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Administrators

Glossary of Terms

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z


A
AcademyOne:
AcademyOne is the software vendor selected to develop the course equivalency database for Pennsylvania and to develop a one-stop electronic portal for transfer students, advisors, faculty members, and administrators. For more information about AcademyOne, go to www.AcademyOne.com. For an example of their web-based transfer database, go to www.collegetransfer.net. The corporate address is 101 Lindenwood Drive, Malvern, PA 19355. Phone number is 484-318-7100. Fax number is 484-581-4151.

Article XX-C:
Article XX-C of the Public institution Code of 1949, also referenced as 24 P.S. §§ 20-2001-C -- 20-2007-C, can be found in section of House Bill 185 that created the Transfer Articulation and Oversight Committee and mandated the related transfer policies for the PA community colleges and state-owned universities.


C
Course Equivalency Management System (CEMS):
A function provided on the ePortal by AcademyOne that enables a streamlined workflow to propose, review, evaluate, and track course credit evaluation decisions. CEMS offers a virtual workspace to manage distributed steps of course credit applicability, articulation, storage and maintenance in one solution.


D
Data Reporting:
The legislations mandates that all 14 Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education universities, the 14 state community colleges, and the four state-related universities must submit specific transfer data to PDE at least once a year. Private institutions only have this requirement if they opted to join TAOC for that academic year.

Dispute Resolution Subcommittee (DRS):
Created by legislation, the DRS provides an avenue for resolution between an participating TAOC institution and a TAOC equivalency standards subcommittee concerning the evaluation and transfer of a course by TAOC.


E
ePortal:
The ePortal is the public face of TAOC. This web-based system provides public access to articulation agreements, course equivalencies and annual reports.

Equivalent courses:
Courses determined to have generally equivalent content and level as determined by the faculty of an institution of higher education consistent with the policy at each institution.


F
Foundation courses:
Courses required to be completed by students that provide an academic foundation for the degree, general education or advanced study in a major.


H
House Bill 185:
The legislative mandate that houses Article XX-C of the Public institution Code of 1949, also referenced as 24 P.S. §§ 20-2001-C -- 20-2007-C. This house bill created the Transfer Articulation and Oversight Committee and mandated the related transfer policies for the PA community colleges and state-owned universities.


I
Independent Institution:
An institution of higher education which is operated not-for-profit, located in and incorporated or chartered by the Commonwealth and entitled to confer degrees as set forth in 24 Pa.C.S. § 6505 (relating to power to confer degrees) and to apply to itself the designation "college" or "university" as provided for by the standards and qualifications prescribed by the State Board of Education pursuant to 24 Pa.C.S. Ch. 65 (relating to private colleges, universities and seminaries).

Interagency Opt-In Agreement:
The office agreement signed by a state-related or private institution that decides to voluntarily join TAOC and abide by all of its policies and procedures. The agreement must be signed by an Academic Office at the institution and the Deputy Secretary for Postsecondary and Higher Education.

Interim Report:
An annual transfer data report submitted to the PDE by all the 14 Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education universities, the 14 state community colleges, the four state-related universities and the participating “opt in” institutions.


O
Office of Access Initiatives:
This office of PDE houses ACT 101, administers the Technical College Program grant, and oversees Transfer and Articulation and Community College initiatives as related to the Department of Education. OAI reports to the Deputy Secretary of Postsecondary and Higher Education.

Opt-In:
A state-related or private institution that decides to voluntarily join TAOC and abide by all of its policies and procedures.


P
Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education:
is the governing body of the 14 state-owned universities in Pennsylvania.

Public institution:
A community college or an institution which is part of the State System of Higher Education pursuant to Article XX-A.


S
Standards Subcommittees:
Committees charged by TAOC to create standards for the Transfer Credit Framework and to approve course equivalencies related to that framework for participating institutions.

State-related institution:
The Pennsylvania State University, the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University, Lincoln University and their branch campuses.

Student Appeal Process:
Process by which students may appeal to PDE when dissatisfied with the way credits were evaluated by a participating institution.


T
TAOC Steering Committee:
A subcommittee of TAOC, this group works closely with PDE to set policy, resolve issues and make recommendations to the larger combined Transfer and Articulation Oversight Committee. The committee meets as needed either in-person or via telephone when necessary to insure the smooth implementation of the legislation. The committee also serves as the Dispute Resolution Subcommittee.

Transfer Agreement Center (TAMC):
The Transfer Agreement Management Center (TAMC) enables academic departments and administrators to collect, revise and publish transfer agreements. TAMC offers a virtual workspace to codify present agreements while preparing and maintaining new agreements. This is database feature provided by AcademyOne.

Transfer and Articulation Oversight Committee (TAOC):
The Transfer and Articulation Oversight Committee (TAOC) was established under section 24 P.S. §20-2004-C of Article XX-C of the Public institution Code of 1949. The committee reports to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. TAOC is charged with establishing course equivalency standards; identifying a minimum of 30 hours of foundation courses for transfer at each of the 14 state systems and 14 community college institutions; resolving any conflict resulting from any of the above processes; working with PDE to develop a system for reporting transfer data; and working with PDE to develop an ePortal system that serves as a public entryway to data and information relevant to transfer and articulation.

Transfer Student:
A student who has taken 12 or more college-level credits over a two-year period. This term includes students transferring from both within and outside of the state.