The 1998, Carl D. Perkins Federal legislation has provided financial assistance for, among other things, the linking high school and two-year college Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. That linking is most often seen in the “articulation” of instructional programs, commonly called “2+2”.
As of November 17th 2010, 2 + 2 = 127. Of course, this “2+2” is the one associated with CTE articulation. Ease and efficiency of applications to connect high school/ROP CTE courses with courses at Fresno City College or Reedley College made a giant step in the fall of 2009.
State Center Consortium (SCC) Director, Amanda Hopkins, allowed their webmaster, Bob Kepford. to spread his wings ; Bob Kepford was asked to create a computer managed CTE articulation system. Ease in completing an application and more importantly, ease & efficiency in knowing, at all times, the location of the application was a daunting project. Lost applications were to become a thing of the past; those responsible for keeping an application moving could always be identified.
After internal testing of the software, the SCC jumped in with both feet a year ago in November; there was no turning back; sink or swim, the move had been made to the electronic articulation application process.
Much water has flowed under the bridge in the last year, but nearly all agree that real progress has been made. Many of the adjustments/refinements that go with any new software have now been made. Prominent among these improvements are the 30 and 60 day “reminders” associated with applications which seem to have stalled. In addition, a copy of these reminders are now routinely sent to the applicants administrator. Finally, if an application is ultimately denied or rejected, informing the appropriate college dean is now part of the progression.
The SCC has acted only as a facilitator of the 2+2 program as they are a grant funded organization which has no legal authority or responsibility.
Following are some statistics regarding the status of the 2+2 since the online system came into existence 12 months ago)
Applications submitted: 173
Applications approved: 127
State Wide Articulations: 45
Approved application origination:
Valley ROP: 59
Fresno ROP: 37
Misc. High Schools: 31
Applications in Progress: 31
College approved
Fresno City: 84 Approvals
Reedley College: 43 Approvals