June 10, 2019

Chancellor Robert Caret

3300 Metzerott Road
Adelphi, MD 20783

Dear Chancellor Caret:

We are writing regarding some concerns about the status of the pathways for students from Maryland’s
community colleges to Maryland’s four year institutions.

As you are aware, many students begin their higher education careers at two year institutions for
multiple reasons: cost; smaller class sizes for introductory courses; the need for remedial or
developmental coursework; time to decide if a four year program is the right course for them; and many
others. We are concerned, however, that the pipeline between our state’s community colleges and its
four year institutions is not performing adequately. Specifically, we are concerned about the inordinate
loss of time and financial resources to students, taxpayers, and the state’s higher education institutions
when credits are not transferred.

We have two particular areas of interest: The Maryland Transfer Advantage Program (“MTAP”) and the
Articulation System for the University System of Maryland (“ARTSYS”).

MTAP

MTAP is designed to provide a pathway for students at participating community colleges to earn an
undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland (UMD). But only eight of Maryland’s 16 community
colleges participate in the program. Please provide an update on MTAP, how it has performed for
students, and whether it will be expanded to the other community colleges. We are specifically
interested in answers to these questions:

• How many students used MTAP in each of the last five academic years?
• How many came from each originating institution?
• What were their declared majors at UMD?
• Do you have performance data on these students vis-à-vis others in their cohort who began at
UMD—particularly comparative graduation rates?

ARTSYS

ARTSYS is intended to provide a simple interface for students to determine if their community college
coursework will assist them in obtaining a degree at a four year institution, specifically whether their
coursework will “articulate” (will the student be able to transfer course credits from community colleges
to four year institutions in the University System of Maryland). But we have significant concerns that
the interface is not living up to its promise. The ARTYS website is difficult to navigate and appears to be
out of date. It is undoubtedly complicated for each institution to keep up with what coursework—and
what grades—will qualify for articulation at different schools and programs. On the other hand, that is
the precise reason to have a resource such as ARTSYS in the first place.

We appreciate that multiple task forces and studies have addressed this issue. For example, a 2014
analysis by the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC)
(http://dlslibrary.state.md.us/publications/Exec/MHEC/SB740Ch533(4)_2013.pdf) identified some gaps
and deficiencies within ARTSYS and made some recommendations regarding the need for a designated
ARTSYS coordinator and technical resources. We also appreciate that in late 2018, MHEC released a
template articulation agreement for schools
(https://mhec.maryland.gov/institutions_training/Documents/acadaff/acadproginstitapprovals/Memo%
20Articulation%20Agreement%20Template%20(Dec%2015,%202018).pdf).

There still seem to be significant flaws in ARTSYS, and we would like to know what staff resources are
being designated to ARTSYS within the System Office and the individual institutions. Moreover, we
would like to know whether ARTSYS has ever been “audited” to determine how much of the information
is actually correct. Specific questions we ask that you address include:

• Who are the individuals at each institution designated as stewards of ARTSYS?

• Who is the individual with overall responsibility for ARTSYS?
• Do these individuals meet regularly, either virtually or face-to-face, to discuss matters of
common interest and concern?

We recognize that USM is currently facing many difficult issues. Still, we believe focusing on the
continuum of higher education opportunities in the state from the local community colleges to the four
year institutions is crucial. We look forward to further discussion with you on these issues.

Kind regards,

Delegate Shelly Hettleman Delegate Marc Korman Delegate Kevin B. Hornberger

CC: The Hon. Adrienne A. Jones, Speaker of the House

The Hon. Maggie McIntosh, Chair, Appropriations Committee
The Hon. Anne R. Kaiser, Chair, Ways & Means Committee
Bernie Sandusky, Maryland Association of Community Colleges
James Fielder, Maryland Higher Education Commission