit transfer system, also referred to as the Student Mobility-Credit Transfer System or Pathways Initiative, for publically assisted universities and colleges in the province.
The program is expected to be rolled out this September and be fully implemented by 2012.
The Pathways Initiative will allow qualified students to receive credits for relevant courses completed which are at the appropriate level of competency expected by the institution being petitioned, says University of Western Ontario Academic Colleague and Chemistry department professor Robert Lipson.
Lipson acts as a representative of the university at Council of Universities meetings, which assemble throughout the academic year to discuss Ontario university affairs. News about the credit transfer initiative was included last month in Lipson’s report from the meeting to Western’s Senate.
“The goal of the initiative is to put application and review processes in place that have a high degree of consistency across the province, and are transparent, published and known to students in advance,” says Lipson.
This initiative was put forward by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU), says Lipson, to strengthen bonds between colleges and universities and to lower barriers that may prevent students from transferring college credits to university.
Similarly, the system would allow university students to transfer credits to colleges.
Many universities already have a credit transfer system in place and these will not be affected by the new system. However, this new initiative could widen the pool of applicants wishing to transfer credits to Western from across the province, says Lipson.
Individual universities will maintain the right to determine academic prerequisites and establish admission criteria and certification requirements of academic achievements, he adds.
“In short, admission standards and admissions decisions will remain the purview of individual institutions.”
With the government planning to implement the initiative at the start of the next academic year, Lipson admits the proposed timeline is aggressive and many details still need to be worked out.
A draft proposal is expected to be provided to universities and their senates before implementation. “The impact on faculty administrations will hopefully be clearer when that happens.”
The province’s proposed timeline includes completion by May 29 of a draft report stating the expected outcomes of the new initiative. An implementation plan, based on the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities’ direction for an incremental rollout, is due July 31.
A final ministerial decision is expected by August 14.
“It is recognized that the credit transfer system must take into account the constraints imposed by outside accreditation/professional bodies, for example, Engineering,” says Lipson. “It is also recognized that the costs associated with moving to a new credit system must be explicitly provided.
“The MTCU is hoping that institutions will work together to identify existing program affinities, and create new program affinities as seen to be appropriate with their academic mission. The new system will be subject to continuous improvement and ongoing accountability and performance measurement and review.”