Utah higher education standardizes course prefixes

This archived article was written by: Heather Myers

Any CEU student transferring to another school knows it can be a hassle. That is why the school is changing the prefixes, names and numbers on several courses to simplify the process.
The 2004 Legislature enacted House Bill 320 “Transferability of Credit among Higher Education Institutions,” which was sponsored by Bradley Johnson (R) from Sevier County.
The bill requires common course numbers and prefixes for general education and pre-major courses that are similar in content and standards. It was intended to make transferring within the state’s public higher education colleges easier on students.
In order to comply with the mandate, over 250 CEU faculty members from 25 departments met in April 2004 and identified over 400 courses to be commonly numbered. Academic advisors and specialists also helped in the process. Six additional academic departments will meet in December to identify more courses for common numbering.
The changes that have been made will be instituted by fall semester 2005. Meetings will be held next spring to address majors and assess any improvements that can be made to make transferring easier on students.
“This process has been extremely time consuming and has required efforts of our faculty, records and admissions staff, and academic advisors,” said Provost /Vice President for Academic Affairs, Mike King. “The changes are not as simple as they might seem.”
By changing course prefixes and numbers, all of the literature CEU publishes has to be changed. This includes the catalog, departmental brochures, and the web page. Time must also be spent on preparing new degree contracts so the old numbers match up with the new numbers and students can apply for graduation.
Although the process will benefit students in the long run, it has been very time consuming and costly for the college. The legislation that mandated the changes did not include any funding to cover the expenses incurred by