The following is a list of responses to frequently asked questions regarding transfer and articulation subjects and the implementation of seamless transfer policies. These responses are provided to help guide local campus policies and decision-making and are informational.
Official SUNY policies regarding transfer and articulation subjects can be viewed on the Transfer and Articulation Policies and Guidance page.
On This Page:
Q: Given the change from SUNY approving courses for General Education, to local campus approval, at what level is it decided that our courses do in fact meet a GE category? Is our campus decision final or do others have the right to challenge the designation?
A: Decisions regarding course approval for SUNY General Education reside with the campus offering the course. Each campus must have procedures to review and approve courses for the purpose of general education applicability. The campus procedures must be implemented in a manner that ensures each approved course contains sufficient content to address the SLOs of a Knowledge and Skill area. Faculty have the responsibility to evaluate courses. All policies governing seamless transfer of general education courses remain applicable, meaning that a receiving campus must accept as complete all general education requirements that have been determined to be completed at a sending campus.
Q: Can a receiving campus reject the determination of a sending campus that a GETAlisted course meets SUNY General Education requirements or SLOs, and deny the transfer of credit or require retaking similar content?
A: Courses successfully completed with a grade of C or better and listed on the GETA are guaranteed to transfer. If the course was successfully completed under the prior GE-R format, the category must still be considered as met. Programs, departments, and institutions may have stricter requirements regarding credits only if they are applicable to both students who began their college education at the same institution (native students) and transfer students alike. Transfer students may not be required to complete more credits than a native student to meet local requirements in the same program.
Q: Where a campus had identified an issue with another campus regarding the acceptance of credit, is there an appeal or issue resolution process?
A: If there is an issue with a receiving institution not accepting approved courses, an institutional appeal may be submitted Implementation Guidance section C). Please note that campus appeals must be submitted via the SUNY Seamless Transfer Campus Appeals Form and include the signature of the SUNY Campus Chief Administrative or Academic Officer/Provost.
Q: Can a SUNY General Education Framework core competency be met in a course which is not approved for SUNY GE, and would the course count toward the credit requirement even if it is less than three credits?
A: Yes, core competencies may be met in a course that the campus has not approved for SUNY GE, including infusing, or embedding the SLOs across the curriculum; however, these courses do not count toward the required number of SUNY GE credits. The only way for a core competency to count toward the credit requirement is if it is included in an approved SUNY general education course, since the course earns the credit toward the requirement. Knowledge and skill area courses may be less than three credits, however, all the SLOs of the category must still be achieved and assessed. All requirements, including the core competencies must be provided on the GETA for the purposes of transfer, and shall list the courses or SLO’s completed to fulfill the requirement.
Q: How do local general education requirements apply to transfer students?
A: Campuses can require additional or different local graduation requirements so long as they do not exceed the credit caps for programs and do not require transfer students to exceed the total number of credits to graduation required of students who began their college education at the same institution.
Local general education requirements must exist apart from the SUNY General Education requirements and cannot replace or supersede a SUNY General Education requirement. For example, while campuses may have additional local requirements that exist within a requirement category, they cannot indicate a student has failed to meet a SUNY General Education requirement when it is indicated as complete on the GETA. Additional local requirements must be separately accounted for.
Q: Can transfer path courses be approved as SUNY General Education courses?
A: Yes. In fact, many transfer path courses are approved for general education.
Q: Can courses that are cross listed with a major-specific subject (e.g. "Accounting" or "Nursing") and a liberal arts discipline count for general education?
A: Yes. The determination of eligibility for SUNY General Education approval rests with the course content, and not the course disciplinary prefix.
Q: Is "double dipping" allowed when a student transfers courses fulfilling SUNY General Education requirements (e.g. using the same course to satisfy multiple GE categories)?
A: SUNY policy on double dipping defers to local campus policies at both sending and receiving campuses. Local policies cannot require a transfer student to exceed the number of credits to graduation that are required of students who began their college education at the same institution, and students are still able to meet minimum credit requirements.
Q: What is the grading policy for the transfer of SUNY General Education courses?
A: Passing grades shall indicate successful completion for any SUNY General Education category. In addition, within SUNY, a grade of C or better guarantees transfer the transfer of credit in addition to requirement fulfillment. Campuses are encouraged to accept courses for credit wherever it is possible, and to develop campus policies that provide for the acceptance of credit.
Campus discretion can be used about whether a course grade satisfies graduation requirements outside of general education categories (e.g. in the major or program). In establishing practices for the acceptance of credits outside of general education, campuses must have a published policy that demonstrates that students who began their college education at the institution and transfer students are treated in the same way.
