Guide to "a-g" Requirements [PDF]

Policy Clarifications and Course List Adjustments for 2008-09

UC continues to implement changes that streamline and improve the course list update and course approval processes, improve communications with you and your staff, and develop resources to assist schools in developing and submitting new courses for approval. The section below provides helpful clarifications and explains recent course list adjustments necessary to align with UC policy.

UC Policy Updates.

1. Adding/Removing Previously Approved Courses. Please remove courses that will not be taught in the upcoming school year (2008-09). It has been our experience that some schools are reluctant to do so because the course may be offered again in the future and school personnel do not wish to repeat the review process for the course. In practice, however, should your school later decide to offer a previously deleted course - if the course was approved within the last three years and the course title has not changed - then you can simply request to have the course added to your course list without submitting to UC a complete course description. The update submission site has a template for new courses that includes a question addressing previously approved courses.

2. Advanced Placement Course Audit. The University has received information from the College Board on courses that failed to receive authorization on first submission of the AP audit process and/or that, to date, have not received authorization through subsequent submission and review. We understand that the review process is ongoing, and that a number of courses are still under review. The University does not plan to remove the AP designation from any previously approved courses that appear on 2007-08 course lists but will review this information as it applies to 2008-09 course lists. If there is an error or change in the status of an Advanced Placement course offered by your high school, please let us know.

3. Career and Technical Education. The University is very interested in reviewing course submissions that link rigorous academic and technical coursework. To date, more than 5,600 courses that include a career and technical education focus have been approved in fulfillment of UC's subject requirements. For more information and examples of previously approved courses, see:
   http://www.ucop.edu/a-gGuide/ag/course_descriptions/
   courses.php?list=approvedbycareer

4. Curriculum Integration Pilot Program (CIPP). UC and the California Department of Education are partnering to offer grants to schools to promote and develop new curriculum that integrates academic and career-technical course content in ways that promote "a-g" approval. Currently three schools have received these grants and have received approval for courses in Automotive Physics, Medical Arts Science and Physics of Electronic Robotics. Additional information about CIPP and a proposal application are available at www.ucop.edu/doorways/guide, under the "What's New" section.

5. Methods of Satisfying the Language Other Than English (LOTE) Requirement. UC offers several ways for students to satisfy the LOTE requirement. The various options are represented in a table posted to the "e" - LOTE area of the "a-g" Guide, at www.ucop.edu/doorways/guide.

6. Non-Site-Based Independent Study. UC faculty continue to discuss a policy to clarify the conditions under which non-site-based independent study schools and programs will be eligible to establish and maintain an "a-g" course list. Among the discussion items is a policy that would require students to (a) spend some time engaged in interactive instruction and/or academic tutoring/advising, which may be provided on site or through virtual means, (b) have regular interaction with teachers who are experts in the discipline of study, and (c) take exams and other major assessments under the supervision of a proctor. Currently, all new schools, including independent study schools, begin the process of establishing a course list by completing a "New School Information Sheet," accessible on the "a-g" Guide web site at www.ucop.edu/doorways/guide.

7. Online Learning/Distance Education. Last fall, UC faculty approved a much anticipated policy that determines the criteria and process by which online courses may be utilized by students to satisfy the "a-g" subject requirements. The policy requires several steps:

   1. An online provider must apply to UC for "program status."
   2. Once the provider is granted "program status," it can submit online courses/curricula to UC for "a-g" approval.
   3. As the provider's courses are granted approval, a program course list will be created on the Doorways website and students will be able to use these approved courses for eligibility

   To date, the University has approved one online provider - National University Virtual High School - and is in discussion with other providers. We hope to expand this list in the coming year. Since the review process will take an extended period of time to implement, UC will continue the policy and procedure used in recent years - i.e., accept any pre-approved courses offered by UCCP (for 2007-08) and/or Cyber High, and also will recognize the completion of other college-preparatory online courses if the high school principal certifies that a course is comparable to college-preparatory curriculum and ensures that the course and associated grades and credits are listed on the student's transcript.

   Important Note: UC will not accept any online courses in the areas of visual and performing arts (VPA) or laboratory science, unless science courses require an on-site wet lab component. The complete online policy is available on the "a-g" Guide web site, in both the "What's New" and "FAQ" sections.

8. Physics and Chemistry textbooks. UC faculty have reviewed the Bob Jones University Press physics and chemistry text books and have concluded that an approved "d" laboratory science course may rely on these books as primary texts, provided that the course otherwise meets the "d" subject area guidelines.

9. Program Status for CSU Early Assessment Program (EAP). Among other valuable services, the CSU Early Assessment Program indicates to high school juniors their readiness for college-level English. If students need additional academic preparation, they can now take a course entitled "Expository Reading and Writing" developed jointly by high school and CSU English faculty members. A standardized course description has been approved by UC faculty and satisfies one year of the "b" English requirement. Last year, UC faculty granted "program status" for EAP, which allows any school that offers the CSU's EAP course to quickly and easily add the course to its own "a-g" course list. Please use the official title of the course, "Expository Reading and Writing," when adding this course to your list. If your school is interested in offering the course, please contact Nancy Brynelson, Co-Director, Center for the Advancement of Reading, at (916) 278-4581. Detailed information on this course is available at www.ucop.edu/doorways/guide.

