Presentation Transcript

1. Trending in Transfer: Current Practices and Issues Impacting Students

   2014 AZTransfer Summit Kathy Silberman and Rose Rojas Maricopa Community Colleges
2. Reverse Transfer Description: Coursework completed at a four-year institution is transferred back to the community college to satisfy associate degree requirements. Benefits: Increased number of associate degree completion contributes to statewide and national completion efforts Students achieve a milestone en route to the baccalaureate Supports associate degree completion for students in tightly sequenced majors such as engineering, architecture, and music Challenges: Time, labor, and resource intensive Perceived value of the associate degree by students Gaining student permission and participation
3. Reverse Transfer El Paso Community College /University of Texas at El Paso Model Pioneer of reverse transfer, fully-automated system Developed under a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institutions grant from the Dept. of Ed. Key elements: Data-sharing agreements, Student Information System degree-audit program Multi-state Initiative: “Credit When It’s Due” Funding from 5 national foundations supports expansion of reverse transfer programs in 12 states: AR,CO, FL, HI, MD, MI, MN, MO, NY, NC, OH, OR Maricopa Community Colleges Reverse transfer programs with ASU, NAU, and Grand Canyon University are in development Working through data sharing and student consent requirements, business processes, upper division to lower division articulation and technology needs Applied for a grant to support these efforts and maintain current service standards
4. Concurrent Enrollment Programs (CEP) Description: Students are simultaneously enrolled in two post-secondary institutions, in a structured, accelerated format to earn degrees from both institutions. Benefits: Timely degree completion Access to resources of both institutions Ensures class offerings Effective format for tightly sequenced programs like Nursing and Engineering Challenges: Financial Aid Labor Intensive Students must be ready for rigorous program of study
5. Concurrent Enrollment Programs (CEP) Maricopa Partners with Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and University of Phoenix to offer CEPs in nursing: The Concurrent Enrollment (Associate to Baccalaureate in Nursing) Program is designed for qualified pre-nursing students who are interested in earning their Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree while pursuing their Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Nursing degree. Students complete their BSN degree approximately one semester after graduating with their AAS degree. A limited number of participants are selected from the pool of students who have met all CEP eligibility requirements. Similar programs exist in Oklahoma, Virginia, New York, Florida, and elsewhere
6. Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Description: Students may earn college credit for college-level learning acquired from other sources, such as work experience, professional training, military training, or open source learning from the web. Benefits: PLA advances students toward their career goals and increases degree completion Creates momentum and recognition of previous efforts PLA also boosts overall college-going rates and retention Challenges: Cost can be prohibitive Transferability of credits/Inconsistency among how institutions evaluate and award prior learning credit Specialization (professional program accreditation standards)
7. PriorLearningAssessment (PLA) Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) National, non-profit organization focused on lifelong learning and serving adult learners, colleges and universities, employers, and workforce developers American Council on Education (ACE) Publishes credit recommendations for formal instructional programs offered by non-collegiate agencies, such as corporate and military training The Vermont State Colleges Model: One System-Wide Provider To date, more than 7,000 Vermonters have gone through the Office of External Programs, earning credit for their college-level learning gained outside the classroom System-wide to facilitate portfolio processing and transfer within the system PLA transcribed as transfer credit (for program application and transferability to other institutions) Data used to prove the effectiveness of PLA. Vermont’s program has documented its graduates successfully completing subsequent course work for more than 35 years. Buy-in and sustainability for PLA supported by including leaders and faculty, including detractors, in the process (e.g., recruit them to serve on standing committees, provide training) Credit classes offered to help students prepare a prior learning portfolio (essay, resume’, learning competencies met)
8. Impact of Federal Funding on Transfer Pathways Description: The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (signed into Public Law 112-74) amended the Higher Education Act to reduce the duration of a student’s eligibility to receive a Federal Pell Grant from 18 semesters (or its equivalent) to 12 semesters (or its equivalent). Financial Aid recipients must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), and those at maximum time frame (MTF) must appeal and adhere to a restricted course list to receive further aid. Benefits: Forces students to decide on an academic plan and adhere to it in order to qualify for continued aid Such laws and regulations propel students toward transferring by conveying, in effect, the message, “Don’t get too comfortable” Challenges: Impact on military students Requires advisor and financial aid-signed documentation of remaining coursework, which can be hard to accurately identify in advance with flexible degree programs “Published” course lists are needed, but labor intensive to create
9. Program Sequencing/Prescriptive Pathways Description: Community college students follow a prescribed set of courses that parallels the coursework of a native university student. Benefits: Students can know ahead of time the term in which each of their courses is going to be offered Enrollment can be managed so that course cancellations can be kept to a minimum Courses build upon each other to foster success throughout the curriculum Pathways are intentional and coherent Challenges: Labor and time intensive endeavor Garnering agreement on the “right sequence” Structure can be a problem for students who need flexibility
10. Program Sequencing/Prescriptive Pathways
