Institutional Transfer

State of Ohio Policy for Institutional Transfer

Note: The following information is a policy of the Ohio Board of Regents.

Institutional Transfer

The Ohio Board of Regents , in 1990, following a directive of the 119th Ohio General Assembly, developed the Ohio Articulation and Transfer Policy to facilitate students’ ability to transfer credits from one Ohio public college or university to another in order to avoid duplication of course requirements. A subsequent policy review and recommendations produced by the Articulation and Transfer Advisory Council in 2004, together with mandates from the 125th Ohio General Assembly in the form of Amended Substitute House Bill 95, have prompted improvements of the original policy. While all state-assisted colleges and universities are required to follow the Ohio Articulation and Transfer Policy, independent colleges and universities in Ohio may or may not participate in the transfer policy. Therefore, students interested in transferring to independent institutions are encouraged to check with the college or university of their choice regarding transfer agreements. In support of improved articulation and transfer processes, the Ohio Board of Regents will establish a transfer clearinghouse to receive, annotate, and convey transcripts among state-assisted colleges and universities. This system is designed to provide standardized information and help colleges and universities reduce undesirable variability in the transfer credit evaluation process.

Transfer Module

The Ohio Board of Regents’ Transfer and Articulation Policy established the Transfer Module, which is a subset or entire set of a college or university’s general education curriculum in AA, AS, and baccalaureate degree programs. Students in applied associate’s degree programs may complete some individual transfer module courses within their degree program or continue beyond the degree program to complete the entire transfer module. The Transfer Module contains 54-60 quarter hours or 36-40 semester hours of course credit in English composition (minimum five to six quarter hours or three semester hours); mathematics, statistics, and formal/symbolic logic (minimum of three quarter hours or three semester hours); arts/humanities (minimum nine quarter hours or six semester hours); social and behavioral sciences (minimum of nine quarter hours or six semester hours). Oral communication and interdisciplinary areas may be included as additional options. Additional elective hours from among these areas make up the total hours for a completed Transfer Module. Courses for the Transfer Module should be 100- and 200-level general education courses commonly completed in the first two years of a student’s course of study. Each state-assisted university, technical, and community college is required to establish and maintain an approved Transfer Module.

Transfer Module course(s) or the full module completed at one college or university will automatically meet the requirements of individual Transfer Module course(s) or the full Transfer Module at another college or university once the student is admitted. Students may be required, however, to meet additional general education requirements at the institution to which they transfer. For example, a student who completes the Transfer Module at Institution S (sending institution) and then transfers to Institution R (receiving institution) is said to have completed the Transfer Module portion of Institution R’s general education program. Institution R, however, may have general education courses that go beyond its Transfer Module. State policy initially required that all courses in the Transfer Module be completed to receive its benefit in transfer. However, subsequent policy revisions have extended this benefit to the completion of individual Transfer Module courses on a course-by-course basis.

Transfer Assurance Guides

Transfer Assurance Guides (TAGs) comprise Transfer Module courses and additional courses required for an academic major. A TAG is an advising tool to assist Ohio university and community and technical college students planning specific majors to make course selections that will ensure comparable, compatible, and equivalent learning experiences across the state’s higher-education system. A number of area-specific TAG pathways in the arts, humanities, business, communication, education, health, mathematics, science, engineering, engineering technologies, and the social sciences have been developed by faculty teams.

TAGs empower students to make informed course selection decisions and plans for their future transfer. Advisors at the institution to which a student wishes to transfer should also be consulted during the transfer process. Students may elect to complete the full TAG or any subset of courses from the TAG. Because of specific major requirements, early identification of a student’s intended major is encouraged.

Conditions for Transfer Admission

Ohio residents with associate’s degrees from state-assisted institutions and a completed, approved Transfer Module shall be admitted to any state institution of higher education in Ohio, provided their cumulative grade point average (GPA) is at least 2.0 for all previous college-level courses. Further, these students shall have admission priority over out-of-state associate’s degree graduates and transfer students.

• When students have earned associate’s degrees but have not completed a Transfer Module, they will be eligible for preferential consideration for admission as transfer students if they have GPAs of at least a 2.0 for all previous college-level courses.
• In order to encourage completion of the baccalaureate degree, students who are not enrolled in an AA or AS degree program but have earned 60 semester or 90 quarter hours or more of credit toward a baccalaureate degree with a grade point average of at least a 2.0 for all previous college-level courses will be eligible for preferential consideration for admission as transfer students.
• Students who have not earned an AA or AS degree or who have not earned 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours of credit with a grade point average of at least a 2.0 for all previous college-level courses are eligible for admission as transfer students on a competitive basis.
• Incoming transfer students admitted to a college or university shall compete for admission to selective programs, majors, and units on an equal basis with students native to the receiving institution.

