Aspen-AASCU Transfer Student Success and Equity Intensive

Return to Community College Transfer

The Transfer Intensive is a one-year initiative consisting of monthly sessions designed to support partnerships between community colleges and AASCU members in advancing the practices and policies associated with improved, more equitable transfer student success. The workshop series will provide practical support aimed at accelerating transfer reform over the course of the year at participating institutions. The program is free for all participants thanks to the generous support of Ascendium.

The Aspen - AASCU Intensive: Transfer Student Success and Equity, application cycle is currently closed. Please see more details about the project below. And contact Heather Adams at heather.adams@aspeninstitute.org with any inquiries about the 2021 cohort and/or future opportunities.

Roster of Institutional Teams: 2021-22

The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program (Aspen) and the American Association of State Colleges & Universities (AASCU) Division of Academic Innovation are excited to announce the 30 institutional teams that are part the inaugural two cohorts of the Aspen-AASCU Intensive: Transfer Student Success and Equity.

View the Institutions

Why participate in the Transfer Intensive?

The Transfer Intensive provides participating institutions with:

A 12-part, year-long series of strategy and practice-focused workshops based on the Aspen and CCRC Transfer Playbook and other research and tools
Up to four hours of one-on-one consulting with experts to support your transfer efforts
Support in identifying, collecting, understanding, and utilizing critical transfer outcomes and equity data
A community of practice focused on transfer and equity
Elevation of your institution’s transfer success stories

What is the time commitment of the Transfer Intensive?

Participating institutions' core transfer team (see full description below) should expect to meet once a month for two hours; see cohort session calendar here for reference.
The two-and-four-year presidents of participating institutions must attend four sessions (detailed in the session calendar).
Up to four consulting sessions with transfer experts are available to participating institutions. Institutions will be required to participate in at least two of the offered consulting sessions (either as a team or individually to address specific concerns).
Project management leads from both the two- and four-year institutions should expect some light-to-moderate follow-up or pre-work outside of the monthly sessions (i.e., completing pre-, mid-, and post-engagement evaluations, developing their capstone, etc.). including a session designed for the program managers within the first 2 months of the project.
Teams will be provided strategies for collaborating with their institutional research office to obtain key metrics for transfer student success outcomes in accordance with research-based practice. (Data report and goal setting template will be provided.)

How to join the Transfer Intensive?

As part of the application process, participating institutions must designate a core institutional team to lead this initiative on their campus. Community colleges interested in applying must identify one or more AASCU institutions as part of the entire transfer initiative. Interested AASCU institutions must identify one or more community college partners (limit two) as part of the entire transfer initiative.

Core team members attend every session and should be composed of no more than eight people across partner institutions. However, up to 10 individuals across partnering institutions can attend per workshop based on the breakdown below. Transfer Intensive teams are composed of:

Two-Year Representatives

President of the two-year institution (required to attend four sessions, see cohort 1 sample session calendar for reference)
Chief Academic Officer or cabinet-level lead from the two-year institution/s - required to attend all sessions
Project management lead from the community college preferable with direct responsibility for transfer (e.g., a Director of Transfer, Transfer Advisor) - required to attend all sessions
One-to-two other representatives from the two-year institution that have direct responsibility for core transfer functions (e.g., advising; registrar; financial aid; transfer center directors; dean, department chair, or other faculty representative(s), especially when the CAO is not the cabinet-level lead)
In addition to those required to attend all sessions, others may be invited to specific sessions based on their institutional role. See session topics for reference.

Four-Year Representatives

President of the four-year institution (required to attend four sessions, see cohort 1 sample session calendar for reference)
Cabinet-level lead from the four-year university (e.g., Provost or VP Enrollment) - required to attend all sessions
Project management lead from the four-year university with direct responsibility for transfer (e.g., a Director of Transfer, Special Assistant, or AVP of student success) - required to attend all sessions
One to two representative/s from the four-year university that have direct responsibility for core transfer functions (e.g., advising; registrar; financial aid; transfer center directors; dean, department chair, or other faculty representative, especially when the Provost is not the cabinet-level lead)
In addition to those required to attend all sessions, others may be invited to specific sessions based on their institutional role. See session topics for reference.

Application Process?

The Transfer Intensive application is currently closed. Please contact Heather Adams at heather.adams@aspeninstitute.org with any inquiries about the 2021 cohort and/or future opportunities

General application requirements:

The names, titles, contact information, and department affiliations of the designated participants (see complete list above)
A statement of support from the president of the four-year institution, see word template here
A statement of support from the two-year institution’s president, see word template here
Questionnaire on your institution’s transfer student community and resources (this questionnaire should take about 10 minutes to fill out -- have any institutional transfer data handy)
A few words about why you are interested in participating (250 words)

We hope you will consider participating in this initiative. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Heather Adams, senior program manager of the project: heather.adams@aspeninstitute.org.