Data fulfillment temporarily limited to CCC, CSU, UC, and AICCU segment and institution administrators

Please be aware that data fulfillment is temporarily limited to CCC, CSU, UC, and AICCU segment and institution administrators for campus operations purposes only. For additional information, please read the following Statement on ASSIST Data Requests, released on March 18, 2025.

ASSISTance: Winter 2025

Click the image below to read the latest "ASSISTance" newsletter (will open in a new browser tab). Past updates are accessible via the News section of this website.

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

ASSISTance: Winter 2024

Upcoming ASSIST Closures and Important Dates 

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

• Cesar Chavez Holiday (ACS closed)
  • Friday, March 29
• ACS is attending the California Intersegmental Articulation Council (CIAC) Annual Conference (normal business hours and response time will be affected)
  • Tuesday, April 2 - Friday, April 5
• Memorial Day (ACS closed)
  • Monday, May 27
• Juneteenth (ACS closed)
  • Wednesday, June 19

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

New Program Director - Welcome, Micaela Morgan!

ASSIST is pleased to announce we have a new program director: Dr. Micaela Morgan! Micaela joins us from UC Santa Barbara, where she served as the K-12 Programs Director at the Office of Education Partnerships for several years. 

At ASSIST, Micaela is leading the strategic direction, intersegmental collaboration, and ASSIST Central Services management work necessary to continue to advance ASSIST's mission to facilitate California student transfer and commitment to being the official repository of California transfer and articulation information. 

Micaela has already been with ASSIST since early January, so please join us in extending one more “WELCOME” to the ASSIST program!

Articulation Modernization Project 

Over 790,000 articulation agreements have been published to assist.org for the 2023-2024 academic year. This is in contrast to the 710,663 agreements published to assist.org for 2022-2023. We are proud to support our CSU and colleagues, who continue to work diligently in the Modernized Articulation Application to provide this critical articulation information for assist.org users.

• Did you know that beginning with 2023-2024, you can now view Department and Prefix agreements by community college curriculum? This is handy when you are familiar with  the community college prefix and department names, but not with the university’s.
  
   
• Upcoming Development - we expect the following system updates to be available soon for articulation data managers:
   
  • “Roll Forward” - Provides data managers with the ability to copy articulation data from one academic year into the next. This means previous articulation data will be pre-populated when you begin working on articulation agreements for the 2024-2025 academic year.
     
  • “Notification Center” - Provides data managers with a dashboard to receive and organize notifications of course updates that may impact articulation. For example, a community college combines previously separate lab and lecture courses into one offering, causing an update to the course content and units. A university data manager would likely need to update the articulation. This will streamline articulation updates data managers need to know about in real-time. 

California Intersegmental Articulation Council (CIAC) Annual Conference

The ASSIST team will attend and host a breakout session at the CIAC Annual Conference, held the first week of April in Palm Springs. ASSIST will offer a “backstage pass” at the music festival-themed ARTICU-Chella conference at 2:15 pm in the Palm Canyon A&B. The “backstage pass” will serve as a chance for ASSIST users to meet or reconnect with the ASSIST team in person for the first time since the 2019 conference. The conference will also serve as a crucial opportunity to listen and participate in discussions centered around current and future legislative initiatives that will impact ASSIST. 

Finally, the ASSIST team will also have the opportunity to meet in person and collaborate on the completion of its next 3-year strategic plan. You can find information about our previous strategic plan and updates on the new strategic plan as they become available at the ASSIST Resource Center. 

