BILL REQ. #:  H-3807.1 

Read first time 01/14/2004.   Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

     AN ACT Relating to requiring a common course catalog among institutions of higher education; and amending RCW 28B.80.280 and 28B.80.290.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 28B.80.280 and 1998 c 245 s 23 are each amended to read as follows:
     The board shall, in cooperation with the state institutions of higher education and the state board for community and technical colleges, establish and maintain a statewide transfer of credit policy and agreement. The policy and agreement shall, where feasible, include course and program descriptions consistent with statewide interinstitutional guidelines. The institutions of higher education shall provide support and staff resources as necessary to assist in developing and maintaining this policy and agreement. ((The statewide transfer of credit policy and agreement shall be effective beginning with the 1985-86 academic year.))

Sec. 2   RCW 28B.80.290 and 1983 c 304 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The statewide transfer of credit policy and agreement shall be designed to facilitate the transfer of students and the evaluation of transcripts, to better serve persons seeking information about courses and programs, to aid in academic planning, and to improve the review and evaluation of academic programs in the state institutions of higher education. ((The statewide transfer of credit policy and agreement shall not require nor encourage the standardization of course content and shall not prescribe course content or the credit value assigned by any institution to the course.))
     (2) Beginning with the 2004-05 academic year, the statewide transfer of credit policy and agreement shall provide for a common course catalog for all lower division courses offered by institutions of higher education, where equivalent courses offered at community and technical colleges and four-year institutions shall be identified using a statewide common numbering system. The policy and agreement under this section shall ensure that courses within the common course catalog will transfer and be accepted equally among institutions of higher education with regard to the number of credits earned for a course, the applicability of a course in meeting prerequisites for a major or minor in a field of study, and the applicability of a course in meeting an institution's general education requirements.