Date: March 29, 2016
To:
Academic Department Chairs
From: Academic Standards and Curriculum Committee
Re:
Recruitment of International Baccalaureate Students
ASCRC recently reviewed International Baccalaureate (IB) course offerings at Big Sky
High School and Hellgate High School. The International Baccalaureate’s Diploma
Programme (DP) was founded in 1968 “to facilitate the international mobility of
students preparing for university by providing schools with a curriculum and diploma
recognized by universities around the world.” The Diploma Program is a two-year
curriculum for high school juniors and seniors, offered in many countries and in most
U.S. states. IB students have higher retention and graduation rates than regular
students.
The University of Montana currently recognizes IB achievement and awards eight
credits for each Higher Level exam passed with an examination score of four or higher.
The University does not grant credit for Standard Level examinations, unless they are
taken as a component of the full Diploma. These credits will normally be distributed as
electives, although students who desire credit for specific UM courses, including
approved General Education courses, may petition the applicable department. The
credits cannot be used toward upper-division coursework. Enrollment ServicesAdmissions will provide students with an evaluation of their credits upon receipt of
official scores.
IB coursework is organized in 6 groups as follows:
Group 1: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Language A1 (literature)
Group 2: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Second Language (foreign language)
Group 3: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Individuals and Societies (e.g., history,
economics)
Group 4: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Experimental Sciences
Group 5: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mathematics and Computer Science
Group 6: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. The Arts
Diploma students generally take courses in each of the six groups. Nearly all subjects
are offered in two levels, Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL). In general, SL
courses are 150 classroom hours in length, and HL courses are 240 hours and include
more depth. IB Diploma students must study three of their six subjects at the higher
level, allowing them to explore areas of interest in greater depth and at a more rigorous
level. Comprehensive curriculum guides contain course aims, objectives, a syllabus
“outline” and “details,” and assessment “details” and “criteria.” These are currently
available on the Faculty Senate’s Website. Information specific to the high schools is
also available through the website or the IB Coordinators listed below.
Big Sky High School’s IB program, Cameron Johnson
(crjohnson@mcps.k12.mt.us)
Hellgate High IB program Ryder Delaloye (redelaloye@mcps.k12.mt.us)
The most common SL IB courses taken by Montana students that may be accepted by
peer institutions include Math, Spanish, French and Environmental Systems and
Societies. Big Sky also offers IB Business Management, and Sport, Exercise and
Health.
In this time of dropping enrollment it is critical that we provide pathways for students to
see themselves at UM, therefore ASCRC suggests individual departments consider
evaluating and
1) accepting Standard Level IB credits from students who take IB courses but do not
complete the IB Diploma (Montana State University accepts Standard Level
language courses)
2) mapping Standard Level and High Level IB courses to specific UM courses to grant
credit for specific lower division course credit as appropriate. MSU grants credit for
the following courses which are also offered at UM:
BIOB 160, 170, ECNS 101, 202, LIT 110, FRCH, GRMN, JPNS and SPNS
101,102,201, 202, PHSX 205, 207, PSYX 101, and WRIT 101
It also grants credit for a Film and Music course.
ASCRC hopes that departments will start investigating IB course equivalencies by April
15th. If your department is amenable to accepting the course equivalencies currently
accepted by MSU without a separate review please contact Associate Provost Nathan
Lindsey for immediate updating of UM’s current policy.