Legislative Initiatives and Workgroups

Speaking of legislative initiatives, ASSIST continues to be actively involved in numerous groups and discussions, both as presenters and as listeners. Participation in these groups plays a vital role in ensuring ASSIST continues to meet the needs of its varied audiences and stays aware of potential mandates that necessitate changes to the ASSIST system. Recently, ASSIST has partnered with:

• University of California (UC) Admissions-California Community Colleges (CCC) Webinar
• CCC Articulation Officer (AO) Regional Representatives Spring Meeting
• CCC Transfer Center Directors Regional Representatives Spring Meeting
• ASSIST Advisory Committee Spring Meeting
• Cal-GETC Implementation Workgroup
• Cradle-to-Career Technology Workgroup
• Southern & Northern CIAC Meetings
• Common Course Numbering Development and Technology Workgroups
• CCC Bachelor Degree Program (BDP) AO Group

Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) Integration

We are progressing steadily towards integrating the first cohort of AICCU participating member institutions (PMIs) into ASSIST.

Interested AICCU institutions recently returned their MOUs, signifying their official intent to join ASSIST. We are expecting 28 participating institutions in this first cohort! The next steps are:

• Completion of an initial course data import service
• User training for the designated ASSIST data manager(s) of each institution

After training, these institutions will be ready to begin building 2024-2025 articulation agreements in ASSIST.

For more information and a list of participating member institutions, visit the AICCU page of the ASSIST Resource Center.

ASSIST Data Sharing Coming Soon

ASSIST is pleased to share that a self-service data portal will soon be available for data subscribers. Additionally, for the first time in ASSIST history, articulation data will be shareable via API.

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

ASSIST Season of Surveys

ASSIST is committed to constantly improving, whether with system updates, services for our unique users, or providing new resources. One of the ways we stay informed of various needs is through gathering user feedback via surveys. Currently, there are two surveys that we would appreciate your time in completing:

• User Survey - The purpose of this assist.org User Survey is to gather specific information on the types of users visiting assist.org and how our users are accessing and using ASSIST data in the scope of their work or to meet personal transfer goals. The data compiled from this survey is vital to supporting ASSIST goals and strategic planning as we evaluate how best to support our diverse user groups. The survey will take approximately five minutes to complete and will close on April 10, 2024. Please share widely with anyone you know who uses ASSIST!
   
• General Feedback Survey - This survey is ASSIST’s general feedback questionnaire available on assist.org (in the Support section). It is always open and offers users a chance to provide feedback on their experiences using assist.org.

ASSIST Articulation Modernization Project Update: Public Go-Live Milestone Reached!

We are pleased to share that 2023-24 modernized articulation agreements are now LIVE on assist.org!

This highly anticipated, significant milestone has been in the making since 2019, and would not have been possible without the commitment, expertise, and vision provided by everyone involved in the Articulation Modernization Project, including: 

• Investment from our intersegmental program sponsors
• Leadership from our Executive Management Oversight Committee
• The talents of our software development vendor, Accenture
• The knowledge and advisement provided by CSU and UC Articulation Officers, especially those serving in workgroups
• ASSIST staff, past and present
• The wide range of assist.org users who not only provided targeted input on modernized agreement designs in focus groups, but continue to offer daily feedback and ideas for how ASSIST can continue to bring value to the student transfer process

Thank you for the patience shown related to our delays in reaching this important milestone. The project has run simultaneously with ongoing ASSIST operations that include maintaining, improving, and resolving issues that arise in curriculum management, CCC course outline management and submissions, CSUCO and UCOP review cycles, existing articulation management, and more. While a four-month delay may not be significant for a multi-year project with ongoing program commitments, we acknowledge the frustrations different users have experienced as a result of our delivery timing. 

With around 4,000 average daily visitors to assist.org and 97% of visitors seeking articulation agreements, we know how valuable this information is to the community we serve.

While we celebrate this exciting milestone, the Articulation Modernization Project continues, with around 15% of development tasks remaining for efficiency features and usability enhancements. At the time of release, over 105,000 2023-24 modernized articulation agreements have been published and can be searched on assist.org. For context, we see between 600,000 and 700,000 agreements published per academic year. We anticipate a steady increase in the number of published agreements, but agreement availability will continue to vary by institution depending on CCC course update finalization, the number of articulation updates required, campus-specific publishing practices, and any in-progress system development that may prevent certain subsets of agreements from being published.

