UW System Templates For Articulation Agreements Between UW System Institutions And WTCS Districts

Original Issuance Date: May 14, 1990
Last Revision Date: December 18, 2018

1.     Policy Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide procedures and guidelines to UW System institutions for developing articulation agreements with institutions within the Wisconsin Technical College System.

2.     Responsible UW System Officer

Associate Vice President for Academic Programs and Educational Innovation

3.     Scope

This policy applies to UW Institutions that have developed or are developing articulation agreements with Wisconsin Technical College System districts.

4.     Background

The UW System Administrative Policy 135-UW System Undergraduate Transfer Policy encourages UW System institutions to develop articulation agreements with Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) districts where Applied Associate Degree programs have a direct relationship with one of their majors or programs. This policy provides a template and process for finalizing and publicizing these articulation agreements.

5.     Definitions

Articulation agreement: a signed document that guarantees credit transfer from the completion of a degree or certificate at a Wisconsin Technical College to a specific university major.

Program: a degree, a major, or a certificate program.

Wisconsin Technical Colleges System: composed of 16 colleges and 54 campus locations, WTCS is a system of vocational, technical and adult education programs.

6.     Policy Statement

For articulation agreements with WTCS, it is the responsibility of the UW institution to make the agreement discoverable by posting the URL of the signed agreement on the UW institution’s university website.

UW Institutions shall use the following template to formulate and finalize the agreement. The agreement as posted should reflect the requirements outlined in this template:

1. A programmatic relationship exists between the WTCS associate degree and the UW major or program.
2. WTCS courses accepted as part of an articulation agreement should be those that lead to an associate degree. Occasionally a course intended for a diploma or certificate program may be permitted by WTCS to substitute for a course in an associate degree program. Under these circumstances, the UW institution may consider that course for transfer as a part of the articulation agreement. Prior to making such a substitution, the transfer institutions should be consulted.
3. Students must be enrolled in the UW major or program in which the agreement exists. If the student changes majors or programs, or transfers to a different UW institution, the credits may not be transferable unless a similar agreement exists or if they are accepted on a course-to-course basis.
4. UW institutions are encouraged to develop articulation agreements that maximize the number of credits that transfer from the WTC program and apply to the UW major, as appropriate.

The final written agreement must include all of the following information:

1. Title of WTCS program;
2. Title of UW program;
3. Rationale for how these programs are related;
4. A table listing WTCS course/credits accepted in transfer and the UW equivalent course/credits;
5. A table (see model table below) summarizing:
   1. Courses/credits required to earn the UW major;
   2. Courses/credits fulfilled by the WTCS program;
   3. Courses/credits still to be completed at UW;
   4. Total credits for a, for b, and for c;
6. Other UW academic requirements, such as residency or GPA, that the student must satisfy;
7. Effective date of the agreement;
8. Revised date (if appropriate);
9. Date agreement will next be reviewed/updated;
10. Signatures of the appropriate UW department/program representatives and UW Provost or Chancellor; and
11. Signatures of the appropriate WTCS department/program representatives and WTCS Vice President or President.

The table below can be used to fulfill requirement 5 in the final written agreement. Institutions may modify this table as needed, or use another format, as long as the requested information is provided.

7.     Related Documents

SYS 110-UW System Board of Regents Criteria for Approval of Wisconsin Technical System Collegiate Transfer Programs
SYS 135-UW System Undergraduate Transfer Policy

8.     Policy History

Original Issuance Date: May 14, 1990
Revision 5: December 18, 2018
Revision 4: June 9, 2011
Revision 3: February 2005
Revision 2: April 2001
Revision 1: June 1998

9.     Scheduled Review

March 2023