Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Arizona General Education Curriculum: The Foundation of Your Associate's Degree

A smooth transfer to ASU, NAU, or UA begins with the Arizona General Education Curriculum (AGEC).  The AGEC is the foundation of your associate’s degree and prepares you for upper division coursework.

What is AGEC?

The AGEC is a block of 35-37 credit hours of lower division general education courses in a variety of subjects, including:

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Physical & Biological Sciences
  • Arts & Humanities

AGEC Benefits

Completing the AGEC provides transfer students with two important benefits:

  1. A completed AGEC transfers as a block to ASU, NAU, UA, or any Arizona public or tribal community college, without loss of credit.
  2.  Completing the AGEC with a 2.5 GPA or better guarantees your admission to the universities.
The AGEC also gives students the opportunity to explore diverse subjects and obtain a well-rounded academic experience.

AGEC Options

There are three types of AGEC blocks designed for different types of community college majors­­­­— AGEC A, B, and S.
  1. The AGEC-A is for liberal or fine arts majors.  Example majors include English, Education, Dance, and Communication.
  2. The AGEC-B is for business majors. Example majors are Accounting, Marketing, Economics, and Finance.
  3. The AGEC-S is for majors that have more rigorous math and science requirements. Example majors include Biology, Chemistry, and Engineering.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Transfer Student Spotlight: Mayra and Jenette Gutierrez

For Arizona natives Mayra and Jennette Gutierrez, the future looks bright at Arizona State University. From San Tan Valley, these sisters are ready to aim high. Both are graduates of Central Arizona College (CAC), located in Apache Junction, where they participated in the clubs they offered there. Mayra and Jennette are also the first generation of their family to soon graduate from a university.

Mayra transferred to ASU in the Fall 2013 and is currently in the Barrett Honors College, majoring in Political Science with the career aspirations of becoming an immigration attorney.

“I have always had in interest in politics and as an attorney, I would be able to help people and their families on a legal level.” Her favorite class is POS 394: Latino Politics.

“I’m interested in the political mobilization…” she said, “For my honors thesis I will be researching efforts to mobilize Latinos in Arizona as well as the nation. This class allows me to better understand the role Latinos play in politics, as well as, help me better develop my ideas.”

Mayra participated in the 2013 Student Public Policy Forum (SPPF), she was President of the CAC Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society, President of the CAC Student Leadership Organization, and Superstition Mountain Pride, LGBTQ Straight Ally. Mayra received honors during her time at CAC such as the Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team Gold Scholar, the Phi Theta Kappa Guistwhite Award Scholar, All-USA Arizona Academic First Team Scholar, and received Dean’s List honors at CAC. Mayra received her associate’s degree in Liberal Arts in May 2013 and was the graduation commencement speaker. The best piece of advice she has received came from Jose Rivas, Congressional Staff of District 7: “You can be anything, do anything, if you work for it.” She has applied that in her college experience thus far and continues to apply that at ASU.

Jennette was also involved at CAC. She was the secretary for Phi Theta Kappa and part of the Honors Program at the college. She graduated in May 2012 from CAC with an Associate of Arts degree in Business. When she was attending CAC she received the best piece of advice from Dr. Beth Gioia, her honor’s professor. She encouraged her to follow her dreams and accomplish anything. After graduating, she decided to transfer to ASU.

 “ASU is an amazing school and I am so proud to be a student here,” the Computer Information Systems major said.  “I love the Sun Devil Spirit. It is something that I see every day on or off campus among student, faculty and alumni,” she said. “The pride from everyone shines from Arizona to across the nation. It is powerful!”

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Transfer Student Spotlight: Shannon Erickson from Northern Arizona University

Shannon Erickson
Hello! My name is Shannon Erickson and I am a Speech Sciences and Technology major at Northern Arizona University. I transferred to NAU from Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona after attending Yavapai for two years and receiving two associate’s degrees.  One of my favorite parts about attending a community college first was that I saved THOUSANDS of dollars by choosing a community college and having cheaper tuition, more scholarships and living with my parents an extra two years.

When you transfer an associate’s degree, it comes into NAU as a block, taking care of all your liberal arts requirements and most likely, your first few classes related to your major. When you transfer in credits that have not equaled your associate's degree (or AGEC), the university evaluates each class and chooses a course that is the NAU equivalent. My advisor told me that receiving my associate's from Yavapai College before I transferred to NAU would be much easier and better in the long run. I ended up bringing in two different associate's degrees, one in Early Childhood Education and one in General Studies.  This made my transition process much easier and my NAU advisor was able to simplify my advising once I was here.

