At its February 10th, 2000 meeting the GEATF members discussed the current requirement that students are required to complete 15 credits in residence at the community college district certifying the AGEC. A student completing 12 credits at three different districts then would have difficulty in being certified. Thus, a proposal was offered as follows: "An AGEC can be certified by an Arizona community college as long as 15 of the credits have been completed in residence at any Arizona community college."
- Alternatives to the status quo and the proposal above were proposed:
- Allow the community college which certifies the AGEC to specify the residency requirement
- Require one-fourth of the number of credits required for the AGEC, or nine credits
- Permit students to complete the AGEC with no residency requirement; thus, students from California, for example, could transfer in a complete AGEC.
- The discussion was continued at the GEATF May 16th, 2000 meeting. It was pointed out that permitting community college districts to set their own residency requirements would complicate the advisor role.
- Discussion was continued at the GEATF August 29th, 2000 meeting. It was argued that there is no need for a special residency requirement in the AGEC, that the residency requirement is met in the aggregate, that the AGEC requirement could be taken to be equivalent to the district residency requirement.
- At its August 29, 2000 meeting, members of the GEATF passed the following motion:
"that the residency requirement for the AGEC be set as a district prerogative."
ISSUES
- The current requirement that 15 semester credits be completed in residence at the district certifying the AGEC causes difficulty for students who attend multiple districts. Permitting the individual district to set the requirement will facilitate completion of the AGEC by those students. Academic standards will be maintained by each district as every community college in Arizona requires a certain number of credits be completed in residence. In fact, the 15-credit requirement in the AGEC is not the same as some districts’ residency requirement, so permitting the district to specify its AGEC residency requirement could foster greater consistency.
DISCUSSION
- Discussion brought out five different alternatives over the course of three GEATF meetings, but the group finally agreed that the residency requirement for the AGEC ought to be set as a district prerogative.
ACTION
The GEATF recommends to APASC that the Residency Requirement for AGEC Proposal be accepted and disseminated to the Arizona public institutions of higher learning.
The GEATF recommends adoption of the following proposal:
- That the residency requirement for the AGEC be set as a district prerogative.
TIMELINE
- October 17, 2000 APASC accepts the Residency Requirement for AGEC Proposal and disseminates the proposal to Arizona public institutions of higher education for feedback.
- February 27, 2001 APASC revisits the Residency Requirement for AGEC Proposal based on institutional feedback and passes the proposal.
- March, 2001 APASC notifies Arizona public institutions of higher education of the implementation date.
- Fall, 2001 Implementation of the Residency Requirement for AGEC Proposal, retroactive to the institution’s implementation of the new transfer model.