The Advanced Technical Credit (ATC) Approval Process
Bill Wilson, Program Coordinator
Carrie Baker, Program Assistant
ATC Approval Office, Stephen F. Austin State University
www.atctexas.org
Purpose of the ATC Program
The Advanced Technical Credit
(ATC) Program gives eligible high
school students a chance to receive
credit at participating community
colleges across Texas for taking
certain enhanced technical courses
during high school.
www.atctexas.org
College credit received through
the ATC Program is know as
statewide-articulated credit.
www.atctexas.org
What is articulation?

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Articulation is the smooth transition from
one educational institution to another
without delays or duplication of
coursework.
Examples of articulation programs: Tech
Prep, ATC.
www.atctexas.org
ATC is not Tech Prep

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1. Tech Prep articulates a PROGRAM (a
sequence of courses that will count towards a
specific certificate or degree) between ONE
high school/district and ONE local community
college.
2. The ATC Program articulates single courses.
Eligible students can receive credit for these
courses at participating community colleges
across the state (“statewide-articulated” credit).
www.atctexas.org
The ATC Program…

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Is made possible by an agreement
between the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board and the Texas
Education Agency.
Allows students to attend a variety of
participating colleges across the state.
Is a time and money saver for students.

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They avoid duplicating coursework.
They don’t have to pay for tuition or books.
www.atctexas.org
ATC Approval Process
 Identify
 Train
 Verify
www.atctexas.org
Identify

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School identifies a need for an ATC course.
School identifies a teacher who meets ATC
teacher requirements for the ATC course.
www.atctexas.org
Train
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Teacher attends ATC training for the
course, where they submit the ATC
Application for Approval.
Application is sent to ATC Approval Office
at SFA.
www.atctexas.org
Verify

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ATC Approval Office verifies that the
teacher meets the teacher requirements
for the ATC course.
Approval for the ATC course is added to
the teacher’s online certificate.
School verifies that the ATC course is
listed on the online certificate, then begins
offering the ATC course.
www.atctexas.org
IDENTIFY
www.atctexas.org
Identifying a need for an ATC Course

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ATC courses are listed in the ATC Course
Crosswalk (updated annually).
Look for courses already offered at your school.
To be articulated, a course must be at least 1
credit. On the crosswalk, ½ credit courses are
paired with other courses to equal at least 1
credit.
ATC courses will be content-enhanced beyond
the TEKS – enhancements are defined by
college-level course outcomes.
www.atctexas.org
Identify an ATC Teacher

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Each ATC course section must be taught
by an ATC approved teacher.
To be approved, the teacher must:
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Meet ATC teacher requirements.
Take ATC training.
www.atctexas.org
Why does the ATC Program have teacher
requirements?
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College instructors must meet minimum criteria
to teach.
Criteria is set by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools (SACS).
If a college hires an instructor who does not
meet minimum criteria, the college risks losing
their accreditation from SACS.
SACS views any high school teacher offering
courses for college credit as adjunct college
faculty.
www.atctexas.org
Why does the ATC Program have teacher
requirements?
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As adjunct college faculty, the high school
teacher must meet the same criteria as the
college instructor.
If a college accepts credit from a student who
was taught by a teacher who did not meet the
minimum criteria, the college could lose their
SACS accreditation.
The ATC Teacher Requirements are set by the
ATC State Leadership Committee, and based on
the minimum criteria required by SACS.
www.atctexas.org
ATC Teacher Requirements
Teachers must meet one of these requirements for
each ATC course:
Requirement 1: The teacher must have a baccalaureate
degree or higher, with the degree major in the subject
area of the ATC course.
OR
Requirement 2: The teacher must have a minimum of
an associate degree and 3 years verifiable nonteaching work experience directly related to the
subject area of the ATC course.
www.atctexas.org
Requirement 1
“The teacher must have a baccalaureate
degree or higher, with the degree major in
the subject area of the ATC course.”
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Only degree majors are considered.
Minors, partial degrees, or teaching
certificates are not considered.
www.atctexas.org
Requirement 2
“The teacher must have a minimum of an
associate degree and 3 years verifiable
non-teaching work experience directly
related to the subject area of the ATC
course.”

