The purpose and effect of this rule amendment is to align rule language with current Florida Statutes to reflect the name change from community colleges to Florida College System institutions, clarify the instructional units for career and technical ...

 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
State Board of Education

RULE NO.: RULE TITLE:
6A-10.033: Postsecondary Credit Definitions
PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The purpose and effect of this rule amendment is to align rule language with current Florida Statutes to reflect the name change from community colleges to Florida College System institutions, clarify the instructional units for career and technical programs, and to add provisions for institutional credit.
SUMMARY: This rule defines the units of instruction at postsecondary career centers and Florida College System institutions.
SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS AND LEGISLATIVE RATIFICATION:
The Agency has determined that this will not have an adverse impact on small business or likely increase directly or indirectly regulatory costs in excess of $200,000 in the aggregate within one year after the implementation of the rule. A SERC has not been prepared by the agency.
The Agency has determined that the proposed rule is not expected to require legislative ratification based on the statement of estimated regulatory costs or if no SERC is required, the information expressly relied upon and described herein: 1) no requirement for SERC was triggered under Section 120.541(1), Florida Statutes, and; (2) based on past experiences with rules that effect individual students and their families in an educational setting and have no impact on small businesses, the adverse impact or regulatory cost, if any, does not exceed nor would be expected to exceed any one of the economic analysis criteria set forth in Section 120.541(2)(a), Florida Statutes.
Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY: 1001.02(1), (6)(c), (d), 1001.03(12), 1004.02 FS.
LAW IMPLEMENTED: 1001.02, 1001.03, 1004.65, 1004.93, 1007.22, 1007.23, 1007.24, 1007.25, 1008.30, 1008.345 FS.
A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW:
DATE AND TIME: February 18, 2013, 10:30 a.m.
PLACE: Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, 8511 Commodity Circle, Suite 100, Orlando, FL
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Abbey Cunningham, Coordinator of Baccalaureates and Common Prerequisites, Division of Florida Colleges, Florida Department of Education, 325 West Gaines Street, Tallahassee, Florida, [phone], [e-mail].

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

6A-10.033 Postsecondary Instructional Unit Credit Definitions.

The definitions herein apply to instruction in postsecondary career centers operated by school districts and Florida College System institutions, community colleges, and universities.

(1) Credit. Credit is a unit of measure assigned to courses or course equivalent learning. Credit is awarded if the learning activity it represents is part of, or preparatory for, an organized and specified program leading to a postsecondary certificate or degree. Credit is a device which indicates to the learner, to educational institutions, to employers, and to others how much of the program the learner has completed. The credit awarded may be independent of where the learning occurs. If a learning activity does not meet these requirements, credit shall not be awarded. The only types of postsecondary credit authorized are:

(a) College credit. College credit is the type of credit assigned by Florida College System institutions to courses or course equivalent learning that is part of an organized and specified program leading to a graduate, baccalaureate, or associate degree, certificate, or Applied Technology Diploma pursuant to the stipulations in Rule 6A-14.030(5)-(8), F.A.C. One (1) college credit is based on the learning expected from the equivalent of fifteen (15) fifty-minute periods of classroom instruction; with credits for such activities things as laboratory instruction, internships, and clinical experience determined by the institution based on the proportion of direct instruction to the laboratory exercise, internship hours, or clinical practice hours.

1. Lower division college credit. Lower division college credit is assigned to college credit courses offered to freshmen and sophomores (1000 and 2000 level courses).

2. Upper division college credit. Upper division college credit is assigned to college credit courses offered to juniors and seniors (3000 and 4000 level courses).

