ASSISTance: Spring 2023

Upcoming ASSIST Closures and Important Dates 

Please note the following office closures for ASSIST Central Services (ACS):

• Monday, May 29 - Memorial Day

• Monday, June 19 - Juneteenth

• Tuesday, July 4 - Independence Day

Normal ACS business hours are Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm.

Articulation Modernization Project 

• The Articulation Modernization Project continues to progress, with the “migration” event fast approaching, during which articulation data from the current system will be captured and migrated into the new, modernized application. CSU and UC Articulation Officers (AOs) are then able to begin creating 23-24 modernized articulation agreements in ASSIST that can be published this summer to assist.org.

• AOs and supporting staff were provided extensive training on the modernized application in April. Training involved practical instruction, demonstrations, and opportunities to practice tasks as a group with trainer support. As part of their training, AOs received access to a “sandbox” system, to continue trying new system features and practicing managing articulation and agreements.

• The ACS team continues to support the project by testing in-progress development and creating instructional materials to support users’ transition to the new application. Additionally, all CSU and UC AOs were given the opportunity to have a one-on-one session with the ASSIST Senior Articulation Analyst (SAA) team to ask additional questions and discuss campus-specific articulation scenarios and strategies to help with preparation for the switch to the modernized system.

• The next project milestone is system readiness to display published modernized agreements on assist.org this summer. The development for this milestone is scheduled for completion by the end of June. After this milestone, any agreements published by CSU and UC AOs will be available on assist.org. Publishing practices are institution-specific and preparation of agreements will take longer than normal this year as AOs work in a new articulation application.

• Additional communication will be sent out in June to a variety of audiences, in addition to ACS hosted webinars, and a “Coming soon!” banner message on assist.org. 

Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) Integration

After a series of planning meetings and webinars seeking feedback on the drafted integration plan with various user groups over the past few months, the plan has been submitted to the ASSIST Executive Sponsors. It is anticipated that implementation planning will kick off with an ASSIST orientation this summer for AICCU member institutions interested in this opportunity. 

ACS at CIAC

The ACS Team held a general session at the recent California Intersegmental Articulation Council (CIAC) annual conference. The presentation included updates on ASSIST’s most relevant and timely projects including the modernization of the articulation management system. The presentation also served as a primer for users on what they can expect regarding the content and timeline of 2023-2024 articulation agreements. Finally, other topics covered included updates on plans for the AICCU integration into ASSIST and advances in ASSIST data sharing capabilities.

ASSIST is pleased to be a regular presence at the annual conference and will continue to support the work of this dedicated group.

ASSIST Public Website

As noted previously in the Articulation Modernization Project update, the transition to a modernized articulation management application will take place soon and with this update comes an updated look to articulation agreements beginning with the 2023-2024 academic year. Benefits of the modernized look include:

• HTML agreement availability

• Improved readability and clarity of requirements

• Increased consistency and formatting options for agreements across all institutions

• Updated design including colors and fonts to align with assist.org

For more information on the updates, visit the project Design Showcase webpage. ASSIST will host two webinars with the same content to showcase these newly designed agreements in June. The intended audience for these webinars are campus staff who use assist.org to perform their work (Transfer Center Directors, Advisors, Evaluators, Rule Builders/Degree Audit Staff, Admissions Staff, and Counselors). If you are interested in attending, but did not receive the announcement, please email help@assist.org and include your campus and role. 

ASSIST Office Hours

The ACS team continues to offer regular office hours for AOs covering different facets of managing data in ASSIST. Office hours are structured to cover a specific ASSIST related topic but have no agenda. Instead, users are able to drop in, ask questions related to the specific topic, and hear what others ask or have to say. It’s a chance for the ASSIST team to connect with users and provide refreshers on using various parts of the system. 

• If you are an articulation officer or data managing user of ASSIST, please contact your ASSIST Senior Articulation Analyst for more information.

• If you would like to request an office hours topic, please use the ASSIST Office Hours Topic/Demo Request Form.