The Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) and the California State University General Education (CSU-GE) are being replaced by a new standardized general education pathway called the California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC). This is an ongoing process that will affect all incoming students, as well as some current students, of California Community Colleges (CCC).
According to Jacqueline Escobar, a transfer counselor at Skyline College, Cal-GETC is part of the Assembly Bill (AB) 928, and a draft has been created for incoming students to use. This change will allow for a simpler transfer of units and a general education pattern for all CCC students to follow.
“The intent is to facilitate an easy transfer for students; thereby reducing errors or taking courses that you don’t need,” Escobar said.
Escobar also detailed the distinction between the general education requirements since they have limited the number of units needed to transfer; right now, with IGETC, there are 37 units required, and with CSU-GE, students would need 39. When Cal-GETC is officially implemented into the system this upcoming fall semester, there will only be a requirement of 34 general education units, providing the students more room for electives and optional courses.
Dionicio Garcia, a counselor at the Promise Scholars Program (PSP), added to how the simplification can benefit students; he states that the change in the course numbering can make the transfer process easier because the numbering will now be consistent across all CCCs.
Adriana Johnston, transfer center faculty director, reflected on the benefits of this change as well and explained how it will bring down any unnecessary barriers holding students back.
“If students throw us a curve ball and they decide to go to a CSU such as Berkeley, [currently] they do require students to follow the IGETC pattern,” she said. “Cal-GETC is pretty similar to the IGETC pattern, and has the idea that whether the student applies to a UC or CSU, it will satisfy the general education requirement area.”
Furthermore, due to the complexity of the new changes, counselors across Skyline have participated in frequent meetings and training so that they can have their questions answered.
They have information sessions and workshops for counselors to stay up to date on the active changes that students can also join.
Johnston illustrated the long journey that implementing Cal-GETC has been and how important it is to have full comprehension of the changes so that they can better prepare the students.
“We have created some workshops in procession for students to start attending,” she said. “Our counselors have been brainstorming: how can we make sure that our students are taking advantage of those info sessions so they can start understanding it?”
Escobar also urged students to be proactive throughout this process.
“If they haven’t already done so, they need a scheduled appointment with their counselor to talk about: does it make sense for them to migrate to Cal-GETC?” she said. “It’s student by student, so the messaging really is to attend one of the workshops and meet with your counselor.”