11. Career & Technical (CTE)/OccupationalDegrees Description: Applied Science programs designed for students who wish to gain a depth of technical expertise in preparation for the workforce are increasingly recognized as transferrable. Benefits: Successful transfer through formalized articulation arrangements can increase bachelor degree completion Students can work in a field while extending their education Students can change their goals and not have to start over Challenges: Lingering perceptions that these degrees are terminal degrees Few resources to help students plan for a successful transfer Aligning AAS programs to Bachelor’s degrees is not always clear-cut
12. Career & Technical (CTE)/OccupationalDegrees AZ Transfer Policy for AAS to BAS Transfer: 60-60 or 75-45 credit models 75-45 includes 15 credits beyond the AAS to satisfy specific general education requirements not met within the AAS Marketing: College Times (county) Career Magazine (district) Transfer Magazine AAS to BAS Degree (district) Pathways brochure (district)
13. Career & Technical (CTE)/OccupationalDegrees Transfer Partner Resources: Northern Arizona University- 9 BAS programs
14. Career & Technical (CTE)/OccupationalDegrees Transfer Partner Resources: Arizona State University- 14 BAS programs, Online Matching Tool
15. Career & Technical (CTE)/OccupationalDegrees Coming Soon! AZtransfer.com Online AAS to BAS Matching Tool http://www.aztransfer.com/associates_degrees/aas_bas.html
16. 90/30Programs Description: Students complete 90 credits at a community college and complete the remaining 30 hours of a Bachelor’s degree at a 4-year college or university. Benefits: Flexible Cost effective Attractive option for students who have accumulated a lot of credits Works well for “degree completion” within flexible majors like Interdisciplinary Studies, General Studies, Liberal Arts Challenges: Financial Aid Documentation for reaching Maximum Time Frame Not an option for every major
17. 90/30Programs From Maricopa’s University Partner Search Database:
18. Exploratory Pathways Description: Undecided/undeclared students are “re-framed” as exploratory students, and are guided within a structured set of support services while deciding on a major. Benefits: Provides general education structure for students emphazing math and English in early semesters Introduces career resources and planning tools to students in early stages of their educational path Forces students to decide on major by certain credit mark Challenges: Hard to market to students Difficult to track success and effectiveness
19. Exploratory Pathways Maricopa - Arizona State University Exploratory Pathways Program Students enroll in this program with their community college advisor, and choose from four themed pathways to access support resources within their general areas of interest. ASU provides advisement, student services workshops, and online resources to help students decide on specific majors. transfer.asu.edu/maricopa Major Matters Program at Georgia State University Provides a variety of resources to help students to decide on a major/career in an “informed, deliberative matter.” http://www.cas.gsu.edu/major_matters.html College Undecided Programs at Virginia Tech University Students choose a general area, such as life sciences, business, or natural resources and work with an advisor and participate in exploration opportunities to narrow-in on a specific major within the college. http://www.admiss.vt.edu/majors/index.php/majors/major/US Major Advising Program (MAP) in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania Students are partnered with peer advisors who are juniors and seniors in majors of interest. http://www.college.upenn.edu/map/
20. Incentivizing Associate Degree Completion Description: Students can earn scholarships, block credit transfer, waived admission application fees, and assured admission to specific programs—all designated for associate degree graduates. Benefits: Student: Associate degree is earned, lower unemployment rate and higher median weekly income (compared to non-college graduates), financial savings Four-year institutions: recruitment Community Colleges: completion rate increases Challenges: Can limit benefits to other transfer students Record keeping and data sharing
21. Incentivizing Associate Degree Completion Scholarships Tuition cohort placement Guaranteed Admission Dedicated Advisement Waived application fees Benefits = GRADUATION +
22. Workforce Solutions Description: Areas of high-need in the labor market are addressed by building partnerships with employers and government agencies to offer career education and training. Benefits: Addresses skill gap—the difference between needed and available trained employees Creates a pipeline to meet industry needs Provides apprenticeships, internships, and clinical placement opportunities Challenges: Lack of articulated pathways for non-credit programs—need for coordination between credit and non-credit programs Business vs. Academic model Competition with credit programs
23. Workforce Solutions Maricopa Corporate College established last year to develop and deliver need-based training solutions to businesses and continuing education to professionals http://www.maricopacorporatecollege.com/ To address the American skills gap*, institutions should: Better understand labor market trends and employers’ needs EXAMPLE:Walla Walla Community College educated workers and business owners in the vineyard industry—updated a slowing agriculture industry and replaced jobs lost in other areas. Redesign student experiences to incorporate more work-based, hands-on, and technology-enriched learning EXAMPLE:White Mountains Community College is one of 11 institutions in an online business incubator network (especially helpful in increasing jobs and revenue in rural areas). Engage actively with partners to match education and training with jobs EXAMPLE: William Rainey Harper College partnered with 54 companies to develop a program of stackable credentials—including industry approved certificates, paid internships, and pathways to associate and bachelor’s degrees. *American Association of Community Colleges. (2014). Empowering Community Colleges to Build the Nation’s Future: An Implementation Guide. Washington D.C. www.aacc21stcenturycenter.org
24. Discussion / Questions Reverse Transfer Concurrent Enrollment Programs Prior Learning Assessment Impact of Federal Funding on Transfer Pathways Program Sequencing/Prescriptive Pathways Career & Technical (CTE)/Occupational Degrees 90/30 Programs Exploratory Pathways Incentivizing Associate Degree Completion Workforce Solutions
25. Thank you! Rose Rojas Director of Transfer & Academic Partnerships rose.rojas@domail.maricopa.edu 480.731.8039 Kathy Silberman Transfer Project Coordinator kathy.silberman@domail.maricopa.edu 480.731.8029 $ 81