Article 1. Transfer System of California Education Code >> Division 5. >> Title 3. >> Part 40. >> Chapter 9.2. >> Article 1.

The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the Regents of the University of California, and the Trustees of the California State University, with appropriate consultation with the Academic Senates of the respective segments, shall jointly develop, maintain, and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education courses for the purposes of transfer. Any person who has successfully completed the transfer core curriculum, shall be deemed to have thereby completed all lower division general education requirements for the University of California and the California State University.

Upon development of the transfer core curriculum pursuant to Section 66720, and upon any subsequent joint revision of that curriculum, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the Regents of the University of California, and the Trustees of the California State University shall jointly cause the curriculum to be published and distributed to each public school in this state that provides instruction in any of the grades 7 to 12, inclusive, and to each community college in this state, with an emphasis on the communication of that information to each school or college having a high proportion of students who are members of one or more ethnic minorities. In addition, the Board of Governors shall distribute that transfer core curriculum to the State Board of Education, which shall apply that information to ensure, through its curriculum development activities, that public school pupils enrolled in any of the grades 9 to 12, inclusive, are aware of the academic requirements for preparation for higher education and may receive any necessary academic remediation in a timely manner.

(a) The California State University and the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall work together to establish the most effective methods to inform students, college advisers, and the general public about the associate degree for transfer and specific details that help students navigate this transfer pathway, as successfully as possible, pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 66745). The methods established by the California State University and the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall include, but not be limited to, Internet notification. The final methods determined by the two segments shall be completed prior to the beginning of the fall term of the 2011-12 academic year and included as part of the report required by subdivision (a) of Section 66749.
  (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that community college students be informed of the California State University majors that are considered to be similar to community college majors or areas of emphasis required to obtain an associate degree for transfer pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 66745).
  (c) A community college district may use the methods established by the California State University and the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, pursuant to subdivision (a), or a community college district may use other methods to inform community college students of the California State University majors that are considered to be similar to community college majors or areas of emphasis required to obtain an associate degree for transfer pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 66745).
  (d) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges not mandate community college districts to perform any new state reimbursable activity or program for purposes of implementing this section.

(a) (1) The governing board of each community college district shall direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to provide each of their students with a copy of the current transfer core curriculum.
  (2) As used in this section, "transfer core curriculum" means the lower-division, general education transfer curriculum that, pursuant to Section 66720, is fully articulated between the California Community Colleges and the California State University and University of California.
  (b) A copy of the current transfer core curriculum shall be distributed to each newly admitted community college student who is enrolled in a degree or certification program and is physically in attendance at the institution.
  (c) The governing board of a community college district shall ensure that the text of the current transfer core curriculum is included in the published class schedule for each academic term. Copies of the transfer core curriculum may also be made available in other locations on each campus, including, but not necessarily limited to, all of the following:
  (1) The admissions office.
  (2) The bookstore.
  (3) The career counseling center.
  (4) The veteran's affairs office.
  (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), the governing board of a community college may, as an alternative to the methods of distribution set forth in subdivision (c), distribute copies of the current transfer core curriculum by any of the following means:
  (1) During the registration process.
  (2) By mail, with the registration materials or the enrollment materials, or both, or with other items sent to students.
  (3) During the issuance of student identification cards.
  (4) During student orientation programs.
  (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the distribution of the transfer core curriculum to community college students.

