More than a third of the core classes Colorado public colleges and universities submitted to the state for review have deficiencies that are likely to require a warning that they might not transfer to other schools because they do not meet state standards.
The schools submitted 320 courses that are taught as core classes designed to offer students the basics. The Colorado Commission on Higher Education coordinated a group of 100 faculty members from different schools and disciplines to review class descriptions. The commission is scheduled to vote on the recommendations Thursday.
CCHE executive director Rick O’Donnell said he was surprised and disappointed by the number of classes that did not make the grade.
“Faculty found that one- third didn’t measure up,” he said. “It’s substandard, below standard.”
In 2001, state lawmakers passed legislation requiring the CCHE to ensure that core courses teach competency in a subject and critical thinking.
After the bill’s passage, schools signed contracts requiring them to note right next to the class title if a class does not meet state standards and is not guaranteed to transfer.
Schools still will be able to count the “not recommended” classes as fulfilling the core requirements at their schools.
Higher-education officials said they have heard of cases where a student will transfer and be required to take an additional semester or year because the courses at his or her previous school did not count at the new university. With about 40 percent of in-state students transferring between schools and about 70 percent of low-income students changing institutions, the change may affect a large number of students.
But Richard Nishikawa, assistant dean at the University of Colorado arts and science college, said those warnings by the class title are only an indication that the class might not transfer. He also said that the high number of rejected classes this time might be because this most recent round has a wider range of classes.
“They don’t necessarily match up with the courses guaranteed to transfer, but I wouldn’t characterize them as being substandard,” he said.
O’Donnell, however, disagreed, adding that governing boards of the individual schools should take a close look at why these classes failed and think about changing or discontinuing the course.
“If I was a parent or a student paying tuition, I would ask why would I spend my money on a class that doesn’t meet standards,” he added.
The classes reviewed vary by school and topic. And an unusual title might not necessarily disqualify the class. Schools nominated the core courses, filling out questionnaires describing how the class allows students to demonstrate critical thinking and competency in the subject.
For example, the University of Northern Colorado’s “History of Rock ‘n’ Roll” class passed the review while Western State College’s “General Physics” and CU’s “African-American History” failed the state standard.
Sara Heimbecker, an adjunct professor at UNC who teaches the music-history class, said some students who take the class think it will be easy and then drop out in the first two weeks.
She was concerned the title might doom her class to a “not recommended” rating and is happy that the state faculty committee looked beyond it.
“It was a little difficult to get the course approved in the first place,” she said. “There’s a bias against pop music and pop culture.”
While the professors involved in the recommendation process could not be reached for comment, Heimbecker said she believes her class was approved because she shows how the rock music of the era reflected the society and politics of the time.
The professors evaluated arts and humanities classes based on how a work “reflects or rejects the major values or concerns of a historical era,” and Heimbecker’s class seems to directly address that issue.
Western State physics professor Ted Violett was initially not bothered that his class did not receive approval as a core course, feeling that maybe the course was too in-depth to be considered a basic class.
But he was upset when he found out it would be labeled as not meeting the state standard because the faculty committee felt it did not meet competency and critical-thinking standards.
“It’s a great concern to me,” he said. “I just totally disagree with that assessment.”
While some school officials seem to not mind the state’s standardizing classes that will transfer, they wouldn’t want to see the state get any further involved in curriculum.
“Getting into curriculum and what constitutes a major is a problem, but I don’t think the state has done that,” said UNC president Kay Norton. “They’re just trying to say what is guaranteed to transfer.”
Staff writer Arthur Kane can be reached at 303-820-1626 or akane@denverpost.com.
