READ FIRST TIME 03/05/03.   

     AN ACT Relating to creating a pilot project for competency-based transfer in higher education; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the focus of transfer between institutions of higher education has been on students' accumulation of credits, where courses necessary for entry to each successive level of higher education have been individually identified and vary by institution and academic discipline. It is the legislature's intent to begin a process that will change the focus of transfer to defining and recognizing student competencies.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The higher education coordinating board, in consultation with the state board for community and technical colleges and the council of presidents, shall recruit and select institutions of higher education to participate in a pilot project to define transfer standards in selected academic disciplines on the basis of student competencies. Participants shall include one public four-year institution of higher education, two or more community or technical colleges that regularly transfer a substantial number of students to that four-year institution, and one or more private career colleges that prepare students in the academic disciplines selected under the pilot project. Such colleges shall be accredited and licensed under chapter 28C.10 RCW.
     (2) The pilot project participants shall identify several academic disciplines to form the basis of the project and develop a work plan, timelines, and expected products for the project, which shall be presented by the higher education coordinating board in a preliminary report to the higher education committees of the legislature by December 1, 2004.
     (3) Under the pilot project, participants shall develop standards, definitions, and procedures for quality assurance for a transfer system based on student competencies. It is the legislature's intent that under such a system, four-year institutions of higher education, in collaboration with two-year institutions of higher education, define the knowledge, skills, and abilities students should possess in order to enter an upper division program in a particular academic discipline. The two and four-year institutions providing lower division preparation for such an upper division program are responsible for certifying that a student meets the expected standards, but have flexibility to determine how to assess whether the student has obtained the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities. Such assessments need not be based on completion of particular courses or accumulation of credits.
     (4) The pilot project participants may request assistance in their work from the higher education coordinating board, the western interstate commission on higher education, the state board for community and technical colleges, or the council of presidents. The pilot project participants and the higher education coordinating board shall structure the work of the project in such a way that development costs for the project are absorbed within existing institution and agency budgets.
     (5) In collaboration with the higher education coordinating board, the pilot project participants shall report to the higher education committees of the legislature by December 1, 2005, on the progress and status of the pilot project. The report shall identify any barriers encountered by the project and make recommendations for next steps in developing a competency-based transfer system for higher education.
     (6) This section expires June 30, 2006.