3.39 Transfer Rights and Responsibilities

Board Policies
Chapter 3 - Educational Policies

Part 1. Purpose
To identify the rights and responsibilities of students, colleges, and universities related to transfer and to facilitate the transfer of students between Minnesota State colleges and universities to minimize the loss of credit and time to completion.

Part 2. Definitions

Advisor
A faculty or staff member who explains academic programs, course requirements, or other academic information to students.

Course outlines
A document approved by the college or university curriculum committee that communicates information about a college or university course.

Degree audit
A report produced that reflects a student’s progress toward completion of an academic program and/or Minnesota Transfer Curriculum including MnTC courses, goal areas, and/or the entire MnTC.

Degree audit reporting system
The official database of course relationships. A database that serves as the official repository of information on how courses transfer, course relationships, and includes information such as transferred courses of each student and courses deemed equivalent.

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC)
Curriculum comprised of general education courses and goal area definitions and competencies designed for transfer among Minnesota public colleges and universities.

Receiving college or university
The college or university to which courses or credits are transferred.

Sending college or university
The college or university from which courses or credits are transferred.

Transfer agreement
A formal agreement between two or more educational entities identifying the courses and credits within a program that transfer to a specific academic program using the system transfer agreement template, or equivalent evidence of course transfer encoded in the degree audit reporting system. Formerly known as an articulation agreement.

Part 3. Student Transfer Rights and Expectations

Subpart A. Student transfer rights
Students who transfer have the right to:

Enter into a culture of acceptance and understanding, where institutional faculty and staff are familiar with the needs and challenges of a variety of transfer student subpopulations.

Clear, complete, and accessible information about how prior learning credit will be accepted and applied to degree requirements in their selected program of study.

Enjoy the maximization of available credit in transfer in support of reduced costs to students and the most efficient time to degree completion

Directly benefit from specific academic advising, academic success programs, tutoring programs, career services, and when possible, pre-transfer advising.

Receive comparable treatment as direct entry students with respect to course and program requirements at a college or university;

Receive clear, accurate, and current information about transfer admission requirements and deadlines, degree requirements, transfer policies and procedures, transfer agreements, course equivalencies, transfer tools, and the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum;

Access course outlines, consistent with the requirements of Board Policy 3.21;

Receive a program degree audit report showing how courses transferred, and to receive clarification about transfer evaluations when they have questions;

Receive a Minnesota Transfer Curriculum audit report showing fulfillment of MnTC goal areas that match the goal areas of courses at the sending college or university;

Have completed courses that fulfill Minnesota Transfer Curriculum goal areas at the sending college or university accepted as counting toward the same goal areas at the receiving college or university;

Appeal transfer decisions at both the college or university and system levels, as provided in System Procedure 3.21.1.

Subpart B. Student transfer expectations
Students who transfer should seek the following:

Advice from both the sending and receiving colleges and universities throughout their academic careers, especially when their academic plans change;

Information on how a change in their academic plans may impact anticipated or required courses;

Information about creating a plan of study as early as possible;

Schedules and other information for orientation, workshops, or other training opportunities offered by the college or university in which they are currently enrolled and at the one to which they plan to transfer;

Information on how to make sure all materials required for admission, including official transcripts from all previously attended non-system colleges and universities have been received;

Information on making sure all transcripted courses are evaluated for transfer;

Information on who to notify when planning to follow the requirements of a transfer agreement;

Information regarding the transferability of their chosen academic program of study.

Part 4. Minnesota State College and University Rights and Responsibilities

Subpart A. College and university rights
Colleges and universities have the right to:

Ensure standards of quality for educational programs offered;

Determine course equivalencies and admission, program, major, and graduation requirements in accordance with their missions;

Consider the accreditation of the sending college or university and program in making course transfer decisions.

Subpart B. College and university responsibilities
Minnesota State sending and receiving colleges and universities have the responsibility to:

Clearly communicate transfer expectations to students;

Provide students with access to advisors designated to assist with transfer processes and requirements;

Provide students with accurate transfer information early in their academic careers, including information about the transfer web page and other resources on their websites;

Provide students with specific information about the transferability of all associate degrees on their academic program webpages, transfer webpage, and program information;

Refer students to staff and resources at the college or university to which they intend to transfer;

Update and publish their transfer policies and procedures, requirements, and course offerings, including the current Minnesota Transfer Curriculum, transfer agreements and other transfer related agreements, transfer guides, and course equivalencies, and communicate these to students and the public;

Make available electronic course equivalency, degree completion, and transfer tools to students, including instructions on their use;

Provide students with access to the current course catalog and catalogs for at least the prior five years;

Continuously improve student access to information about transfer and to improve transfer processes;

Provide written confirmation to transfer students about their admission and transfer-related decisions, including the opportunity to appeal transfer decisions and the result of transfer appeals, in a timely manner.

Policy History:

Date of Adoption: 05/16/12
Date of Implementation: 05/16/12
Date of Last Review: 06/22/22

Date & Subject of Amendments:

06/22/22 – Reviewed as part of the 5 year review process. In Part 2, added the definition for Degree audit, updated the definition of Degree audit reporting system, replaced Articulation agreement with Transfer agreement and updated the definition. In the Part 3 and Subp. B titles, replaced “Responsibilities” with “Expectations”, In Subpart A added items 1 through 4 and reorganized the sequence of several items. In Subpart B, updated the terminology in every item. In Part 4, replaced System with Minnesota State, in Subp. B added the first item regarding communicating transfer expectations. Technical edits were made through out the policy.

Additional HISTORY.

3.39 Transfer Rights and Responsibilities

Related Documents:

Policy History: