Skip to main content
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

Bilateral Articulation Agreements with Community Colleges

NC State University and NC Community Colleges have bilateral articulation agreements in place to help facilitate student transfer admissions and baccalaureate degree attainment. A bilateral agreement is a written agreement that NC State University and an NC community college develop in unison to help students who have earned a technical AAS degree transfer to NC State and earn a baccalaureate degree. Bilateral agreements typically provide for specified articulation of technical coursework from an AAS degree to a baccalaureate degree at NC State.

This standard operating procedure addresses the requirements and processes to enter into or renew a bilateral articulation agreement.

Important Policies 

  1. Bilateral articulation agreements are to be consistent and in compliance with the North Carolina Comprehensive Articulation Agreement and other Uniform Articulation Agreements (e.g. in Engineering, Nursing, etc.). Departments interested in pursuing a bilateral articulation agreement with one or more community colleges should first consult the resources on the linked webpage for any overlap or conflict. 
  1. Departments should also review REG 02.30.03 (Residence for Matriculation and Graduation that outlines both the minimum credit hours and the minimum percent of credit hours required in residence at NC State University in order to be awarded a bachelor’s degree by NC State University. 

Development, Review, and Approval of New and Renewed Agreements 

All new bilateral articulation agreements are to use as their basis the university’s standard template for bilateral articulation agreements. At the time of the next agreement renewal, faculty are to convert older agreements that follow a different format to the new template linked in this document.

  1. Department faculty are encouraged to consult with Enrollment Management and Services (EMAS) and the Office of Academic Strategy, Innovation, and Solutions (OASIS) as they work with community college partners to draft agreement content. Below are the points of contact for these offices.
    1. EMAS
      1. John Harrington, Associate Registrar (course articulations) 
      2. Jon Westover, Associate Vice Provost and Director of Undergraduate Admissions (for admissions components in the agreement)
    2. OASIS – Latasha Wade, Associate Vice Provost for Academic Planning (for general agreement questions) 
  1. Bilateral articulation agreements may contain signatures of degree program, departmental, and/or college representatives, but must contain a signature line for the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost.
  1. Once the content of the agreement is finalized between NC State University and the community college, the department is to route the draft agreement to the above points of contact in EMAS and OASIS for review. 
  1. If any terms are modified or added to the standard template for bilateral articulation agreements, other than academic-related information, the Associate Vice Provost for Academic Planning will also route the agreement to the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) for their review. 
  1. If no revisions to the agreement are needed following review by EMAS, OASIS, and OGC (if required), the department can obtain needed signatures from the community college partner(s) and those required from NC State, except for the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost. It is the preference of NC State University that the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost sign bilateral articulation agreements after all community college signatures have been obtained to avoid unnecessary delays. 
  1. Once the community college partner has signed the agreement and nearly all NC State signatures have been obtained, the department is to route the partially signed agreement to the Associate Vice Provost for Academic Planning. The Executive Assistant to the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Strategy and Innovation in OASIS will obtain the signature of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost. 
  1. After the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost signs the agreement, it becomes fully executed.
  1. The Executive Assistant to the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Strategy and Innovation will disseminate a copy of the fully executed agreement to the department point(s) of contact as well as to Undergraduate Admissions, Registration and Records, and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.
  1. EMAS will include a copy of the fully executed agreement in the university’s repository of bilateral articulation agreements and develop the applicable articulation rules for the agreement in the student information system.

Retention and Publication 

Registration and Records maintains and shares a Google drive repository of all fully executed active and archived bilateral articulation agreements with OASIS and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

Registration and Records also maintains a public list of transfer articulation agreements, including bilateral articulation agreements, on its website. 

Related Documents

Standard Template for Bilateral Articulation Agreements