Pima County Community College District Standard Practice Guide

I. PURPOSE

Pima Community College is committed to providing accessible and successful educational experiences for students; therefore the College shall measure the entering competencies of its students prior to initial registration. The College shall, through required assessment and orientation, advise students into appropriate courses. The purpose of this Standard Practice Guide is to specify the requirements to implement the assessment, advising and orientation programs.

II. ASSESSMENT

Pima Community College requires skill assessment tests in mathematics, reading and writing. Assessment data shall be used by authorized college personnel to assist the student with the selection of a course of study. Currently, Pima does not require mandatory placement into certain courses, but some programs may require entrance examinations or competency levels and may have prerequisites.

A. REQUIREMENT

Prior to registering, a student shall be required to take all three assessment tests, in accordance with any of the following criteria:

• Any new full-time student; or
• Any student who has earned at least 12 credits; or
• Any student registering for the first time in a mathematics, reading and/or writing course; or
• Any student under the age of 16; or
  • Any student enrolling in a General Education course for the first time.
  • Achieve an assessment test score above the REA 091 level; or
  • Complete REA 091 with a "C" grade or higher; or
  • Be concurrently enrolled in REA 091 during their first semester of general education coursework; or
  • A student, who tests into REA 081, may concurrently enroll in REA 081 and one general education course.

B. EQUIVALENCIES

Assessment equivalencies have been developed to facilitate the admission of students into programs of study who have previously demonstrated adequate competencies in the basic skill areas. These equivalencies may not be used to meet college general educational requirements or other program or course specified entrance requirements.

In order to meet the needs of our students and our partners, Pima Community College shall accept all assessment test scores judged as satisfactory by the U.S. Department of Education for ability to benefit. COMPASS and ASSET shall remain the College's primary assessment tools: these will be the only tests that are administered on-site at the College, in the high schools, and in prison settings. A current list of assessment/testing instruments for special applications shall be maintained and published by the Office of Educational Services. For all special applications tests, the College will use the cut scores recommended by the test developers based on their research. A representative group of faculty will review assessment research results for all special applications tests and adjustments to cut scores will be made as appropriate.

C. EXCEPTIONS

Exceptions to these basic skills assessments have been developed to facilitate the admission of students into programs of study who have previously demonstrated competencies or the course(s) is offered for personal development or is customized to meet the specific needs of the business and industry community or governmental agencies. Exceptions to basic skills assessments may be authorized by the Office of the Dean of Student Development or designee.

• Any student who has an earned degree or certificate that includes a mathematics and communications general education component; or
• Any student taking only courses designated as special interest; or
• Any student who can document basic skills competencies through relevant assessment tests or college-level course work; or
• Any student enrolled only in non-credit or contract/ reciprocal agreement courses.

Documentation of national assessment scores, degrees and certificates are the student's responsibility to have available if needed. Requests for official exceptions will be expedited at the campus Admissions Office.

III. ADVISING AND ORIENTATION

Pima Community College requires advising and orientation for all students required to complete an assessment; orientation is required for all full-time students new to higher education. Advising and orientation shall be conveniently scheduled in multi-modalities to meet the needs of students.

A. STUDENT REQUIREMENT: Advising

At the time of submitting the admissions application, a registration hold will be placed on the student record preventing the ability to enroll, which will be released when the student meets the advising and orientation requirement.

Prior to registering, a student shall be required to be advised by a College advisor/counselor in accordance with any of the following criteria:

• Any new full-time student; or
• Any student who has earned at least 12 credits; or
• Any student registering for the first time in a mathematics, reading and/or writing course; or
• Any student under the age of 16; or
• Any student enrolling in a General Education course for the first time.
  • Achieve an assessment test score above the REA 091 level; or
  • Complete REA 091 with a "C" grade or higher; or
  • Be concurrently enrolled in REA 091 during their first semester of general education coursework; or
  • A student, who tests into REA 081, may concurrently enroll in REA 081 and one general education course.

B. STUDENT REQUIREMENT: Orientation

Prior to registering, any full-time student new to higher education is required to complete an Orientation, in accordance with one of the following options:

• Credit Courses offered prior to and during each semester; or
• Pre-registration Orientation Workshops; or
• Orientation Workshop Online

Students whose assessment score(s) place them into two or more of the following courses: REA 071, 081, WRT 070, MAT 082, 086, will be required to complete a STU 100 course or module.

C. EXCEPTIONS

Exceptions to the Advising and Orientation programs have been developed to facilitate the admission of students into the College who are registering for courses offered for personal development or is customized to meet the specific needs of the business and industry community or governmental agencies.

Students exempt from Advising and Orientation will not have a hold placed on their student record, which would prevent their ability to enroll. Exemptions to the Advising and Orientation programs may be authorized by the Office of the Dean of Student Development or designee.

• Any student who has an earned degree or certificate that includes a mathematics and communications general education component; or
• Part-time students dually enrolled in another institution of higher education;
• Part-time non-degree seeking students;
• Part-time students enrolling only in personal development, special interest, business/industry contract/reciprocal agreement and/or customized courses.

D. SATISFACTION OF THE ADVISING AND ORIENTATION REQUIREMENT

Advising and orientation data shall be used by authorized college personnel to document the advising and orientation requirement.

• At the completion of the Orientation Workshop, the workshop instructor will input into Banner that the orientation requirement has been satisfied.
• At the completion of an orientation course or STU 100, 101 or 104, an automated process will track completion of the course.
• Any new to higher education full-time student who requests an exception to the assessment, advising, and/or orientation requirement must submit a written appeal to the Dean of Student Development or designee.

HyperLinks to Associated Documents

BP-3117