Policies for Transfer Students Seeking to Satisfy BLUEprint Requirements
Illinois College will grant lower-division general education credit to incoming transfer students who have earned the degree of Associate of Arts or Associate of Science at another institution of higher education in Illinois. Attainment of either of these associate degrees implies completion of the General Education Core Courses, as defined by the Illinois Board of Higher Education. We define lower-division general education courses to consist of the following general education BLUEprint requirements: Foundations courses (3). Exploration courses (8), and one pair of connected language courses (2).
In addition:
- Students may transfer approved courses into Illinois College to substitute for BLUEprint (General Education) courses. In most cases, departments will collaborate with the Office of the Registrar to approve courses from other institutions of higher learning to meet the standards of various BLUEprint requirements. In cases for which there is no appropriate department or program to approve such a course, students may petition the Educational Policies Committee (EPC) for approval.
- Oral Communications: Students who satisfy the Oral Communications requirement by taking an approved course away from Illinois College will be considered to have completed the Ethical and Responsible Actions and Speaking Extensive experiences normally satisfied by the Communications 101 course at Illinois College.
- Written Communications: Students who satisfy the Written Communications requirement by taking an approved course away from Illinois College will be considered to have completed the Writing Extensive and Information Literacy experiences normally satisfied by the English 121 course at Illinois College.
Seminar courses for transfer students: Students who transfer to Illinois College with less than 15 credits must take the First-Year Seminar (FYS) or the Transfer-Student Seminar (TSS). Students who transfer to Illinois College with at least 15 credits from another institution of higher education are strongly encouraged to take the Transfer-Student Seminar (TSS). The Transfer-Student Seminar, along with Oral and Written Communications, make up the set of Foundations requirements for transfer students who enter Illinois College with at least 15 credits.
Successful completion of TSS also guarantees credit for three embedded experiences: Community/Civic Engagement, Ethical and Responsible Actions, and Information Literacy.
Successful completion of TSS and a science lab course taken either at Illinois College or elsewhere will together satisfy the Exploration requirement of Science in Society with lab.
Successful completion of TSS and a language course (at the level of 102 or above) taken either at Illinois College or elsewhere will together satisfy the language-related requirement for a pair of Connected Courses.
In recognition of the experiences that transfer students carry with them from other institutions along with their increased understanding of important connections through the Transfer- Student Seminar, students who successfully complete the Transfer-Student Seminar will be exempt from the Speaking Extensive Experience, Writing Extensive Experience, U.S. Diversity and Global Awareness, and Community/Civic Engagement requirements that are satisfied in the First-Year Seminar.
Co-Curricular Activities Which Meet General Education Requirements:
Students may petition the Educational Policies Committee for approval of co-curricular activities at another college or university as a substitute for such co-curricular activities at Illinois College that meet general education requirements (possible for writing, speaking, and service-learning embedded experiences). As with all transfer credit, students must demonstrate with evidence that the activity for which they seek credit meets the requirement.
The Educational Policy Committee continues to serve as the decision-making body when students seek exceptions to academic policies and requirements, including this legislation.