In September 2006, the Ohio Board of Regents engaged my services as one of two House Bill 66 Consultants helping to implement the Career-technical Credit Transfer (CT)² initiative.  (CT)² is directed at technical curricula with recognized industry standards such as those supported by credentialing examinations or state licensure.

House Bill 66 was passed by the Ohio Legislature in 2005 and has since become state statute [Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 3333.162].  This legislation directed the Ohio Board of Regents to work collaboratively with the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of Career-Technical and Adult Education (CTAE), public adult and secondary career technical education and state-supported institutions of higher education to establish criteria, policies, and procedures by April 15, 2007, to transfer agreed-upon technical courses from one system to the other.

Career-technical credit transfer enables students to take equivalent technical courses anywhere within the public educational system and transfer technical credits without unnecessary duplication or institutional barriers.  The (CT)² initiative builds upon the existing course equivalency system created by H. B. 95 and enacted by the Ohio Legislature in 2003.  H.B. 95 resulted in Transfer Assurance Guides (TAGs) to facilitate transfer between two- and four-year colleges and universities.  Together H.B. 95 and H.B. 66 serve as the largest curriculum revision effort in the history of Ohio higher education.

As of July 2010, transfer in eight technical areas were developed with my assistance, while working with a team of professionals at the Ohio Board of Regents.  These are: (1) Electrical Engineering Technology, (2) Mechanical Engineering Technology, (3) Information Technology – Networking, (4) Automotive Technology, (5) Medical Assisting, (6) Practical Nursing to Pre-licensure Associate Degree Registered Nursing, (7) Fire Science, and (8) Emergency Medical Technician.

To facilitate movement of students from career-technical institutions to two- and four-year colleges and universities with like programs, Career-Technical Assurance Guides (CTAGs) with detailed learning outcomes, as well as an electronic submission process have been developed.  Since May 2008, institutions from both sides of the isle have been submitting content to be compared to the learning outcomes which serve as the system to determine course and program equivalency.

The reader is referred to the Career-technical Credit Transfer webpage for greater detail at http://regents.ohio.gov/careertechtransfer.