Campuses may accept pass/fail types of grading; however, these grades are not guaranteed to be accepted under SUNY policy. When a sending campus has a grade equivalent for a passing grade, campuses are encouraged to use the minimum grade standards that apply, if campus policy allows.
Q: What information must be included in the header content of the new GETA?
A: The GETA must include the following content in the header or top portion of the document. Please review the GETA templates to see examples.
For clarity, the following text is strongly recommended for inclusion. Ideally, this should be placed below the header and student identification.
"This Transcript Addendum reflects SUNY General Education Requirements that have been met. This addendum is official only if accompanied by an official transcript in a sealed envelope or if it contains the signature of the Registrar and/or College Seal."
Q: What data elements are required on the GETA?
A: A columnar display of requirements is used on the GETA for uniformity and clarity. We suggest you provide columns in the following order for ease of reading and interpretation. Please review the GETA templates to see examples. (https://system.suny.edu/student-success/transfer/geta [New Page])
Met: Met/Not Met Status ("Yes/No", "Y/N" or "Met/Not Met")
Category: The category name of the general education requirement.
Term: The requirement completion term or semester.
Grade: The earned grade in a course. For non-course fulfillment, this may be blank, or other indicators may be used (e.g., "TR" may indicate transfer credit).
Credits: Earned credit hours (where applicable).
Example:
Q: Are we required to group requirements by “Minimum of 7 of 10 Categories…”, “Knowledge and Skill Areas” or “Core Competencies” on the GETA?
A: Campuses may optionally group general education requirements with explanatory headers for clarity where it is practical.
Example:
If grouping is not utilized to identify required courses and categories, campuses should indicate the category is required by including a comment in the description of the category.
Please review the GETA templates to see additional examples. (https://system.suny.edu/student-success/transfer/geta [New Page])
Q: Should the GETA include a requirement row where a requirement is NOT fulfilled?
A: All general education requirements applicable to the student should be listed on the GETA with a Yes/No or Met/Unmet indicator. This helps students and receiving campuses easily determine outstanding requirements.
Example:
Q: Do we include the Core Competencies on the GETA?
A: Yes. Critical Thinking and Reasoning and Information Literacy core competencies must be recorded on the GETA. Core competencies do not count toward the credit requirement for the General Education framework unless the course is approved as meeting a knowledge and skills area, and the course is applied to that area.
Q: Should the GETA be produced in portrait or landscape format?
A: Due to differences in printing and electronic generation capabilities, campuses may produce the GETA in either portrait or landscape orientation.
Q: Are we required to use a specific numbering system on the GETA?
A: Campuses are not required to utilize a numbering schema when listing general education requirements; however, you are strongly encouraged to list requirements in the following order for ease of reading and interpretation.
Q: May we include multiple courses used to fulfill a requirement on the GETA?
A: Per previous guidance, campuses may choose to require the completion of multiple courses to fulfill a general education requirement, however, they are urged to proceed cautiously. To facilitate student transfer, campuses are encouraged to implement a one-to-one relationship in which each knowledge and skills category (except for Communication) requires the completion of a single course.
If a campus determines a category must be met by the completion of multiple courses, the general education student learning outcomes associated with each required course should be identified on the GETA, and the amount of credit provided for each learning outcome should correspond to contact/credit hour requirements.
Q: How do we display the 2023 General Education Framework Communication requirement on the GETA?
A: The Communication category may be met either by one course that meets all student learning outcomes for this category, or two courses for which one meets the Oral Communication student learning outcomes and the other meets the Written Communication student learning outcomes. Since most campuses utilize two courses to fulfill these requirements, it is suggested that campuses list separate entries for the
Written and Oral requirements on their GETA.
Q: Can we issue an electronic GETA?
A: Yes. Campuses are permitted and encouraged to issue an electronic GETA (PDF) to students and other campuses where they are producing electronic transcripts. Any GETA electronic process should conform to existing security and identification standards in place for transcripts.
Q: What is a SUNY Transfer Path?
A: SUNY Transfer Paths are Core lower division course requirement sets that are identified as being foundational major and associated cognate courses. These courses are used to achieve junior status after two years of full-time study.
Q: What are SUNY Transfer Path Core Courses?
A: Core courses are common courses that apply directly to each discipline, that have been identified by SUNY 2-year and 4-year faculty disciplinary committees. To develop transfer paths, core courses were identified within in each discipline, and general descriptions for each course were developed. These courses can be viewed on the Core Course Finder, along with campus equivalent courses.
Q: What are SUNY Transfer Path cognate courses?
A: Cognate courses are related taken outside the discipline or department but directly apply to the student’s field of study (e.g., mathematics for natural science majors). In many transfer paths, cognates will be required or suggested to help reach junior status.
