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Program seeks to increase number of transfer students at UI

Program seeks to increase number of transfer students at UI

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor 217-244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu

Each year about 125,000 students enroll in baccalaureate transfer programs at community colleges in Illinois, but only a small number of those students actually transfer to four-year public institutions, and many of the students who do transfer never achieve their dreams of earning four-year degrees, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Officials at the UI’s Urbana campus are hoping that a TEAM approach will draw more transfer students to Illinois and help them achieve their educational goals under a new program that is being funded in part by a three-year grant from the Lumina Foundation for Education. A private foundation based in Indianapolis, the Lumina Foundation strives to expand access to and success in postsecondary education, particularly for people from underrepresented groups, and recently awarded the UI an $899,000 grant for its Transfer Experience and Advising Mentors project.

The TEAM project is intended to help students from about 10 targeted community college districts within the state negotiate the transfer to Illinois and succeed academically. The program includes a specialized academic adviser and 22 peer mentors, recruited from organizations such as the Tau Sigma Honorary National Transfer Student Association. The peer mentors and the TEAM project coordinator will host information sessions, one-on-one sessions and panel discussions as well as online mentoring and discussion groups about Illinois and the transfer process for prospective students and their families.

The peer mentors also can offer first-hand perspectives as students who have succeeded in making the transition from community college to Illinois. Additionally, they will give intensive support during transfer students’ crucial first semester, helping foster the sense of community that has been shown to be critical to the success of students from underrepresented groups.

Illinois faculty members in consultation with community college instructors and academic advisers will develop a virtual transfer bridge comprising key courses that serve as gateways to specific majors and courses that may not be completed at community colleges. The gateway courses have been identified as frequent sources of course pattern failure, as barriers to transfer students’ success and/or as critical to students’ success at upper-level curricula.

The gateway courses, a blend of online learning and classroom instruction, will be offered at targeted community colleges around the state. The Office of Admissions and Records is developing a Web portal specifically for transfer students, similar to the portal that offers information specifically for freshmen.

Additionally, the university is examining and revising institutional policies and bureaucratic hurdles that impede access and opportunity for transfer students from underrepresented groups, such as the number of academic hours required for transfer and the availability of financial aid. The Illinois Promise program, which offers scholarships to freshmen and sophomores with family incomes at or below the poverty level, is being expanded to include eligible transfer students beginning in Academic Year 2008-2009.

To help facilitate intercollegiate transfers, the Council of Deans recommended at its July retreat to reduce the 60-credit-hour minimum requirement to 30 credit hours, where possible in various programs of study, beginning with the fall semester 2008.

Illinois is working with community college representatives to identify curricula where two-plus-two articulation agreements could be effective and will develop agreements that enhance curricular alignments and facilitate transfer. Over the next three years, the goal is to develop several specific articulation agreements, and innovative partnerships, such as dual enrollment programs, may be developed as well.

The TEAM project aligns with the objectives of Chancellor Richard Herman’s Strategic Plan for the Urbana campus, which include increasing access to the Illinois experience through expanded financial aid, increasing transfer student enrollment from about 1,000 students per year to 1,500 per year within five years, and increasing the availability of critical gateway courses in math, science and writing.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board are working with the UI on the project and share the university’s goal of increasing the number of Illinoisans who complete baccalaureate degrees.

“The support from the Lumina Foundation allows us to innovate as we advance toward strategic enrollment goals,” said Ruth Watkins, vice provost, who leads the project. “Promoting stronger partnerships with community colleges to ensure access and success for transfer students is a critical component of our Illinois mission. We are pleased to have garnered external support to assist the campus in assertively moving ahead in this critical area.”

The Office of the Provost is coordinating the TEAM project in cooperation with the Campus Center for Advising and Academic Services, the Office of Admissions and Records, the Office of the Dean of Students and other campus units. In addition to Watkins, the team members: Debra Bragg, professor of educational organization and leadership; Michael Jeffries, associate vice chancellor and director of the Office of Minority Student Affairs; Rhonda Kirts, associate dean of students; Stacey Kostell, director of admissions; Dan Mann, director of student financial aid; Keith Marshall, associate provost for enrollment management; Abel Montoya, associate director of admissions; Peter Mortensen, associate provost fellow; Feniosky Pena-Mora, associate provost fellow; and two staff members who are yet to be appointed.

TEAM project goals

The Transfer Experience and Advising Mentor project aligns with the university’s goal of increasing the diversity and excellence of the undergraduate student body by increasing transfer student enrollments significantly during the next five years – from about 1,000 students to 1,500 students each year. The project has four specific goals:

  • Increase the number of students who transfer to Illinois from 10 target community college districts within the state

  • Increase the academic success of transfer students, such as increasing the graduation rate for transfer students from 75 percent to 80 percent

  • Reduce institutional barriers that hamper transfer students’ success

  • Share project outcomes with partners, peer institutions and at the national level to promote adoption of TEAM model by other institutions

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