The Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates (ICAS) was established by faculty in 1980 as a voluntary organization consisting of representatives of the Academic Senates of the three segments of public higher education in California. Each of the senates appoints five or six senate leaders as representatives to ICAS. ICAS deals with a variety of issues of mutual concern such as student preparation for postsecondary education, the California Master Plan for Higher Education, access, transfer, articulation, general education, and educational quality and standards. The recommendations of ICAS are made to the Academic Senates of each of the three segments. ICAS advises not only the senates of public higher education but also education officials and policymakers in California. It does not directly implement higher education policy.
Since 1980, leading issues handled by ICAS have included the development of a series of Statements on Competencies Expected of Entering College Students, the development and implementation of the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC), and content standards in English and mathematics for high school graduates. Most recently, ICAS was required by AB 928 (Berman, 2021) as the committee designated “to establish a singular lower division general education pathway that meets the academic requirements necessary for transfer admission to the California State University and the University of California…”