For Educators

Articulation Map

We are currently working on a major project that will simplify the paths between community college transfers to state colleges and universities by mapping out the computer science courses among them. We hope to have completed much of this work by next year.

We have taken some steps forward through two articulation summits that we have held this year. Matching courses across institutions has been nearly impossible as there is minimal commonality among IT curricula. To begin to address this, our partners in Eastern MA have been working to establish three common core courses that would transfer between any of the public institutions in that region. There is also an alliance already in place between UMass Boston and the community colleges involved with BATEC in the Boston area, which aides in communication between the institutions. In Southeast MA strong ties between UMass Darthmouth and Bristol CC ease transfer around IT and SE programs.

Many community colleges have "business-oriented" CIS programs which don't always move neatly into more "theory-oriented" CS programs at the universities. We have discovered that the state colleges often offer both CS and CIS degrees facilitating a simpler pathway between community and state colleges, particularly in Central and Western MA. UMass Amherst is currently working on two additional paths into the University apart from the CS major - an IT minor program and a BDIC (Bachelor's Degree with Individual Concentration) IT major program.

A major component of whatever articulation plan is ultimately put in place will be appropriate support for the students. This will come in the form of advising and mentoring and will be a primary focus for us as we continue our work on articulation.

Alliances