Some additional modernization updates of interest include:

• Modernized agreement branding, designs, and features
• The ability to begin providing articulation data via API (coming soon: Winter 2024)
• The ability to view agreements:
  • In dynamic HTML format instead of static PDFs
  • By sending institution prefix and department
  • With a "view all" option by agreement type (major, department, prefix, general education)

For more specific information about how the 2023-24 modernized agreements and website navigation have improved, we invite you to view our collection of resources in the Articulation Modernization Project Design Showcase. Expanded tutorials and resources are also in progress, and we will continue to update the ASSIST Resource Center monthly.

We also welcome any feedback regarding the system and agreement updates in our assist.org Feedback form, linked here for convenience and available in the "Support" area of the public website.

Thank you for your continued partnership!

ASSISTance: Summer 2023

Upcoming ASSIST Closures and Important Dates 

Please note the following office closures for ASSIST Central Services (ACS) for the remainder of the 2023 calendar year:

• Veterans Day
  • Friday, November 10
• Thanksgiving
  • Thursday, November 23
  • Friday, November 24
• Winter Holiday
  • Monday, December 25
  • Tuesday, December 26
• Winter Curtailment
  • Wednesday, December 27
  • Thursday, December 28
• New Year Holiday
  • Friday, December 29
  • Monday, January 1, 2024

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

Articulation Modernization Project

ASSIST is approaching another milestone of its Articulation Modernization Project: the ability to publish and search for modernized articulation agreements for academic year 2023-2024 on the ASSIST website. California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) articulation officers (AOs) received access to the modernized articulation management system over the summer and continue to work diligently in preparation for this milestone. ASSIST is optimistic this milestone will be reached by early November. 

Please note the distinction between assist.org system readiness to display articulation agreements for 2023-2024 and the actual agreement availability for 2023-2024. Each CSU and UC campus is responsible for managing articulation agreements. The amount of work needed to prepare agreements in the modernized articulation system, the readiness of community college course curriculum updates, and campus-specific publishing practices all impact agreement availability on assist.org. 

For more information, please check the Frequently Asked Questions on this topic.

ASSIST Data Sharing

ASSIST has experienced an increase in requests for data. At this time, the following data files are available to CCC, CSU, and UC campuses:

File #1 - UC Transferable Courses
File #2 - CSU Transferable Courses
File #3 - IGETC Approved Courses
File #4 - CSU GE Breadth Certification Courses
File #5 - CSU US History, Constitution and American Ideals Approved Courses

All data extracted from the ASSIST system is in a format to be uploaded and interpreted by another computer system, such as a campus degree audit or transfer planning application. 

Data sharing expansions, including the ability to share articulation data via API, are planned for Winter 2024. Please refer to the Data page for updates.

Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) Integration

As reported previously, ASSIST is also planning for and working toward integration of Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) institutions. In preparation for integration, an implementation plan was drafted for and approved by the ASSIST Executive Sponsors over the summer.

High level aspects of the plan include:

• ASSIST Central Services (ACS) will host informational webinars for AICCU institutions to learn more about the work involved with managing course information and articulation agreements in ASSIST.
• ACS will hold focus groups for assist.org users to gather input and help determine the optimal methods for searching and navigating the assist website for AICCU related agreements. Assist.org users interested in participating in these focus groups should email help@assist.org.
• The first AICCU Participating Member Institution cohort will be confirmed in Winter 2024.
• System development, staff recruitment, and training will occur in Spring 2024.
• The cohort will receive access to begin working on 24-25 articulation agreements in Summer 2024.

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 typically have no agenda. Instead, data managers 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.