Teacher must have at least an associate’s
degree. Non-degreed individuals cannot
be approved.
www.atctexas.org
Example 1. Principles of Marketing

Teacher must have either:
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1. Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in Marketing
OR
2. Associate’s degree (or higher), with 3 years
non-teaching work experience in marketing or
sales.
www.atctexas.org
Example 2. Telecommunication and Networking

Teacher must have either:
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1. Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in Computer
Science, Computer Information Systems.
OR
2. Associate’s degree (or higher), with 3 years
of non-teaching work experience in computer
networking.
www.atctexas.org
Example 3. Health Science Technology I

Teacher must have either:
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1. Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in a medical
field (Nursing, Medical Technology, Pharmacy,
etc.).
OR
2. Associate’s degree (or higher), with 3 years
non-teaching work experience in a medical
field (dentistry, nursing, radiology, etc.).
www.atctexas.org
SBEC Certification

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Teachers who don’t yet have their
Standard (5-year) SBEC Certificate in the
area of the course can be approved, but
they will be asked to provide proof that
they meet the requirements.
Will discuss this more in the “Verify”
section.
www.atctexas.org
Courses with Additional Requirements

Some ATC courses have additional
instructor requirements.
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College equivalent accredited by outside
agency.
College equivalent prepares students for
licensure or certification.
Teachers will need to provide
documentation of these licenses and
certificates.
www.atctexas.org
Courses with Additional Requirements
Courses
Additional Instructor Requirements
Banking and Financial Systems
Must have 36 months finance work experience
(requirement of American Banker's Association)
Automotive Technician II NATEF Curriculum Suspension and Steering
Must hold Automotive Service Excellence (ASE)
certification for Suspension and Steering
Automotive Technician II NATEF Curriculum - Brakes
Must hold Automotive Service Excellence (ASE)
certification for Brakes
Diesel Mechanics II
Must hold Automotive Service Excellence (ASE)
certification for Diesel Engines
Internetworking Technologies I Cisco Curriculum
Networking Essentials I Cisco Curriculum
Must be a Cisco-trained instructor for Cisco 1 and 2.
Internetworking Technologies II Cisco Curriculum
Must be a Cisco-trained instructor for Cisco 1 through
4.
Health Science Technology III Vocational Nursing
Vocational Nursing Career Preparation III
Must be a Licensed Vocational Nurse or a Registered
Nurse.
Health Science Technology III Medical Lab
Medical Lab Career Preparation II
Must be a certified Medical Laboratory Technician or a
Medical Technologist.
Health Science Technology III Pharmacy Aide
Pharmacy Aide Career Preparation III
Must be a certified Pharmacy Aide or Pharmacist
Health Science Technology III Medical Assisting
Medical Assisting Career Preparation III
Must be a certified Medical Assistant or a Registered
Nurse.
Health Science Technology III EMT-Basic
EMT-Basic Career Preparation III
Must be a certified Emergency Medical Technician.
www.atctexas.org
TRAIN
www.atctexas.org
Train
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To find a training session:
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ATC website (www.atctexas.org)
Tech Prep consortium
Local community college
P-16 Conference
TEA Summer Conferences
Deadline to take training for upcoming
school year: 3rd Friday in September
(9/16/06).
www.atctexas.org
Training consists of:
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Part I – 2 hours.
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General introduction to ATC Program
Part II – 1 hour.
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Teacher meets with college faculty to discuss
course enhancements.
Teachers will take one Part II session for each
ATC course.
Due to time limitations, generally a maximum
of 3 Part II sessions at one training session.
www.atctexas.org
Training
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During training, teachers fill out approval
application.
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List their degrees, majors.
List their jobs (employer, position, duration).
After training, applications are collected by
trainer and submitted to ATC Approval
Office.
www.atctexas.org
VERIFY
www.atctexas.org
ATC Approval Office
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Approval Office verifies that teacher meets
the ATC requirements for the course(s)
they requested.
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Teacher meets requirements: Approved.
Can’t tell if teacher meets requirements: Email
request for more information.
Teacher doesn’t meet requirements: Cannot
be approved (mailed letter).
www.atctexas.org
Teacher Approved
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Approval is added to the teacher’s online
certificate (www.atctexas.org)
Approval is valid for 3 years (August 1 –
July 31).
Teacher sent an automatically generated
email letting them know they have been
approved.
www.atctexas.org
Teacher sent Information Request email
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Teacher is sent an email requesting more
information when:
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Did not provide enough information on their
application (major, job title) to tell if they
meet requirements.
Need documentation of certification for a
course with additional requirements.
Does not have Standard (5-year) SBEC…
www.atctexas.org
Teacher who does not have Standard SBEC…
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Can still be approved, but need to provide
documentation showing that they meet ATC
requirements.
If teacher meets Requirement 1 (related
bachelor’s degree or higher), will need to
provide:
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Official transcripts.
If teacher meets Requirement 2 (associate’s
degree or higher with 3 yrs related work
experience), will need to provide:
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Official transcripts.
Detailed work history information.
www.atctexas.org
Teacher Cannot be Approved
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Possible reasons why:
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No degree.
Unrelated degree.
No related work experience.
Teacher will be mailed a letter stating the reason
they could not be approved.
Letter provides instructions if teacher would like
to provide more information and be
reconsidered.
Teachers who are not ATC approved can still
teach regular non-ATC course.
www.atctexas.org
Problems
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Teachers do not get information request emails.
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Teachers don’t get non-Approval letters.
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Spam blockers/Junk email boxes
Change email addresses
Lost in mail, teacher moves
Teachers should:
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Check online certificate (~1 month after training)
Check email, regular mail
If they have not received any notification, contact the
ATC Approval Office (atcstaff@sfasu.edu).
www.atctexas.org
School Verifies Approval