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that community college students who wish to earn the baccalaureate degree at the University of California (UC) are provided with clear and effective directions that specify curricular paths to this degree.
  (b) This section shall not be construed to limit in any way the ability of students to gain admission through alternative paths to transfer, such as the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) or any other means.
  (c) The University of California is requested to address deficiencies in the articulation of major preparation courses between the California Community Colleges and the various UC campuses to make it easier for prospective transfer students to identify which community college courses meet major preparation requirements across the various campuses of the university.
  (d) The University of California is requested to identify commonalities and differences in similar majors across all UC campuses in order to accomplish all of the following:
  (1) To provide students with general descriptions of each major.
  (2) To identify lower division degree requirements that are common across UC campuses.
  (3) To identify additional academic requirements at each UC campus.
  (4) To describe additional criteria that students must achieve to be admitted at the various UC campuses.
  (e) (1) When four or more UC campuses that award undergraduate degrees have articulated specific courses and course sequences of the California Community Colleges for common requirements in similar majors, the remaining UC campuses that offer undergraduate degrees are requested to also articulate these specific community college courses and course sequences. The Legislature recognizes that UC may adopt provisions allowing individual UC campuses to opt out of this articulation process on a case-by-case basis; however, these provisions should be infrequently used. The Academic Senate of the University of California is requested to notify the California Community Colleges when an articulation request is denied, and to provide information that will enable the California Community Colleges to achieve course comparability with UC.
  (2) For at least the 20 most high-demand undergraduate majors, and with the ultimate goal of including all majors for which it is feasible, UC is requested to specify lower division transfer paths clearly identifying commonalities, as well as differences, on a comparative basis across UC campuses offering specific major programs. The Academic Senate of the University of California is requested to review the existing differences in lower division major preparation in each major across UC campuses, recognizing that one goal of these requirements should be to achieve similarity to the greatest degree that is academically appropriate.
  (3) The University of California is requested to include all of the following in the systemwide lower division transfer paths for the high-demand baccalaureate major degree programs:
  (A) Lower division general education requirements for the university.
  (B) Lower division major preparation requirements that are common across undergraduate campuses.
  (C) Additional lower division degree requirements that are unique to an individual campus.
  (D) Elective units, as appropriate.
  (E) Additional criteria, such as grade point averages and minimum grades, to ensure that students are competitive in selective majors.
  (4) The systemwide lower division transfer paths shall be specified in sufficient manner and detail so that existing and future community college lower division courses may be articulated, according to the usual procedures, to the corresponding UC courses or course descriptions.
  (f) (1) The University of California is requested to, and the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall, in consultation with the Academic Senate of the California Community Colleges, on or before January 1, 2008, facilitate the articulation of those lower division, baccalaureate-level courses at each campus of the California Community Colleges that meet the lower division transfer path requirements for each major specified by UC in paragraph (1) of subdivision (e).
  (2) The University of California is requested to annually review, and update as appropriate, the lower division transfer paths and articulation to ensure that they reflect current UC campus degree requirements and community college curricula, and share the results of that review with the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges.
  (g) As allowed by enrollment demand and available space, UC is requested to develop transfer admission agreement programs for students at each campus of the California Community Colleges who demonstrate the intent to meet the requirements of this section, including the declaration of a major and identification of a choice of a destination campus. The transfer admission agreement shall guarantee admission to the campus and major identified in the agreement and transfer of all units specified in the agreement, subject to the student's successful completion of the requirements of the agreement. It is the intent of the Legislature that the transfer admission agreements entered into under this section be made available to students early in their academic coursework. However, nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude or limit the development or issuance of transfer admission agreements for students at any appropriate time up to the point of application.
  (h) A path to transfer, as specified in this section, shall be available to any community college student who desires to transfer to UC, and shall not be limited to students who secure a transfer admission agreement as specified in subdivision (g). A student who successfully completes a path to transfer, but who does not secure a transfer admission agreement, shall be guaranteed the transferability and degree applicability for all units that the student has earned pursuant to the path to transfer. However, nothing in this section shall be construed to guarantee admission to UC, or to a specific UC campus, for a student who has not secured a transfer admission agreement.
  (i) The University of California is requested to, and the California Community Colleges shall, on a three-year periodic cycle, jointly conduct a review of a random representative sample of transcripts of students who have transferred to UC and of students preparing for transfer to determine the effectiveness of the transfer preparation pathways referenced in this section.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that a transparent process for transfer that is designed to assist students in identifying and taking the community college courses that will prepare them for success in specific University of California majors is a state priority.
  (b) The Legislature recognizes that, pursuant to Section 66721.7, the University of California has been working with the California Community Colleges to examine and seek improvements to the transfer process. It is the intent of the Legislature that, as part of this ongoing effort, the creation of various viable pathways to transfer, including the development of an associate degree for transfer granted by community college districts, be considered by the University of California as it endeavors to enhance the transfer process.
  (c) The University of California is requested to continue its examination of articulation of lower division major prerequisites in high-demand transfer majors with a goal of working in collaboration with the California Community Colleges to design community college transfer degrees that provide students adequate preparation for entry into a major. The University of California is also requested to consider offering guaranteed eligibility for admission into a University of California campus that accepts a designated community college transfer degree for admission into a designated University of California major. Further, the University of California is requested to implement pathways to qualify community college transfer courses for a designated University of California major by designating a series of community college courses that provide sufficient lower division preparation for a designated University of California major and that will be accepted by the University of California.
  (d) The University of California is requested to provide an interim progress report on its review of the various transfer pathways discussed in this section to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before June 30, 2011, and to provide a final report to those committees, with specific findings regarding the University of California's implementation of those transfer pathways, no later than December 31, 2011.

It is the intent of the Legislature that the transfer function shall be a central institutional priority of all segments of higher education in California, and that the segments shall have as a fundamental policy and practice the maintenance of an effective transfer system.

It is the intent of the Legislature that the segments of higher education shall pursue the development of transfer agreement programs that specify the curricular requirements that must be met, and the level of achievement that must be attained, by community college students in order for those students to transfer to the campus, undergraduate college, or major of choice in the public four-year segments.