In 2023, ASSIST Office Hours covered the following topics:

• Curriculum data updates
• UC Transfer Course Agreement (UC TCA) submissions in ASSIST
• “Welcome back” refresher on using ASSIST
• UC TCA appeal submissions in ASSIST
• Modernized articulation application
• Curriculum area improvements and new features

The final ASSIST Office Hours of 2023 will cover CSU General Education (CSUGE), Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC), and CSU American Institution (CSUAI) submissions in ASSIST

• If you are a California Community College (CCC) articulation officer or data managing user of ASSIST, please contact your ASSIST Senior Articulation Analyst for more information.
• ACS is looking to expand its office hours offerings in 2024! If you would like to request an office hours topic, please use the ASSIST Office Hours Topic/Demo Request Form.

ASSIST Workgroup

The ASSIST Articulation Officer Workgroup met recently and provided input on the following topics:

• Legislative mandates - the group provided invaluable feedback and held important discussion regarding the perceived role of ASSIST with respect to recent legislative mandates AB 1111 and AB 928
• AICCU educational webinars - based on their experience, the group provided its thoughts on what vital information should be shared with AICCU institutions who attend the informational webinars. 
• Curriculum and Articulation Data Policies - ACS is finalizing curriculum and articulation data management policy. The visibility and use of ASSIST data means the integrity of that data is of the utmost importance. The purpose of these policies is not to modify curriculum or articulation practices at any institution but rather, to codify and document current process and best practices for how curriculum and articulation data is managed within ASSIST applications.

The next ASSISTance update will come in 2024 so from all of us at ASSIST, we wish you a productive and joyful end to the 2023 year!
 

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.

ASSISTance: Fall 2022

Upcoming ASSIST Closures and Important Dates - Please note the following office closures for ASSIST Central Services (ACS) for the rest of the 2022 calendar year:

• Friday, December 23 through Monday, December 26 - Winter Holiday
• Tuesday, December 27 through Thursday, December 29 - Winter Curtailment
• Friday, December 30 through Monday, January 2, 2023 - New Year Holiday

• Project Update - Development work is 96% complete for the tasks needed to allow Articulation Officers (AOs) to begin working in the new articulation management area. In addition to the modernized code and framework established for basic articulation building and template management, features completed include:
  • Code improvements needed to display modernized articulation agreements in HTML on assist.org.
  • Setup required to run current and modernized articulation systems simultaneously so AOs can easily make 2022-2023 current agreement updates and work on 2023-2024 modernized agreements.
     
• More time has been spent finalizing data migration scripts, implementing user design feedback, creating articulation reporting capabilities, and preparing for AO workgroup system testing. Visit the Articulation Modernization Project Update page on the ASSIST Resource Center to access the project overview, general timeline, development progress, and visuals.
   
• Articulation Modernization Workgroup - In recent meetings, this group received updates and provided input on the continuing work in the build articulation and template management areas of the modernized system. This included a look at articulation attributes, instructions/advisements meant to add clarity to more sophisticated articulation scenarios, and agreement generation and publishing. Workgroup members are expected to begin testing the modernized system in the very near future!
   
• ASSIST Team Modernization Support - The ASSIST team has been testing in-progress work, and deeply embedded in planning and preparing materials for AO system testing and training.

• Completion of a large-scale curriculum development and re-design project that included a modernized course history screen and improved code and database management structures for cross-listed courses, prefix changes, reactivations, and course outlines.This extensive work significantly improved data management and strengthened curriculum data integrity.
   
• Launch of IGETC Area 7 in data management system for CCC AO course submission and CSUCO/UCOP review.
   
• Implementation of performance improvements in the course review area ahead of the CSUGE, CSUAI, and IGETC review cycle.

• The Budget Act of 2022 allocated funding to integrate the Association of Independent California Colleges and University (AICCU) member institutions onto the ASSIST platform. With this direction and funding, ASSIST’s goal is to provide California transfer students with one-stop access to transfer articulation information for colleges and universities across the state.
   
• ASSIST is in the first phase of gathering the necessary information to develop a strategic, comprehensive, and structured approach to this integration. To further that process, we partnered with UCOP’s Strategy and Program Management Office to create an implementation plan by March 31, 2023, that considers user needs, identifies technology implications, and ensures appropriate support resources.
   