School/District checks to see that teacher
has been issued approval for the needed
ATC course.
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Ask teacher to print copy of online certificate
Use ATC District Reporting website (access
through www.atctexas.org).
www.atctexas.org
Make sure the correct course is listed, and the
effective/expiration dates are valid for the current school year.
www.atctexas.org
Once the approval has been verified, the
school may then begin offering the ATC
course.
www.atctexas.org
ATC Course Crosswalk
www.atctexas.org
ATC Course Crosswalk
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List of all ATC courses and their college
equivalents.
Divided into 8 curriculum areas (business,
agriculture, health science, etc.)
Crosswalk in each curriculum area created
by a committee of secondary teachers and
college instructors.
Curriculum areas are reviewed and
updated every 3 years or as needed.
www.atctexas.org
Sample from Crosswalk
www.atctexas.org
Changes to Crosswalk
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Any course(s) to be added or removed
from the crosswalk MUST be approved by
the ATC State Leadership Committee.
Changes may be due to:
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Curriculum committee recommendations
Changes to TEKS or WECM (HS/College
course content changes).
HS/College course not widely offered.
www.atctexas.org
Changes to Crosswalk
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Crosswalk updated once a year (spring).
Once crosswalk has been released, no
major changes will be made to it.
New changes will go on to next year’s
crosswalk.
When course is removed from crosswalk,
it can no longer be offered as an ATC
course (also removed from PEIMS list).
www.atctexas.org
Want to suggest a Crosswalk change?
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Ask for “Request for Course Change” form.
Fill out form and return to ATC Office.
Suggestions will be submitted to ATC State
Leadership Committee for review.
Suggestions may be taken into consideration
during curriculum area reviews.
www.atctexas.org
ATC Approval Office
Stephen F. Austin State University
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Contact Information:
Dr. Bill Wilson, ATC Program Coordinator
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wilsonwe@sfasu.edu
Cathy Whipple, ATC Program Assistant
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Cabaker@sfasu.edu
www.atctexas.org
www.atctexas.org