Doctoral Dissertations

Gail Hall

Date of Award

8-1985

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major Professor

Betty J. Brown

Committee Members

Carroll B. Coakley, Robert T. Ladd, John I. Matthews

Abstract

The problem of this study was to determine the current status of articulation agreements in education for business between West Virginia public community and four-year colleges/universities. A secondary problem was to propose a model whereby West Virginia's public community and senior institutions might more effectively coordinate articulation policies and practices. Major purposes of the study were the fol1owi ng:

1. To identify existing articulation policies/practices within West Virginia's system of public higher education.

2. To determine the status of existing articulation policies as they related to admission of students from the community colleges, to the evaluation of transfer courses of students from community colleges, and to curriculum planning for the students from the community colleges.

3. To identify the practices related to advising, counseling, and other student personnel services for students from the community college.

Five areas of concern related to articulation policies/practices were identified from a literature review. The questionnaire for this study contained thirty-nine statements related to these five areas: admissions; evaluation of transfer courses; curriculum planning; advising, counseling, and other student personnel services; and, articulation programs. The questionnaire developed for the study was pilot tested for readability and validity.

The population consisted of the academic dean, director of ad missions, and business department chair/College of Business dean from each of the three free-standing community colleges and ten senior colleges/universities that comprise West Virginia's public system of higher education. Using a five-point scale, the thirty-nine participants indicated their perception of the extent to which each statement was the accepted practice at their institution. The data gathered were reported by frequency of response at each institutional level and percentage of total of responses.

Major conclusions, based on the findings, were the following;

1. A good working relationship appeared to exist among personnel in the two- and four-year institutions. However, in the area of ad missions, improvement in the counseling of prospective transfer students could be made in the procedures for senior institutions reporting to the community colleges on a regular basis the progress of their transfer students.

2. There appeared to be no serious problems in the area of evaluation of transfer courses. However, two guidelines should be improved: the attitudes about subject background qualifications of transferees from community colleges; and, credit earned at community colleges by gifted high school students prior to high school graduation being accepted by senior institutions.

3. Most curriculum planning problems stemmed from the senior institutions not being kept informed by the community colleges of changes in transfer courses and programs. The inability of transfer students to satisfy baccalaureate degree requirements in effect at VI 1 the senior Institution at the time they began their freshman year at the community college should be alleviated.

4. Two areas of advising, counseling, and other student personnel services presented problems: establishment of systematic procedures between community colleges and senior institutions which continually provide counselors and advisors with current information concerning student characteristics at the four-year institutions; and the performance of community college transfers (grade reports, notification of honors, and the like).

5. The academic advising process of transfer students at both institutional levels, two- and four-year institutions, had these problem areas: timely evaluation of students' records; availability of those records to both the student and advisor; availability of advisor; establishment of rapport by advisor with students so they will seek help in preventing/solving problems; and, availability of updated articulation agreements to both advisor and advisee.

6. Articulation is an attitude as well as a process, and all of the personnel involved must continually strive to work together in the solution of transfer problems. The solution of these problems has been left to the academic dean, director of admissions, and business department chair/College of Business dean at each college/university.

It is recommended that business/education for business representatives of West Virginia public community and senior colleges/ universities carefully review the Guidelines for Improving Articulation Between Junior and Senior Colleges (from which the instrument used in the study was adapted), continue with those guidelines currently implemented, and make some adjustments in their current practices and policies of articulation, based on the data in the study.

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