• As you can imagine, expanding the scope of articulation outside of the public higher education sector is a fundamental change for ASSIST. It is also an exciting opportunity. In the coming months, we will gather input from a diverse body of ASSIST users and transfer partner subject matter experts to provide the insight and feedback required to make this process as streamlined and student-centric as possible.
   
• We anticipate the integration work to be completed in phases. The current phase will focus on requirement gathering and implementation planning, moving into technology planning and development. At this time, we anticipate being able to display participating AICCU member institution articulation agreements on assist.org in 2024. Throughout this process, ASSIST will keep the articulation and greater transfer community apprised of the implementation progress. Any questions should be directed to Holly Demé, the ASSIST Program Director, by emailing holly@assist.org. 

• In 1985, the University of California began to explore using computers to store, maintain, and display transfer-related data. ASSIST was created under the guidance and counsel of the three California postsecondary educational segments: the University of California, the California State Universities, and the California Community Colleges with the goal to use the computer to provide students and counselors with an easy way to access accurate and complete information about transferring from one California college or university to another.
   
• In the early ASSIST days, articulation agreement information was mailed to the ASSIST Central Services office and stored in multiple filing cabinets near walls of campus catalogs.
   
• The first ASSIST system became accessible via the internet in the early 1990s with a user guide that included a section titled “What is the Internet?”
   
• More than 600,000 major, department, prefix and general education agreements are published each year on assist.org and more than 6,000 CCC course proposals are reviewed each year by the CSU and UC system offices to determine transferability and satisfaction of general education requirements.
   
• On average, assist.org has more than a million visitors a year who have access to more than10 million articulation agreements spanning almost 30 years.

ASSISTance: Summer 2022

Upcoming ASSIST Closures and Important Dates - Please note the following office closures for ASSIST Central Services (ACS) for the rest of the 2022 calendar year:

• Monday, September 5 - Labor Day
• Friday, November 11 - Veterans Day
• Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25 - Thanksgiving
• Friday, December 23 through Monday, December 26 - Winter Holiday
• Tuesday, December 27 through Thursday, December 29 - Winter Curtailment
• Friday, December 30 through Monday, January 2, 2023 - New Year Holiday

Also, ASSIST Office Hours for all Articulation Officers (AOs) will be held Sept. 13th & 15th. Please reach out to your Assigned Senior Articulation Analyst if you did not receive an invitation.

Articulation Modernization Project

• Project Update - Development work is around 80% complete for the tasks needed to allow Articulation Officers (AOs) to begin working in the new articulation management area. In July, ASSIST launched an Articulation Modernization Project update page on the ASSIST Resource Center to provide an overview, general timeline, development progress, and visuals related to the project. ASSIST website users or others with a general interest in the project can now monitor this page for project updates.
   
• Articulation Modernization Workgroup - In recent meetings, this group received updates and provided input on the continuing work in the build articulation and template management areas of the modernized system. This included a look at attributes, instructions/advisements, and agreement generation and publishing. Workgroup members are expected to begin testing the modernized system in the near future.

IGETC Area 7 Ethnic Studies - ASSIST is partnering with the California State University Office of the Chancellor (CSUCO) and the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) to support the submission, review, and display of CCC courses approved for IGETC Area 7 as early as Fall 2023. More information will be provided when it becomes available.

Data Sharing - All data extracted from the ASSIST system is in a format to be uploaded and interpreted by another computer system, such as a campus degree audit or transfer planning application. Since the initial release of ASSIST transferable course data extracts earlier this year, ASSIST has provided bimonthly updates to subscribers from California Community College (CCC), California State University (CSU), and University of California (UC) campuses and systems. We are committed to supporting CCC, CSU, and UC staff, students, and partners working to expand the technological tools, systems, and services used to streamline, automate, and validate student transfer processes. As we continue to evolve data sharing operations, we look forward to providing additional types of data to requesters via web services. If you are interested in accessing ASSIST shareable data using web services, where data can be shared online and on-demand from the ASSIST system to a campus system versus via flat data files that are sent by email and uploaded to a system, please contact us at help@assist.org. For more information regarding ASSIST data sharing, please visit the Data page of the ASSIST Resource Center.