Admission to a given institution, however, does not guarantee that a transfer student will be automatically admitted to all majors, minors, or fields of concentration at the institution. Once admitted, transfer students shall be subject to the same regulations governing applicability of catalog requirements as native students. Furthermore, transfer students shall be accorded the same class standing and other privileges as native students on the basis of the number of credits earned. All residency requirements must be completed at the receiving institution.

Acceptance of Transfer Credit

To recognize courses appropriately and provide equity in the treatment of incoming transfer students and students native to the receiving institution, transfer credit will be accepted for all successfully completed college-level courses completed in and after fall 2005 from Ohio state-assisted institutions of higher education. Students who successfully completed AA or AS degrees prior to fall 2005 with a 2.0 or better overall grade point average would also receive credit for all college-level courses they have passed. (See Ohio Articulation and Transfer Policy, Definition of Passing Grade and Appendix D) While this reflects the baseline policy requirement, individual institutions may set equitable institutional policies that are more accepting.

Pass/fail courses, credit by examination courses, experiential learning courses, and other nontraditional credit courses that meet these conditions will also be accepted and posted to the student record.

Responsibilities of Students

In order to facilitate transfer with maximum applicability of transfer credit, prospective transfer students should plan a course of study that will meet the requirements of a degree program at the receiving institution. Students should use the Transfer Module, Transfer Assurance Guides, and Course Applicability System for guidance in planning the transfer process. Specifically, students should identify early in their collegiate studies an institution and major to which they desire to transfer. Furthermore, students should determine if there are language requirements or any special course requirements that can be met during the freshman or sophomore year. This will enable students to plan and pursue a course of study that will articulate with the receiving institution’s major. Students are encouraged to seek further information regarding transfer from both their advisor and the college or university to which they plan to transfer.

Appeals Process

Following the evaluation of a student transcript from another institution, the receiving institution shall provide the student with a statement of transfer credit applicability. At the same time, the institution must inform the student of the institution’s appeals process. The process should be multi-level and responses should be issued within 30 days of the receipt of the appeal.

If a transfer student’s appeal is denied by the institution after all appeal levels within the institution have been exhausted, the institution shall advise the student in writing of the availability and process of appeal to the state-level Articulation and Transfer Appeals Review Committee. The Appeals Review Committee shall review and recommend to institutions the resolution of individual cases of appeal from transfer students who have exhausted all local appeal mechanisms concerning applicability of transfer credits at receiving institutions.

Cincinnati State’s Policy for Transfer of Credit

The Cincinnati State Policy for Transfer of Credit is in compliance with the Ohio Board of Regents’ Transfer and Articulation Policy.

Once a student is admitted to a degree or certificate program, official transcripts from previously attended colleges and universities submitted for admission are forwarded to the Office of the Registrar for transfer of credit evaluation. In general, only coursework earned at a regionally-accredited institution of higher education with a grade of C or better will be accepted as transfer credit. Courses completed in and after Fall 2005 at a regionally accredited institution in which a passing grade of D was earned are also transferable.

Students who successfully completed an associate’s degree or higher at a regionally-accredited institution prior to Fall 2005 with a 2.0 or better overall grade point average also receive credit for all college-level courses they passed. Pass/fail courses, credit by examination courses, experiential learning courses, and other nontraditional credit courses that meet these conditions will also be accepted and posted to the student record. Once the evaluation of transfer work is complete, the student receives, by mail, a Transfer Evaluation Report, which lists all credits awarded in transfer and what equivalent courses have been assigned at Cincinnati State. In the event no equivalent course at Cincinnati State can be assigned, the transfer course is accepted as elective credit. Whether or not courses accepted as elective credit are applicable to the student’s degree or certificate program is at the discretion of the program chair or academic advisor. At the same time the student will be informed of the institution’s appeals process.

In situations where coursework is five years old or older, or where requisite skills may have been lost, courses previously taken at other institutions are subject to review by the faculty and dean of the division that offers the equivalent course(s). Those courses reviewed that do not meet current program requirements and standards will not count toward degree or certificate requirements. Transfer credit accepted at Cincinnati State appears on a student’s transcript as a cumulative number of hours accepted.

Cincinnati State Transfer Module Appeal Process

Should a student transferring into Cincinnati State be dissatisfied with the credit awarded as part of the transfer module program of the State of Ohio, an internal appeal process and an external appeal process are both available.

The internal appeal process must be utilized first. At Cincinnati State, the internal appeal process for a student dissatisfied with credit awarded as part of the transfer module program is the College Academic Appeals Procedure, described elsewhere in this catalog.

The external appeal process may be utilized only after the internal appeal process has been completed and the student remains dissatisfied with the institution’s judgment. The external appeal will be conducted by the Statewide Appeals Review Committee. More information on this process is available from the Ohio Board of Regents in Columbus, Ohio.