I came to Flagstaff in June, rather than waiting for the semester to start at the end of August. I didn’t know a single person living in Flagstaff and I was beyond scared thinking that I wouldn’t have any friends, a good housing situation, or a job. Basically, I thought I might hate everything about it. I originally decided to move up in the summer thinking that if I didn’t like it, home was only an hour and a half away and I could just drive back and be home with family and friends. Throughout the entire summer, I ended up only going home once and that was for my birthday. I couldn’t be happier with my decision to live in Flagstaff for the summer before school starts. Being here earlier made my off campus living and job situation simpler. It gave me the chance to really get to know Flagstaff before I was stressed out about school work in the fall. Flagstaff summers are unbelievable, especially with the temperature averaging in the 70s-80s. There are always festivals, events and touristy things to do during the summer.

One of the main things that I love about NAU is the culture of Flagstaff. It is a huge reason why I chose NAU and instantly fell in love with it. It has the small town feeling and you’ll see your friends from classes around campus and town. At the same time, it is big enough that you won’t be bored or not have anything to do.  For the most part, Flagstaff has some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Everyone is laid back and casual and truly cares about you.

During my first year at NAU, I was constantly having to explain why I didn’t do some things as a freshman because I was a transfer student. I didn’t meet a single other transfer student that entire year because at that time there was not a transfer program at the university.  It wasn’t easy. Then the Transfer and Commuter Connections program got started and I was hired to be a Transfer Peer Mentor. Now, I take ownership in being a transfer student and I use my experience to help others with their transition. There are about a thousand transfer students every semester and thanks to our program, we can connect them right away. We have a sense of community and family in our program – we have carved out our own niche at NAU.

I have seen the program transform so much. We are currently going into our third year and each semester it gets exponentially better with all the new ideas from our staff and incoming transfer students. Every day I am at work, I help multiple people, which is an incredible feeling. People will tell me at the end of conversations how much I helped them and how much better they feel about their transition to NAU. Our events are also fun, especially because you get to meet new people at each event. One of the best things about our program is transfer students can participate any way they want.  They can have a mentor, come to events or just call and ask us questions – it’s all about what they want.

Another cool thing about being a transfer student is that you can be a part of Tau Sigma, which is the honor society for transfer students. I was part of the honor society for community colleges as well, but this one is just barely starting, so it’s kind of interesting to be a part of starting something new. Tau Sigma is going into its 2nd year at NAU, and this year I will be President. I can’t wait to see how much it grows.

All of these things combined have given me an extreme amount of pride and love for NAU.  As I said before, I love NAU and Flagstaff in general, but even more so as a transfer student. It feels so good to be a part of the transfer community, which is growing each semester.

My top five tips!

  1. If you can possibly get your AGEC or Associate’s degree before coming to NAU, I strongly suggest doing it!  
  2. Be proactive and start all the things on the university enrollment checklist as soon as you can! These things take weeks to process and you want to get the best enrollment date that you can! 
  3. It is very important that students fill out the priority enrollment form at the end of on-line orientation for transfer students. This is how advisors have information to help you.
  4. Join all the helpful Facebook groups such as Housing, Ride Share, Jobs & Internships and Buying & Selling ones so you can reach out to other NAU students to combine resources!
  5. Join as many clubs and organizations as you have time for as soon as you get to NAU to meet people. There are hundreds!


Tuesday, December 2, 2014

4 Tips for Stress-Free Transfer

Planning your transfer doesn't have to be a headache.  Follow these four tips for better planning and worry-free transfer!

1.  Meet with your advisor early and often.

Academic advisors at the community college and university are your key to a smooth transfer.  Plan to meet with your advisor regularly to ensure you are on track to meet degree requirements.
Resources:

2.  Pay attention to deadlines.

Keep in mind the various deadlines for financial aid applications, university admission, community college graduation, etc.  Find these important dates and mark them on your calendar.
Resources:


3.  Make decisions early.

Save time by deciding on (and sticking with) a plan of study early on in your college career.  Choosing your community college and university majors as soon as possible will help you avoid taking unnecessary courses.  You can also save time by deciding on your transfer university early and taking advantage of transfer pathways.  Unsure about what to study? Your community college advisor can help you with career advisement to align your studies with career fields that interest you.
Resources:


4.  Choose courses wisely.

In addition to using the Course Equivalency Guide on AZTransfer.com to make sure your community college courses are transferable to the university, here are a few other points to consider before enrolling:

  • Find out what the prerequisites are for university courses and work them in to your associate’s degree plan.
  • Start and finish lower-division math and science courses early on in your community college career.
  • Learn about the bachelor’s degree you plan to earn and ensure your transfer coursework will fulfill the requirements of that degree.

Resources:

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Class of 2014: Are You Transfer Ready?