Course Outline Integration & Specifications Document - ASSIST has published a Course Outline Integration & Specifications document. This document provides a list of the current methods by which course outline information can be updated in ASSIST, and any related technical information, to aid in campus planning, decision-making and procedures. Please direct questions concerning course outline integration options to the ASSIST Senior Articulation Analyst supporting your institution, or contact the ASSIST Central Services (ACS) Help Desk at help@assist.org.

ASSIST Advocacy Survey - In our last update, we shared that ACS would begin to survey various user groups to collect feedback on the ASSIST system and user experiences. The purpose of the survey is to gather information regarding how UC, CSU, and CCC counselors, advisors, evaluators/rule-builders, and admissions personnel use ASSIST, determine what is working well, elicit suggestions for future enhancements, and determine the best means of communication. We are still in the process of reviewing and synthesizing the response data but some initial highlights include:

• Over 69% of respondents thus far report using assist.org on a daily basis to perform their work, with another 23% indicating they use it weekly
• Over 90% of respondents noted that assist.org is helpful or very helpful to their achievement of work goals/tasks.
• Users have requested greater uniformity of published articulation information, noted the variability of published articulation agreements among institutions, and have expressed a desire to have access to the prior Explore Majors tool.

Users have also noted the following:

• “I am dependent on these resources to provide accurate information for students.”
   
• “I have been using ASSIST since its inception. I would not be able to do my job effectively, as an evaluator, without it. It provides critical information in a one-stop-shop location that would otherwise take hours, if not days, to locate on individual websites.”
   
• “ASSIST is my number [1] go-to tool when reviewing major prep or to determine transferability of courses. It’s [the] easiest, most practical tool that I use on a daily basis as most of my students are transferring.”

We will continue to share these findings as more data becomes available.

ASSIST Resource Center New Look Coming Soon!  - The ASSIST Resource Center is getting a new look. While the existing website content will remain, the available resources will be organized by user type, rather than by the resources themselves, and navigation of the website will be streamlined to improve the user experience. Be on the lookout for more updates and an announcement regarding this change in the near future!

ASSISTance: Spring 2022

 General Updates

• Monday, May 30 - Memorial Day
• Monday, June 20 - Juneteenth Holiday
• Monday, July 4 - Independence Day

• Over 5.6 million agreements have been viewed on assist.org in the past year
• 85% of ASSIST users visit assist.org via a computer, while 15% use a mobile device to access ASSIST

• Articulation Officer (AO) Workgroup
  Topics of discussion at the last meeting included:
  • Approaches to updating the student transfer community regarding the ASSIST Articulation Modernization project
  • Course update publishing notification enhancements
  • Improvements in the articulation agreement generation and publication process
     
• Articulation Modernization Workgroup - Subject matter experts met monthly to advise on functionality requirements and ongoing development. The basic framework for creating and managing all articulation types and templates is complete and we are seeing smaller features, such as attribute and instruction tools, progressing each month. Planning and organizational efforts continue with regard to articulation data conversion timing, AO related tasks, and system training needs. ACS and workgroup members will begin testing the new articulation system this summer. We anticipate 2023-2024 agreements will be the first academic year showcasing the modernized format and streamlined website navigation.
  Coming soon: a page on the ASSIST Resource Center dedicated to sharing ongoing project updates.
   
• Advisory Committee - This diverse user group provides input and feedback regarding ASSIST program systems and policies. The committee is a joint administrative/faculty body that represents perspectives from students, faculty, staff, and administrators. During the annual spring meeting, the committee received an ASSIST program update, members provided feedback on how best to communicate articulation modernization progress, and all discussed their perspectives on the role of ASSIST.