Articulation Coordinators

An articulation coordinator (AC) is the individual designated by each academic department to collaborate with the Registrar’s Office/Transfer Services to review transfer coursework and determine equivalencies (articulations).

This role does not have to review courses; they can be the contact person between the Registrar’s Office and the academic department. Subject matter experts must review course documentation.

Articulation Coordinators (ACs) are responsible for the following:

• Coordinating or reviewing transfer courses from two and four-year domestic and international institutions within ten business days for prospective, incoming, and current students
• Reviewing prior learning exams for transferability
• Updating Program Transfer Guides in ARTSYS
• Reviewing courses from Maryland Community Colleges upon request of the institution/ARTSYS request
• Reviewing programs and courses for Articulation Agreements
• Working with the Registrar’s Office regarding policy changes that impact academic departments
• Meeting with community college representatives upon their request when courses are deemed nontransferable or not equivalent
  • Note: This can also be done by the chair, advising coordinator, or subject matter expert.

A course review evaluates a course for transferability. The most frequent requests are for direct equivalency and general education applicability. The process begins when students submit Course Review forms and syllabi via DocuSign [http://umbc.edu/go/634] for each course they wish to have reviewed.

Review requests are sent to academic departments via the Transfer Evaluation System (TES): the university’s online course review database, or email.

Course reviews must be completed within ten business days of receipt, including during summer and winter break. Departments are responsible for ensuring that at least one person can provide course reviews over the winter and summer terms.

• Coordinators must provide a detailed rationale in writing for any course deemed nontransferable or not equivalent. ACs may also include why the missing components/objectives are important.
• Courses can be deemed non transferable for the following:
  • Low/Non-Passing Grade
  • Vocational/Professional
    • Example: HVAC, Pilot, Dentistry, and Mortuary Science programs
  • Preparatory
    • Below college level
  • No Accreditation
    • Either the institution is not regionally accredited, or the program is not accredited, and the department cannot accept the coursework
    • Graduate Level
    • High school level
      • Note: high school courses are not transferable and do not appear on the transfer credit report
      • Exception: College-prep programs such as Project Lead the Way
        • Programs must have an MOU with UMBC to be transferable
      • Per MHEC regulations, courses must be evaluated based on learning objectives.
        • However, because there are no curriculum alignment meetings with out-of-state/international institutions, articulation coordinators can review the syllabus to determine equivalency for institutions outside of the Maryland system.
          • Exception: Exams, papers, and projects are not allowable forms of documentation unless the course requires a portfolio review
        • Learning objectives may be labeled “goals,” “student objectives,” or “course outcomes”. These are all acceptable for review.
      • If a course meets 70 percent of the learning objectives, it must be deemed equivalent regardless of institution, course level, credits, or mode of instruction.
      • Reviewers cannot add stipulations for transfer courses that are not required of current students. This includes
        • Requiring a grade of B for transfer when current students only need to pass the course with a C
        • Requiring more from an online course than is expected for an in-person course
        • Requiring sections of a syllabus other than information directly related to the course, such as a plagiarism statement
      • A course given elective credit can increase in level but may not decrease. Simply, a lower-level course can be deemed an upper-level elective, but an upper-level course cannot be equivalent to a lower-level elective. Please refer to the examples below:
        ✔ PSYC238 = PSYC400
        ✔ PSYC238 = PSYC U
        ✔ PSYC436 = PSYC400
        ✔ PSYC436 = PSYC230
        ✔ PSYC436 = PSYC U
        X PSYC436 = PSYC L
      • Unit system, quarter system, and international system credits are converted to US semester hours on the transfer credit report.
      • Courses are transferred with the number of credits from the sending institution.
        • If a course is ten credits at Islamic Azad and four credits at UMBC, it will transfer as ten credits.
          • Courses can be split into two.

Direct equivalent – ENGL100
General Elective – MATH 1L
General Education elective – PHYS S_1L
Elective – TRAN 4U

COMAR Number 13B.06.02.10

Found on https://dsd.maryland.gov/regulations

.10 Evaluation of Individual Course Equivalencies.

A. Equivalency Standard.
(1) A receiving institution shall accept a course or combination of courses completed at a sending institution for transfer when the receiving institution determines that at least 70 percent of the course learning objectives of the course or combination of courses completed at the sending institution are equivalent to the course learning objectives of a course or combination of courses at a receiving institution.
(2) An institution may not use any other standard or method of determining the equivalency of an individual course or combination of courses at a sending institution to a course or combination of courses at a receiving institution other than the standard set forth in §A(1) of this regulation.
(3) An institution may not consider the course numbers or levels assigned to the sending or receiving institution’s course or combination of courses when making a determination under §A(1) of this regulation.

B. Equivalencies shall be determined by faculty who are subject matter experts and may not be determined by non-academic staff.

C. An equivalent course shall only be transferred if the grade achieved at the sending institution for the completed course is the same or higher than the grade required for a non-transfer student in the equivalent course at the receiving institution.

D. The number of credits awarded to the student by the receiving institution for a course or combination of courses deemed equivalent under this regulation may not be less than the number of credits earned for that course or combination of courses at the sending institution.

E. An institution shall include in the policies and procedures established under Regulation .03 of this chapter the process the institution will use for the evaluation of course learning objective equivalencies.