Lower –Division Transfer Pattern (LDTP)

E.O.918

http://www.calstate.edu/acadaff/ldtp.shtml

Background

LDTP project sponsored by the CSU and supported by the California Community Colleges, presents potential transfer students with the most efficient path to a bachelor’s degree from the CSU. LDTPs add another option to the transfer process. They will not replace any current transfer path i.e. TAA, Dual Admissions, admissions for non impacted majors.

Advantages to students:

  1. Increases the academic preparation for college (advising tool)
  2. Clarifies and improve the community college transfer process
  3. Identifies a clear path to the degree for matriculation students so that a higher percentage of students graduate from CSU in a timely manner.

§  2 out of 3 students earning a degree from CSU began at CCC

§  74% of students transferring annually to 4 year public and private colleges in California enroll in CSU

Structure of an LDTP:

LDTP’s are being developed for many of the most popular majors. Each LDTP includes a statewide component and a campus-specific component. Together, the statewide and campus-specific transfer patterns for a major will total at least 60 units and no more than 70 units while at a community college.

Statewide component- includes at least 45 semester units:

  1. Completion of CSU General Ed Breadth (39 semester units) or IGETC (37 semester units)
  2. Completion of the graduation requirements in U S History, Constitution, and American Ideals (0 to 6); and
  3. Completion of a statewide major preparation pattern of 6 or more semester units, to the extent such courses satisfy requirements for the major.

Campus-specific transfer- A 15 semester unit pattern will typically include:

  1. Completion of any additional campus-specific major preparation requirements; and
  2. Completion of elective courses

Course Descriptors & Review Process

The expectation is that at least 115 course descriptors will be developed and approved during the LDTP process. Currently, 81 course descriptors have been ratified and posted on the web. Once the descriptors have been posted, Community Colleges may identify courses that appear to conform to those descriptors and submit the course outlines for CSU review. Discipline review teams consist of two to ten CSU faculty and each reviewer assesses anywhere from ten to 100 course outlines in a given LDTP Review Cycle.

Each team is organized and managed by a Review Team Coordinator who is a senior faculty member in the discipline. The team coordinator establishes the review processes and procedures for each team. Currently there are 35 CSU faculty members serving as Review Team Coordinators. Two CSU faculty members from the discipline team review each proposed CCC outline. If these two CSU faculty members agree in their reviews, the outline is either approved or denied for LDTP articulation based upon these reviews. If there is difference in the recommendation of the two reviewers, then the CCC outline is submitted to a third reviewer to resolve the split decision.

2008-2009 LDTP Submission Dates: For the 2008-

2009 Academic Year, the number of review cycles will be reduced from three to two.

October 2008……………….....October 15, 2008

March 2009…...………………...March 15, 2009

CAN

For statewide LDTPs that refer to CAN designations, CCC courses that currently bear those CAN designations will be accepted as meeting the associated statewide LDTP requirement for an interim period.

Once a new LDTP course descriptor is posted, there will be a two-year window for community colleges to submit outlines for those CAN-designated courses and to have them accepted as consonant with the descriptor. Once the two-year window has closed, courses with the CAN designation will no longer be acceptable for LDTP unless they have been reviewed and approved. Note: Some course descriptors contain the minimum

set of topics that a CCC course must address, while others include a comparatively broad array of desirable topics for a course, not all of which can reasonably be covered in a single course. In the latter case, the outline of an acceptable CCC course is not expected to include all the topics. Faculty with expertise in a given discipline will use their professional judgment when reviewing courses submitted for LDTP articulation.

LDTP Website

To find out the latest information on LDTP go to http://www.calstate.edu/acadaff/ldtp.shtml Important information such as the LDTP statewide and campus-specific patterns and approved course descriptors can be found.

Updated 08/28/08