See article below referencing "common course numbering" a method some states use to ease transfer of credits from one institution to another.

March 10, 2008

Colleges Face Soaring Public Expectations of Higher Education

Boston — Public expectations of colleges and universities seem reasonable, if you ignore the complexities of higher education, speakers said at a Naspa session here this morning.

Years ago, if a student didn’t finish college, people would think he or she was responsible, said Jeanne Miller, associate vice president for student life at the State University of New York at Oneonta. But now, mainly because of high tuition, she said, colleges are held accountable when students drop out.

Parents of Generation X students are as serious about accountability as state and federal lawmakers are, Ms. Miller said. “If our legislators are all about ‘Show me the money,’ the parents are ‘Show me the value.’” Younger parents — “stealth fighters” instead of the baby-boomer “helicopter parents” — call colleges to ask, for example, how professors are using technology to improve teaching, and why administrators haven’t yet found internships for their children.

When students go from one institution to another, parents expect a seamless transition, said Ronald Herron, vice president for student and university affairs at Southern Connecticut State University. Prompted by concerns that students lose credits in transfers from two- to four-year institutions, the Connecticut legislature has proposed a common course-numbering system for higher education, he said, drawing groans from a packed room.

Many states, Mr. Herron pointed out, are considering measures similar to Connecticut’s. Expectations of seamlessness are so pervasive that references to “K-16” are becoming “P-20,” he said, for preschool through grad school. On the federal level, legislation to renew the Higher Education Act proposes more reporting requirements for colleges and universities than ever before, said Carol Graves Holladay, who represents the Consortium on Government Relations for Student Affairs.

Federal legislators and their constituents, Ms. Holladay said, expect colleges to — among so many other things — make sure students use the Internet legally, ensure fire safety, and report and find missing students.

Sara Lipka | Posted on Monday March 10, 2008 | Permalink



Comments

Florida has had a common course numbering system for many years.

— Bill Miller    Mar 10, 03:59 PM    #

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