ASSISTance: Spring/Summer 2024

Upcoming ASSIST Closures and Important Dates

Please note the following office closures and important dates for ASSIST Central Services (ACS) for the remainder of 2024:

• ACS Closed - Labor Day
  • Monday, September 2
• ACS Closed - Veterans Day
  • Monday, November 11
• ACS Closed - Thanksgiving
  • Thursday, November 28 - Friday, November 29
• ACS Closed - Winter Holiday
  • Tuesday, December 24 - Wednesday December 25
• ACS Closed - Winter Curtailment
  • Thursday, December 26 - Monday, December 30
• ACS Closed - New Year Holiday
  • Tuesday, December 31 - Wednesday, January 1

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

AICCU Updates

The first cohort of Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) has joined ASSIST!

Cohort 1 received system training at the end of June. We followed up with 1-on-1 consultations for each institution as requested to review campus-specific articulation situations and answer any questions they had. We are finishing up this round of onboarding with weekly office hours sessions where institutions can drop in and ask any ASSIST-related questions. As AICCU Cohort 1 becomes acclimated with ASSIST, 2024-2025 articulation agreements will  begin to display on assist.org as they are published.

ASSIST Central Services (ACS)  is now planning for a second cohort of AICCU institutions to join. For more information, visit the ASSIST AICCU update page on the ASSIST Resource Center.

Articulation Modernization Project 

• All California State (CSU) and University of California (UC) institutions were recently cleared to Roll Forward their articulation data into academic year 24-25 in ASSIST. This came a little later than anticipated, but all CSUs and UCs are diligently working to publish their 24-25 agreements to assist.org as quickly as possible. For more information, please review the frequently asked questions (FAQs).
   
• Did you know that over one million agreements have been published using the Modernized Articulation System (“MOD”)? MOD is used for publishing articulation agreements for 23-24 and later academic years, so there are many millions of agreements spanning prior decades (approx. 17 million!).This important milestone speaks to the dedication of every campus data manager working in ASSIST and their meticulous effort toward maintaining and publishing articulation agreements via our data maintenance application.

ASSIST at Ensuring Transfer Success (ETS) Conferences

ASSIST will have a table at the upcoming ETS Conferences:

• Wednesday, September 4 at UC Irvine
• Wednesday, September 11 at UC Davis

Stop by to ask your burning ASSIST questions or share a friendly greeting!
For more information on the ETS conferences, visit the event website.

Cal-GETC in ASSIST

Cal-GETC will be implemented in Fall 2025. At that time, Cal-GETC approvals will display on assist.org.  Beginning this fall, California Community Colleges will no longer have the ability to request courses for CSU General Education (CSU GE) or Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) review. Those will be replaced with the ability to request Cal-GETC review instead. The ability to request for CSU American Institution and Ideals (CSU AI) is not affected by this change.

ASSIST is in the testing stage of ensuring all Cal-GETC-related changes are properly applied and functional in all areas of the system. This is an extensive effort as general education approvals appear everywhere, from the Workflow, where users submit courses for review, to the Course History, where all course data is recorded. Work to implement Cal-GETC will remain a significant priority throughout this fiscal year. 

ASSIST Data Sharing Expansion Plans

ASSIST is pleased to share that a self-service data portal will soon be available for data subscribers. Additionally, articulation data will be shareable via API for the first time in ASSIST history. Work continues to strengthen, secure, and ready the system for wide scale data sharing via API. System offices (CSUCO, UCOP, CCCCO) and participating ASSIST institutions will be provided priority access in Fall (Oct-Nov-Dec) 2024 after the launch of the ASSIST self-service data portal in Summer (Jul-Aug-Sep) 2024.

Additional system security and license agreement formalization are necessary to begin sharing data with the general public or for personal use. At this time, we anticipate API data sharing access will release to non-institution requestors during the 2024-2025 Academic Year.

Keep an eye on the Data Page of the ASSIST Resource Center for updates and more information.

ASSIST Team Updates

The addition of AICCU Cohort 1 institutions into ASSIST represents a whopping 84% increase in the number of 4-year institutions supported by the ASSIST team. It was obvious that a staffing modification was needed to support such a substantial increase to the number of institutions who build articulation and publish agreements in our system. Thus, ASSIST is happy to share a team update and introduce you to our newest staff:

• Micaela Morgan - Program Director
• Lindsey Caputo - Associate Director (previously Program Coordinator)
• Erica Lassen - Assistant Director (previously Senior Articulation Analyst)
• Ryan Novero - Senior Articulation Analyst
• Kassidee Valenti - Senior Articulation Analyst
• new! Kara Maas - Senior Articulation Analyst
• new! Kristin Heese - Senior Articulation Analyst