Articulation/Partnership Agreements

Office of Articulation, Transfer, and Prior Learning Articulation Agreement Process

In an effort to best serve Tri-C students and provide a wide array of pathways towards completion and success, articulation agreements are essential. The Office of Articulation, Transfer, and Prior Learning (ATPL) is here to support and participate in this very important process. Please contact ATPL at the onset of an articulation agreement.

The development process of an articulation agreement can be found below.

Articulation agreement origination: 
There are multiple ways for an agreement to begin.

• Tri-C faculty member 
• Tri-C leadership, dean or administrator
• Current/potential partner institution 
• ATPL recognizes potential 

Who to include in discussion when developing a new agreement:

• From Tri-C:

• From the partner institution:

Agreements can be negotiated more quickly if the subject experts from both partner institutions are involved in meetings. Prior to meeting, prepare and package as much information as possible to help facilitate the conversation and expedite the process.

Transfer pathways should be applied to degree requirements or a specific major/program at a partner institution.  Whenever possible, use the Ohio Transfer 36 and/or Transfer Assurance Guide coursework while developing a transfer pathway or articulation agreement with either public or private institutions.

The steps to developing an articulation agreement:

1. ATPL office should be contacted right away. 
2.  ATPL will contact the appropriate deans, associate deans, program managers/directors, and faculty. 
3. If the articulation is deemed a good fit and will benefit Tri-C students, it will move forward and the following steps will be taken:
   a. ATPL will send the Tri-C approved template to those concerned. Please understand that this is the required template for all agreements. (Tri-C will not use any other template.)
   b. ATPL will facilitate a meeting to discuss the specifics of the agreement including Tri-C faculty, deans, counselors, etc as appropriate. 
   c. Tri-C contacts will meet with the partner institution to review curriculum and draft the appropriate attachments and appendices.
   d. Tri C and partner institution will jointly create a draft document of the articulation agreement using the Tri-C template.
   e. Tri-C contacts will have a Tri-C counselor or discipline expert review the draft agreement.
   f. Once this review process is completed, Tri-C contacts will meet with or send agreement to ATPL for review.
   g. ATPL will send the reviewed draft agreement to Tri-C’s legal department for review and approval; the legal department may have edits.
   h. Once Tri-C’s legal department approves, ATPL will route the approved agreement to the partner institution for their review and approval.
   i. When both Tri-C and the partner institution have given final approval, ATPL will route the document for signatures from both institutions.
   j. When finalized, ATPL will post the signed fully executed agreement on the partner website and will notify appropriate deans, program managers, involved faculty, and counseling contacts.

The typical timeframe to develop an articulation agreement:

New articulation agreements can take up to a year to finalize; however, in the best of circumstances, they can take less time depending on course equivalencies and the work needed to finalize curriculum, tables, and attachments. Renewing articulation agreements usually moves more quickly unless there are numerous curricular changes. At times, the curriculum, legal review and approval processes at both partner institutions can take considerable time.