ATTACHMENT A

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

FOR

ARTICULATION TASK FORCES

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A course begins with an idea by one faculty member that is woven into an established framework of knowledge and curricular requirements. Every course must be based on assumptions about the teaching and learning that has taken place.

In the state of Arizona, these assumptions about teaching and learning ought to be at the heart of discussions that take place in the Articulation Task Forces (ATF's). Too often we can lose track about the work of the ATF's -- focusing too much on the administrative exchanges and not enough on a gathering of committed teachers and scholars who want to share ideas about their work.

An ATF works best when community college and university faculty come to the table as full and equal collaborators on behalf of student learning. With the understanding that faculty are responsible for the curriculum, this partnership must always balance intellectual expectations that faculty and taxpayers emphasize. The ATF must be grounded in accountability to our public, respect for all faculty contributions to student learning, and a commitment to continuing change and improvement in and through diverse academic communities.

As Johnetta Cole, President of Spelman College, once noted: We are for differences. Respecting differences. Expecting differences. Until differences don't make any difference, any more.

ATF faculty work best and most effectively when these principles are paramount.