AURORA | The Community College of Aurora did not violate any state standards regarding certain transfer courses after the college implemented several curricular changes earlier this year, the Colorado Department of Higher Education determined this week.
Ian Macgillivray, director of academic affairs for the state’s department of higher education, notified CCA President Betsy Oudenhoven in a Nov. 2 letter that they are satisfied with the way the college is making sure Guaranteed Transfer (GT) Pathways courses comply with state standards.
“CDHE believes Community College of Aurora’s (or Colorado Community College System’s) process for ensuring that state-approved GT Pathways courses it offers adhere to GT Pathways statutory requirements is appropriate and equivalent to that of other regionally accredited institutions of higher education,” Macgillivray wrote. “CDHE has no further concerns.”
Credits earned from Guaranteed Transfer courses can be transferred to core credit requirements in most bachelor’s degree programs at every public institution in the state, according to the CDHE website.
The department began looking at how CCA was implementing Guaranteed Transfer courses last week. The issue was brought to the department’s attention after a former adjunct philosophy professor at CCA, Nathanial Bork, lodged a complaint in September with CDHE alleging the college was implementing a “curriculum redesign” that dipped below the state’s threshold of acceptability.
Bork, a professor at CCA for about six years, was allegedly fired from his part-time position for failing to implement the redesign in an introductory philosophy class earlier this year and for sending a letter to the Higher Learning Commission — CCA’s accreditor — complaining about the changes, according to a press release issued by the American Association of University Professors.
The association, which acts as an advocacy group, charity and labor union, is sending an investigating committee to CCA in December to further look into Bork’s termination.