10. UC College Prep Online (UCCP). Under a new strategic plan, UCCP is no longer involved in the instruction of courses, but is now devoted to developing new college-prep and Advanced Placement courses and broadening access to its courses through multiple distribution channels. The University continues to work with UCCP in implementation of this new plan. For the 2007-08 school year, UC will continue to honor UCCP courses on a course list as long as a local teacher at your school will be the teacher of record for the course that is offered. If a school is not offering UCCP courses, then the courses should be removed from the school's course list.

11. Validation Changes. The University uses a process known as validation to allow students to clear, or validate, a course omission or "D" or "F" grade in certain subject areas. In 2004 UC faculty clarified a couple of validation rules: (a) a passing grade in the second semester of chemistry will no longer validate a "D" or "F" grade in the first semester, and (b) statistics will no longer validate geometry, but will continue to validate beginning and intermediate algebra. These validation rule changes are in effect for chemistry and statistics courses that will be completed during 2007-08 school year and beyond.

12. Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) Policy Implementation. The Visual and Performing Arts requirement is in full implementation, and the University encourages all schools that do not offer a yearlong course to come into compliance so that your students can continue to be UC-eligible. As a reminder, students entering UC after the fall of 2006 must satisfy the VPA requirement by completing an appropriate single course in a year-long sequence (i.e., the second semester must be the continuation of the first semester). If scheduling challenges demand, students may divide the year-long course in two different academic years, as long as the course curriculum is designed as a year-long sequence and approved as such by the University. Please contact the High School Articulation unit at (510) 987-9570 for assistance.

13. WASC Accreditation. In December 2002 UC faculty approved a policy that requires all California public and private high schools to be WASC-accredited (or a candidate for accreditation) in order to establish and/or maintain an "a-g" course list. The University strongly encourages all schools to update their WASC accreditation information with any changes of dates or status. Updating your WASC information can be found at "Step 1" of the University's course submission web site. Accurate WASC accreditation is critical for freshman eligibility to the University of California.

UC Procedural Updates.

UC continues to improve its articulation procedures as well as the accuracy of schools' "a-g" course lists, ensuring that they are consistent with UC faculty policies. Items below represent recent and upcoming activity.

1. VPA Courses. In coordination with the full implementation of the VPA policy (see item #4 above) UC articulation staff has moved and/or removed all semester VPA courses from the "f" VPA area, as they no longer satisfy the requirement. Advanced semester VPA courses were moved to the "g" elective area and introductory semester VPA courses were removed from "a-g" course lists altogether.

2. Honors Courses. In order to comply with faculty policy, UC articulation staff continues to insist that schools change course titles of AP and IB courses to reflect the standard titles designated by The College Board and the International Baccalaureate Organization, respectively. Please refer to the AP and IB program course lists on the Doorways web site at https://doorways.ucop.edu/list for standard titles and, if you have not done so already, make related adjustments during the upcoming course list update cycle.

3. Methods of Satisfying the Language Other than English (LOTE) Requirement. UC offers several ways for students to satisfy the LOTE requirement. In the past year, we attempted to better articulate those methods so that students and counselors may feel freer to take advantage of them. The various options are represented in a table posted to the "e" LOTE area of the "a-g" Guide, at www.ucop.edu/doorways/guide.

4. Ongoing Collaborations. UC continues to collaborate with a wide range of secondary school constituents in order to stay abreast of current trends in high school education and promote smooth transitions to postsecondary institutions. The above policies in areas of online learning and independent / home study represent just a few of these efforts. In addition, in 2006-07, UC worked with a group of journalism teachers to share mutual expectations for quality courses in that discipline, which resulted in the development of two model journalism courses, viewable on the "a-g" Guide web site, at www.ucop.edu/doorways/guide. UC faculty and staff continue to work with career-technical educators (CTE) to promote integration of academic and career-technical course content in ways that promote "a-g" approval for CTE courses. UC faculty has also worked with regional ROP programs to help design and approve an "Introduction to Education" course. This course can also be viewed at www.ucop.edu/doorways/guide. UC continues to work with charter schools, early/middle college high schools, small schools, and others in the course approval process. We look forward to continued collaborations so that together we may support an increasing number of California youth to successfully transition from high school to post-secondary education and training.

Web Site Enhancements.

Enhancements to the "a-g" Guide Web Site (at www.ucop.edu/doorways/guide). We continue to update the "a-g" Guide web site with "What's New" items, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), etc. In 2006, we improved functionality of the Cadre of Experts section of the site, and will continue to do so in the coming year. The trained, resourceful Cadre members are available to provide assistance with the course approval process to teachers, counselors, and administrators who seek guidance. Cadre members are now sorted not only by region, but also by county, school type, role, and area of expertise.

Enhancements to the "a-g" Online Update Web Site (at https://doorways.ucop.edu/update). The "a-g" Online Update web site is now in its sixth year of operation. In 2007-2008 100% of schools updated their "a-g" course lists online. Thank you. This has made the review process faster and more accurate. This year, the site will be available beginning January 16, 2008 for 2008-09 course list updates.

Enhancements to the "a-g" Course List Web Site (at https://doorways.ucop.edu/list). The Doorways course list web site now includes additional general information about your school (CDS code, WASC term of accreditation, school type, special programs, and more).