(b) Clock Hour Career credit. A clock hour Career credit is the unit type of credit assigned to courses or course equivalent learning that is part of an organized and specified program leading to a Ccareer and Technical Ccertificate or Applied Technology Diploma pursuant to the stipulations in Rule 6A-14.030(6), (9), F.A.C. It applies to postsecondary adult career courses as defined in Section 1004.02(26), Florida Statutes. One (1) clock hour career credit is based on the learning expected from the equivalent of thirty (30) hours of instruction. For purposes of Title IV Student Aid Programs under the Higher Education Act, colleges should defer to Title 34 Section 688 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(c) Developmental Preparatory credit. Developmental credit is the type of credit assigned by Florida College System institutions to courses that provide degree seeking students who wish to enroll in college credit courses with additional academic preparation determined to be needed pursuant to Rule 6A-10.0315, F.A.C. One (1) developmental credit is based on the learning expected from the equivalent of fifteen (15) fifty-minute periods of classroom instruction. Developmental courses provide competency-based instruction to develop college entry competencies in the communication and computation skills described in Rule 6A-10.0319, F.A.C.

1. College preparatory credit. College preparatory credit is the type of preparatory credit assigned to courses that provide high school graduates who wish to enroll in college credit courses with additional academic preparation determined to be needed pursuant to Rule 6A-10.0315, F.A.C. One (1) college preparatory credit is based on the learning expected from the equivalent of fifteen (15) fifty-minute periods of classroom instruction, with credit for such things as laboratory instruction and individualized study determined by the institution based on the proportion of direct instruction to the laboratory exercise or individualized program. College preparatory courses provide competency-based instruction to develop college entry competencies in the communication and computation skills described herein.

a. College preparatory reading competencies are distinguished from college-level reading competencies based on the criteria in subsection 6A-10.0315(1), F.A.C. College preparatory reading instruction includes the recognition of main ideas, supporting details, meanings of words in context, author’s purpose, tone, valid arguments, explicit and implicit relationships within and between sentences; and the ability to detect bias, to distinguish fact from opinion, and to draw logical inferences and conclusions.

b. College preparatory writing competencies are distinguished from college-level writing competencies based on the criteria in subsection 6A-10.0315(1), F.A.C. College preparatory writing instruction includes word choice, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

c. College preparatory mathematics competencies are distinguished from college-level mathematics competencies in that the college-level competencies begin with intermediate algebra or general mathematics skills which build upon the preparatory competencies defined in subsection 6A-10.0315(1), F.A.C. College preparatory mathematics instruction includes arithmetic and introductory algebra including real numbers and their properties, basic operations with linear expressions, factoring of algebraic expressions, and solutions of linear equations and inequalities.

2. Career preparatory credit. Career preparatory credit is the type of preparatory credit assigned to courses that provide students who wish to enroll in career credit courses with additional academic preparation. One (1) career preparatory credit is based on the learning expected from the equivalent of fifteen (15) fifty-minute periods of classroom instruction, with credit for such things as laboratory instruction and individualized study determined by the institution based on the proportion of direct instruction to the laboratory exercise or individualized program.

(d) Institutional credit. Institutional credit is postsecondary credit that is competency-based. Institutional credit is not guaranteed to automatically transfer.

(2) Noncredit. Noncredit is a term indicating that credit, as defined herein, is not awarded. It applies, in the case of universities, to the instructional classifications of noncredit continuing education; in the case of community colleges, to the instructional classifications of noncredit continuing education, adult general education basic and secondary, citizenship, and recreational; and in the case of postsecondary career centers, to the instructional classifications of noncredit continuing education, adult basic and secondary, community education, and community instructional services. The unit of measure is hours of instruction.

Rulemaking Specific Authority 1001.02(1), (6)(c), (d), 1001.03(12) 1001.21(1), 1004.02 FS. Law Implemented 1000.01, 1001.02, 1001.03, 1004.65, 1004.93, 1007.22, 1007.23, 1007.24, 1007.25, 1008.30, 1008.345 FS. History–New 7-13-83, Amended 5-14-85, Formerly 6A-10.33, Amended 11-21-05,             .

 

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Randy Hanna, Chancellor, Division of Florida Colleges
NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Pam Stewart, Commissioner, Department of Education
DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: January 10, 2013
DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAR: January 4, 2013