Q: What is the process for adding, deleting, or changing SUNY Transfer Path Courses?
A: Campus officials may submit requests using the online Transfer Path Adjustment Form. Once your submission is verified you will be notified via email and the courses will be posted to the SUNY.edu web site.
Q: Are Transfer Path courses guaranteed to transfer?
A: Approved SUNY Transfer Path courses are guaranteed to transfer as courses in the major or required cognates (not just as electives) at all SUNY campuses if completed with the grade of C or better. Please note the following additional provisions:
Q: What is the plan for the review and redesign of transfer paths?
A: The Student Mobility Steering Committee develops a cycle of review for the SUNY Transfer Paths. Disciplinary committees of 2-year and 4-year faculty review the Transfer Paths and recommend possible changes. The Transfer Paths are expected to evolve over time and will be maintained online.
Q: What if a Transfer Path does not exist for a program? Do campuses have to create them when revising or submitting a program?
A: No, however, to the greatest degree possible campuses should confirm that students may complete enough courses in their area of interest to achieve junior status after two years of full-time study (or the equivalent). In addition, any SUNY campus may submit requests for the consideration of a new Transfer Path. The Student Mobility Steering Committee convenes a faculty disciplinary committee to consider and recommend SUNY Transfer Paths and Transfer Path Courses.
Q: Do the transfer guarantees have to be honored if they conflict with local campus residency requirements?
A: Yes. To protect students from needing to pursue excessive credits, the SUNY Board of Trustee Seamless Transfer Resolution regarding the guaranteed transfer of courses must be honored, even where there is a local residency requirement.
Q: How can residency requirement conflicts be resolved?
A: The policy does not require one specific method. Options may include campus waivers for individual students or adjustments in minimum credit requirements.
Q: Can individual components of programs receive waivers?
A: With compelling justification, programs can receive waivers for requirements, or individual components when developing a program (general education, courses in the major, credit caps). Please consult with your liaison in Academic Affairs for waiver information.
Q: What are the credit caps for SUNY degree programs?
A: To make Seamless Transfer and degree completion achievable, associate programs are capped at 64 credits. Baccalaureate programs are capped at 126 credits.
Q: Are all associate degree programs and baccalaureate degree programs covered by the credit caps?
A: Yes. The SUNY Board of Trustees Resolution on Seamless Transfer Requirements states: “Associate degree programs shall generally require no more than 64 credits that can normally be completed within two years of full-time study or the equivalent, and bachelor's degree programs shall require no more than 126 credits that can normally be completed within four years of full-time study or the equivalent, unless there is a compelling justification.” Therefore, all associate and baccalaureate degrees fall under the credit caps, unless they receive waivers. (See the Policies and Guidance Page for complete information.)
Q: Are Transfer Paths needed for Liberal Arts and Sciences and General Studies programs leading to an AA or AS degree?
A: Yes. Liberal Arts & Sciences and General Studies associate degree programs are designed to prepare students for seamless transfer into a four-year program if they so choose. As such, these programs must prepare students for true junior standing by fulfilling requirements for at least one Transfer Path. In cases where there is no SUNY Transfer Path in the disciplinary area of interest, students should complete enough courses in their area of interest to achieve true junior status after two years of full-time study or the equivalent.
Q: Are Transfer Paths needed for Individual Studies programs?
A: No. Individual Studies associate programs are intended to allow students maximum flexibility in designing a unique degree program, under the guidance and approval of an academic advisor. These programs are not required to offer students a Transfer Path. However, when appropriate, students are encouraged to identify a compatible Transfer Path that aligns with the Individual Study curriculum.
Individual Studies programs should not be used as umbrella programs to permit the offering of fully developed, but not separately registered, curriculum in specific fields. New areas can emerge as a campus tests student interest, but the expectation is that once the area develops an identity of its own, that curriculum will be submitted for separate registration.
Important: The waiver request process is currently being redeveloped. Please refer to the information below and contact your Academic Affairs Liaison (Program Reviewers) for additional details and assistance.
Q: What are the steps in the waiver request process?
A: Waivers are submitted with a signed cover letter from the CAO via email at program.review@suny.edu. Please review the Waiver Request flowchart (https://system.suny.edu/media/suny/content-assets/documents/academic-affairs/Waiver-ReviewFlowchart-2014.pdf) to understand steps in the waiver process. Successful waivers should be submitted judiciously, with completed and accurate curriculum charts alongside detailed compelling justifications.
Q: Are there examples of things that would be viewed favorably as a reason for approving a waiver request?
A: The waiver review committee reviews each individual request on its own merits, but the committee uses the following set of guiding standards/principles in every review.