Articulating Need Sensitive Vertically Integrated Programs For Electronic Technology

Our department has entered into articulation agreements with several two-year colleges. Subsequently, we have commenced a dialogue with our community college partners as to how we can be more effective and student-centered in our approach to vertical integration. Traditionally, community colleges have done a good job of preparing technicians for industry, but graduates of two-year technical programs have more difficulty in getting appropriate credit for their technical courses. When transferring to a four-year program a direct equivalency is not always possible due to regulatory requirements, but in an outcome-based culture, it should be possible to create supplementary 1-credit or 0-credit courses that make such transfers possible. This paper will detail our initial efforts in that direction.