What Is IAI?
IAI stands for the Illinois Articulation Initiative. The goal of IAI is to facilitate the transfer of students among Illinois institutions of higher education. It began with a cooperation between the Illinois Board of Higher Education, Illinois Community College Board, and the Transfer Coordinators for Illinois Colleges and Universities in 1993. It was fully established and operational in 1998. It provides a general education package to allow courses to transfer easily between institutions with a level of guarantee of content and quality. This package is formed by areas of concentrations that have associated faculty panels reviewing courses and making course recommendations. It also provides course recommendations for the first two years of study for certain majors with the assistance of associated faculty panels.
How does the IAI benefit students?
Nearly 30,000 students transfer each fall in Illinois. Approximately half of them transfer from two-year to four-year institutions. The remaining half are lateral transfers (e.g., from university to university or community college to community college) or reverse transfers (e.g., from university to community college). When students follow the recommendations developed for IAI and consult their academic advisor, they are more likely to transfer efficiently, without losing credits.
Students who complete a prescribed set of general education courses, referred to as IAI Gen Ed or the General Education Core Curriculum (G ECC), can transfer this package
of coursework and have it accepted in lieu of a participating institution's lower-division, general education course requirements. Students who complete an Associate in Arts or an Associate in Science degree that contains the IAI GECC also will have met the receiving institution‘s lower-division Gen Ed requirements, but may have additional upper-division or mission-related general education requirements to complete.
Students who have chosen a major but have not yet decided which college to attend that offers a baccalaureate degree in that major, can complete recommendations of coursework developed by faculty panels for particular majors, satisfy admission requirements, and be granted credit for fulfilling the receiving institution‘s comparable lower-division requirements for that major. These recommended courses taken count toward requirements for graduation
How many institutions are participating in IAI?
More than 100 public and private, two-year and four-year institutions voluntarily participate in IAI.
How do institutions participate?
Institutions participate by: nominating faculty members to serve on more than 30 general education and major specific panels; providing input on the recommendations developed by these panels; submitting courses comparable to those identified as common, lower-division, foundational courses; participating as an equal partner in the articulation process; and, working together to support and communicate the goal of improving student transfer.
Where can I find out more about IAI?
Go to the iTransfer website at
iTransfer.org
. A special section for faculty, advisors, and counselors is labeled Faculty/Advisor Information.
and can be accessed from the banner of the home page. It provides a history of the initiative, a list of participating institutions, a list of approved courses by an institution, etc.
For students, a general education worksheet is helpful and can be accessed by choosing IAI GECC from the main page or GECC worksheet from the student pull down menu. Under IAI Majors, students can compare how major specific courses will be accepted at various participating institutions.