General Instructor Articulation Information
New Course Development
When developing a new course for transfer to the CSU or UC system (and requesting a Cabrillo course number of 1-99), you must locate a similar course taught at a California public university at the lower division (called a "lower-division parallel course").
You need either:
-A lower-division parallel course taught at a UC (allows your course to have a transferable course number 1-99 and to transfer to both CSU and UC systems), OR
-A lower-division parallel course taught at a CSU (allows your course to have a transferable course number 1-99 and to transfer to the CSU system) , OR
-If using three California Community College courses to establish the lower-division parallel, the instructional faculty must then bring the course to Academic Council for review and approval of the 1-99, transferable course number.
-Information is available in Board docs in the Academic Council Library:
NOTE: the Articulation Officer can run reports from the back-end of ASSIST to search parallel courses for you - please consult with the Articulation Officer.
Resources for establishing transferability:
-Example of documentation needed for lower-division parallel to input into eLumen
-Course Numbering systems at CSU - course numbers vary widely
-Course Numbering systems at UC - lower division courses are all numbered 1-99 only
Resources for seeking General Education status:
If you want your course to meet a general education requirement, you must first have it approved for Cabrillo local GE by Cabrillo's Academic Council:
-IGETC Standards 2.4 - May 2023
-CAL-GETC Standards 1.2 - Effective Fall 2025
-Ethnic Studies - Area F submission guidance from CCCCO August 2022
-CIAC Course Listings from all CA Community Colleges
-Ethnic Studies Requirements Rubric
-CalGETC Guiding Notes for Course Review
Once the course is approved for local General Education, it can be submitted by the Articulation Officer to the off-campus review boards for CSU General Education and/or IGETC (UC and CSU) status. This submission happens once a year in mid-December.
Timelines: eLumen submission to course offering:
If your course is seeking UC transferability and/or transferable General Education status (CSU or IGETC), it can take up to one and one-half years before you can offer the course. It is not helpful to students nor advisable to offer the course before all statuses are achieved, as they are not retroactive for students. Please consult with the Articulation Officer.
-UC transferability submissions - once a year in June - approvals in August
-CSU GE and IGETC* submissions - once a year in December - approvals received in April
*courses seeking IGETC status must first be approved for UC transferability, and then reviewed for GE. Courses may be offered the following Fall, but not before.
-Curriculum Committee Resources
-Transfer Basics (Feb 2018)
-Special Regulations for UC TCA
ASSIST.org contains agreements with public 4-year institutions in California. In most cases, we have both course to course and major preparation agreements. These agreements can be useful when researching where curriculum development is most needed. The ASSIST Coordination site has developed a helpful demonstration on how to use ASSIST.
Focus on "ASSIST Agreements by Major" when researching our course articulations or lack of articulation. Development of transferable courses that meet major preparation requirements and/or general education requirements for students should be the priority, and are usually the only course articulations accepted by the universities.
For assistance and guidance, please feel free to contact Sabine Arbelbide, Interim Articulation Officer.
Articulation101 FLEX Workshops Presentation Slides (Spring 2022)
What's a TMC?
TMC - Transfer Model Curriculum - are the templates from which California Community Colleges are required to build our Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADT) - AA-T and AS-T degrees. The templates have been vetted by CCC and CSU faculty through the Faculty Discipline Review Group process, and are re-reviewed every five-years. The college is required to have our AA-T and AS-T degrees updated to align with the most current approved TMC.
The template includes Core courses that are common requirements at all CSU's, LIST A, LIST B (and occasionally LIST C), courses that give options to students depending upon their specific CSU campus goal. Students are advised to use ASSIST.org to effectively choose the courses required for lower-division major preparation and meet the requirements of the AA-T/AS-T degree.
The only college courses that may be included in the degrees are courses that have approved (or have been submitted for) C-ID designations - common Course Identifier - matching the C-ID Descriptor for the course.
OR, courses that meet the specific parameters of the TMC template or are articulated in the similar major at a CSU.
Approved TMC templates: Transfer Model Curriculum templates - CCC
Why don't we have an ADT Degree in your discipline?
In order for a TMC to be developed and result in an ADT degree, a minimum of four CSU's must have the major, and a minimum of 200 students per year must be transferring into that major. As of Fall, 2020, all the ADT's that meet that criteria have been developed.
OR, the college might not teach enough of the required courses on the TMC to be able to offer the degree;
OR, the college cannot offer the degree within the required 60 units maximum at Cabrillo.
SB 1440, and SB 440 dictate the requirements of ADT degrees: 60 units maximum required by the CCC, to include at least 18 units in the major or emphasis, and completion of CSU lower-division general education.
What is C-ID?
C-ID is a supranumbering system developed to ease transfer and articulation in California's higher education institutions. C-ID identifies specific course descriptors that provide intrasegmental articulation among California Community Colleges. In order for our courses to be approved for a C-ID number, our courses must meet 100% of the content and objectives outlined in the descriptor.
To learn more about C-ID, please visit the C-ID About Us or the FAQ page.
C-ID Homepage - to review C-ID Descriptors and Draft Transfer Model Curriculum
TMC and ADT Submission Overview
Any time a TMC is updated, the college must align our degree with that template. This may require a new degree submission (revision) to the Chancellor's Office, and could also affect the Program map(s). Consult with the Articulation Director.
Instructions for Submitting new AA-T or AS-T - Who does what?
Sample Narrative (Background and Rationale) required for TMC-based degrees