HOUSE BILL 282

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Rod Montoya

AN ACT

RELATING TO HIGHER EDUCATION; REQUIRING A COMMON COURSE NAMING AND NUMBERING SYSTEM BY AUGUST 1, 2017; UPDATING REFERENCES TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 21-1B-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1995, Chapter 224, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

     "21-1B-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Post-Secondary Education Articulation Act:

          A. "articulation" means the transfer of course credit from one institution to another;

          B. ["commission"] "department" means the [commission on] higher education department;

          C. "discipline module" means lower-division courses, including the general education core, that meet the lower-division college-level requirements for a specific degree;

          D. "general education core" means the grouping of lower division general education courses of at least thirty-five hours that are established by the [commission] department for transfer and that are accepted by all institutions for transfer purposes;

          E. "institution" means an accredited, public post-secondary educational institution operating in the state; and

          F. "module" or "transfer module" means a standardized list of courses established by the [commission] department for which credit is accepted for transfer from one institution to another."

     SECTION 2. Section 21-1B-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1995, Chapter 224, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

     "21-1B-3. ARTICULATION PLAN--DEVELOPMENT-- IMPLEMENTATION--ESTABLISHMENT OF TRANSFER MODULE.--

          A. The [commission] department shall establish and maintain a comprehensive statewide plan to provide for the articulation of educational programs and facilitate the transfer of students between institutions.

          B. In establishing a statewide articulation plan, the [commission] department shall:

                (1) by August 1, 2017, establish a common course naming and numbering system for courses identified as substantially equivalent lower-division courses; provided that the [commission] department shall establish an interim mechanism of a statewide equivalency table that uses a universal taxonomy to identify substantially equivalent courses until the common system is in place;

                (2) establish a process to identify courses as substantially equivalent. The process shall:

                     (a) include a procedure for each course whereby faculty members from each segment teaching the academic discipline will reach mutual agreement on the material to be taught and the competencies to be gained;

                     (b) ensure that the content of each course is comparable across institutions offering that course;

                     (c) ensure that substantially all the content agreed to among the institutions as the content to be covered by a course is in fact covered in that course and that students successfully completing the course will achieve like competencies with respect to the content covered; and

                     (d) ensure that the content requirements for each course will be sufficient to prepare students for upper-division coursework in that field; and

                (3) define, publish and maintain modules of lower-division courses accepted for transfer at all institutions and meeting requirements for lower-division requirements established for associate and baccalaureate degree-granting programs.

          C. The [commission] department shall ensure that institutions develop transfer modules that include approximately sixty-four hours of lower-division college-level credit.

          D. Transfer modules shall include a common general education core component of not less than thirty-five semester hours. This general education core shall include a comprehensive array of lower-division college-level courses designed to demonstrate skills in communication, mathematics, science, social and behavioral science, humanities, fine arts or comparable areas of study coordinated for the purpose of providing a foundation for a liberal education for all programs normally leading to a baccalaureate degree. The general education core shall transfer as a block and count as required lower-division coursework toward a degree, and any course in the core shall be transferable and shall count as credit hours toward fulfilling an institution's general education core requirements.

          E. Any course in the general education core may be offered for dual credit to secondary school students and, upon successful completion, the course shall be transferable to any institution and shall count as fulfilling a required lower-division course.

          F. A discipline module shall consist of an agreed-upon number of hours and courses, including the general education core, of approximately sixty-four hours applicable to the discipline and any course within the discipline module is transferable and shall count toward fulfilling degree requirements at a four-year institution."

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