Graduation is fast approaching for high school seniors throughout Arizona.  As you make plans for life after high school, it is important to consider all options and have a variety of possibilities for what's next.  One popular choice for students is to begin at a local community college and then transfer on to Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, or the University of Arizona to earn a bachelor's degree.

Using AZTransfer, you can plan a smooth and seamless university transfer experience in Arizona.  You may have friends and family who, in the past, took courses that didn't transfer.  This doesn't have to happen to you! With AZTransfer, you can make every credit count and avoid the frustration of finding out a community college course you took won't apply at the university.

Class of 2014, be transfer ready by following these four simple tips:
  1. Plan community college coursework to ensure it is transferrable.  Using the Course Equivalency Guide while choosing community college courses, you can be certain the classes you plan to take will also earn credit at the university when you're ready to transfer.
  2. Determine any transferrable credit already earned.  Many high school students have already earned college credit through Dual Enrollment courses and exams for credit such as AP, IB, or CLEP exams.  Check the Dual Enrollment page to find out how your courses transfer, and search the Exam Equivalency Guide to learn if your exam scores can translate into college credit.
  3. Focus on Arizona General Education Curriculum courses.  AGEC courses are the foundation of any degree.  When you complete the 35-37 credits of AGEC courses they transfer as a block to the university and guarantee your admission.  It's the best place to start for any community college student and is especially important for transfer students.  
  4. Visit your community college advisor early and often.  AZTransfer has great tools to get you started and support your educational planning, but it is critical to visit with your community college advisor to ask questions and receive guidance that is specific to your education.
Still need help getting started? Check out our Step-By-Step Guide, High School Student Portal, and FAQ & Help Section.

Congratulations, Class of 2014, and good luck!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

All About the Course Equivalency Guide

What is the Course Equivalency Guide?
The Course Equivalency Guide (CEG) shows how courses taken at one school transfer to another school. Typically, the "source" school is an Arizona community college and the "target" school is an Arizona university (ASU, NAU, or UA).

How do I use the CEG Quick Search?


  1. From the CEG home page, enter the prefix and number of the course. To see all courses for a subject, leave the course number blank.
  2. Choose the community college where the course is offered.
  3. Choose the university you want to transfer to, or choose "show all universities" to see how your course transfers to all three universities.


What do the icons in the CEG mean?

The various icons in the CEG designate different types of courses. 

ICON-AGEC - Arizona General Education Course
ICON-SUN - Shared Unique Number Course
ICON-DE - Dual Enrollment Course
ICON-EEG - Course that is eligible for credit by exam


How will my course transfer?

Direct equivalent. The source course is accepted as substantially equivalent to the target school's course. The term "equivalent" does not mean that the source course is identical to the target course, but that the course is regarded as fulfilling the same requirement(s) as the target course. Courses accepted as direct equivalents by one department may be accepted as a departmental elective or elective by another department. Community college courses that are direct equivalents to university upper-division courses transfer as equivalent, but with lower-division credit. These courses will not need to be repeated, but will not count toward the required number of upper-division credits.

Departmental Elective Credit. Courses accepted as departmental elective credit (DEC) will not count as a specific course at a target school but may count as overall credits in your academic program. For example, a course listed as "ENG Departmental Elective" may be counted as elective credit in English. University programs may not allow, or may limit, the number of elective credits in the departmental area. Courses accepted as DEC by one department may be accepted as elective credit by other departments.

Elective Credit. Courses designated as elective credit (E) do not have a direct course equivalency at the target school and may not count within any particular department or major but may count as a general elective.

Non-Transferable. A non transferable course will not be accepted for credit at the target school.


Reading the CEG - Examples

One-to-one equivalencies. This is a source course with direct course equivalencies at each university.

Future equivalencies. An equivalency that has been established for a future term.

Changing equivalencies. This happens when a source course is modified, resulting in a change of equivalency. 

End-dated equivalencies. These are courses being deleted or ended at the source school. In this example, it is indicated by the statement "valid through" and that there is no future equivalency.

Blank cells. In some cases there are blank cells because course evaluation may be pending. 

Course title not available. This may appear because the source course is no longer taught but has not yet been deleted from the CEG, or the source course data may need to be updated by the source school.


What limitations should I know about?
Generally, the following types of courses are not intended for transfer and may not appear in the CEG. Please see an advisor for specific information.
  • Remedial / Developmental courses or courses numbered below 100
  • Arizona Government University courses
  • Cooperative education
  • Experimental courses
  • Post-baccalaureate courses
  • Contractual training for business, industry, and government
University to university equivalencies for ASU, NAU, and UA may not include all courses offered by each of the universities. As courses are evaluated for university to university transfer they will be included in the CEG.