Staff Policy D-107.01
Institutional Effectiveness Criterion: Champion

Articulation Agreements - Process

Articulation agreements serve to improve the curricular transition of incoming students from the secondary school systems and higher education institutions to NMC, and of NMC students as they transfer from NMC to other colleges or universities in fulfillment of their educational goals.

1. Agreements with the Secondary School Systems
   Northwestern Michigan College recognizes that many students attain competencies in various vocational areas while attending high school and/or area vocational and skill centers. Accordingly, NMC will work with schools that provide such training to make it possible for their students to either receive college credit or course waivers where specific competencies are evident.
   
   The Vice President for Educational Services and the Vice President for Lifelong & Professional Learning will review all agreements to ensure their compliance with the NMC Guide to Articulation and with the parameters stated in Policy D-107.00. The Vice Presidents will recommend appropriate agreements to the President for approval on behalf of the College.
2. Agreements with Colleges and Universities
   Agreements with colleges and universities take several forms. In some cases, they are in the form of transfer guides which are designed by the NMC Advising Center in collaboration with transfer institutions to assist students in determining which courses should be taken at NMC to best prepare a student for a particular academic field at a specific college or university. This policy refers not to these guides, but to formal signed agreements between NMC and other colleges and universities. For example, such agreements include 1+3 agreements where either NMC provides a year of general education to a student transferring to another college or university to acquire occupational certification at a partner institution or where a college provides a year of higher education and ties it to 1-2 years of NMC instruction; 2+2 agreements between NMC programs and an university that allow NMC students to enter the university with junior level status; 3+1 agreements where NMC students are allowed to transfer specific credits beyond the usual associate degree level of 60 credits so that they are required to take 30 credits at the transfer institution; or 3+2 agreements where NMC students are allowed to transfer specific credits beyond the usual associate degree level of 60 credits so that they are required to take 60 credits at the transfer institution.
   
   An academic area seeking to establish a formal agreement to tie its program to another college or university must notify either the Office of the Vice President for Educational Services or the Office of the Vice President for Lifelong & Professional Learning of their plan. Upon approval from the vice president, the area is to follow the parameters set in Policy D-107.00. Final approval of the agreement is made by the President on behalf of the College.
   
   All approved agreements will be kept on file in the Records & Registration Office and posted to the NMC website.

The Vice President for Educational Services, in conjunction with the appropriate faculty and staff, is responsible for the development and publication of any procedures or guidelines that may be necessary to administer this policy effectively.

If any provision(s) of this policy or set of bylaws conflicts with laws applicable to Northwestern Michigan College, including the Community College Act of 1966, the Freedom of Information Act, or the Open Meetings Act, as each may be amended from time to time, such laws shall control and supersede such provision(s).