Aspen-AASCU Transfer Student Success Intensive

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The Aspen - AASCU Transfer Student Success Intensive (Intensive) is a one-year initiative consisting of monthly virtual sessions and consulting hours designed to support partnerships between community colleges and AASCU members in advancing practices associated with improved transfer student success. The workshop series will provide practical support aimed at accelerating transfer reform.

The program is free for all participants thanks to the generous support of Ascendium. The Intensive application cycle is currently closed.

Please see more details about the project below. Contact Kate Hamilton at kate.hamilton@aspeninstitute.org with any inquiries about future opportunities.
Transfer Intensive Alumni Teams
2021-23: Cohort 1 and 2 
Transfer Intensive reached:
  • 20 states
  • 71 institutions/3 systems ​
  • 21 rural/town institutions​
  • 50 suburban/urban institutions ​
  • 27 MSIs (9 HSIs, 1 PBI, 1 AANAPISI)​
  • 1,008,649+ undergrads served annually​
  • 13,000+ transfers between partners annually​
  • 6,482 (50%) of these students attain BA in 6 years​
  • 63 presidents​
  • ~500 administrators and practitioners 
2024-25: Cohort 3
Transfer Intensive will reach:
  • 9 states
  • 20 institutions (10 CCs, 10 4-yrs)​
  • 7 rural/town institutions​
  • 13 suburban/urban institutions ​​
  • 7 MSIs (7 HSIs, 1 PBI, 3 AANAPISIs)​
  • 207,593 undergrads served annually​​ 
Why participate in the Transfer Intensive?
The Transfer Intensive provides participating institutions with:
  • A year-long, 12-part, virtual series of strategy-focused workshops based on the @Aspen Institute and @Community College Research Center (CCRC) Transfer Playbook and other transfer research
  • Four hours of free consulting to support your transfer efforts
  • Support to identify, understand, collect, and utilize critical disaggregated transfer data
  • A national community of practice focused on elevating excellence in transfer reform
  • Elevation of your institution’s transfer success reforms, stories, and successful practices on Aspen and AASCU media and communication platforms
What is the time commitment of the Transfer Intensive?
Presidents of all participating institutions must attend the four presidential sessions (detailed in the session calendar here.
  • Project managers (PM) and cabinet lead representatives from all participating institutions should expect moderate follow-up and/or pre-work outside the monthly Intensive sessions.
    • Pre-and-post-session work should include, but is not limited to:
      • routine discussion with partner PM, cabinet lead, and core team members between sessions to ensure the team is on track and ready for each session,
      • follow up with presidential and board commitments based on the Intensive participant project plan,
      • optional office hours with Aspen/AASCU staff for continued professional development, peer consultancy, and knowledge sharing;
      • in addition, PMs must attend a training session before the Intensive Kickoff
  • Other transfer intensive team members (see full description below) must attend all monthly sessions. For reference, see the cohort 3 session calendar here.
  • Time and discussion for transfer data collection
    • Aspen/AASCU will provide teams with strategies for collaborating with their institutional research office to obtain critical metrics for transfer student success outcomes per research-based practices.(Aspen/AASCU will provide a data report and a goal-setting template.)
    • IR representatives must attend a training session before the Intensive Kickoff.
  • Time and discussion for student feedback and insights
    • Aspen/AASCU will provide teams with strategies and sample questions for leading student focus groups while participating in the Intensive.
  • Four hours of free consulting with transfer experts
    • Institutions will be required to participate in at least two hours of consulting (either as a partnership team or individually as an institution) to address specific concerns within the year-long program
How to join the Transfer Intensive?
Community colleges interested in applying must identify one or more AASCU institutions committed to participating in the entire year-long initiative.
  • AASCU institutions interested in applying must identify one or more community college partners (limit two) committed to participating in the entire year-long initiative
  • All participating presidents must sign letters indicating their institutions' commitment to the initiative.
  • As part of the application process, institutions must:
    • Designate a project manager and a cabinet-level lead to spearhead this initiative on their campus
    • Designate other staff and faculty who will attend monthly sessions and support operationalizing the team's transfer reform. See details on the ideal makeup of this group below
Transfer Intensive teams must be composed of the following roles and responsibilities:

Community College Representatives

  • President of the four-year institution/s. As part of their commitment to the Intensive Presidents will:
    • Attend all four presidential sessions. See cohort 3 preliminary schedule for reference
      • Convene with their partner president outside of Intensive sessions to set a concrete partnership vision statement Review initial transfer data and support the collection of future data needed to track progress toward short and long-term transfer goals Approve the model/s, goals, reform priorities, Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP), and funding to support the STEP Communicate with internal and external stakeholders about the STEP and the value of transfer students to the institution Share transfer goals and value of transfer students to the institution/s through joint statement with partner president, community appearances, regional op-eds, etc.
  • Cabinet-level lead from four-year institution/s. As part of their commitment to the Intensive Cabinet-level leads will:
    • Attend all Intensive sessions.
    • Facilitate team activities during each session.
    • Connect regularly with their counterparts, project managers, and core team members between sessions to ensure they are on track and ready for each session
    • Align the team's goal and practice reform priorities with the president's vision
    • Generate alignment among key leaders and stakeholders on their respective campuses.
    • Guide presidential and board commitments to the Intensive
    • Lead the execution of the Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP)
    • Lay solid foundations for effective communication and governance across partnerships
  • Project management lead from four year institution/s -preferably with direct responsibility for transfer (e.g., a director of transfer, transfer advisor, transfer coordinator). *Please note: this role requires strong organization, coordination, and administrative skills. As part of their commitment to the Intensive project managers (PM), leads will:
    • Attend all Intensive sessions Manage team communications across the partnership/s and with the Aspen/AASCU Team.
      • Manage team materials, notes, and assignments in the shared Google Drive Coordinate internal and external meetings between partner presidents, stakeholders, and/or the Aspen/AASCU Team Work in partnership with cabinet leads to align vision and operations Manage the development and finalization of the Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP), including submitting the STEP to the Aspen/AASCU Team
  • Institutional research office representative from the four-year institution/s
    • This representative will also attend an IR onboarding session before the Transfer Intensive Kickoff to better understand the transfer data teams will be working with. The IR rep from the community college and the four-year institutions should also expect to meet outside of monthly sessions to confer on transfer data alignment.
  • Faculty representative from the four-year institution/s
    • The best representative for this role is a current faculty transfer champion and supporter on your campus. Perhaps a dean, department chair, faculty senate representative, etc.
  • One-to-two other representatives from the four-year institution/s that have direct responsibility for transfer functions at the institution/s
    • The best representative/s for this role/s would be a transfer center director, advising, registrar, financial aid, student affairs representative, or others who are working with transfer students regularly, etc.;
  • In addition to those required to attend all sessions, other campus representatives are invited to specific sessions based on their institutional role and session topic. See session topics for reference.

Four-Year Institution Representatives

  • President of the four-year institution/s. As part of their commitment to the Intensive Presidents will:
    • Attend all four presidential sessions. See cohort 3 preliminary schedule for reference
      • Convene with their partner president outside of Intensive sessions to set a concrete partnership vision statement Review initial transfer data and support the collection of future data needed to track progress toward short and long-term transfer goals Approve the model/s, goals, reform priorities, Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP), and funding to support the STEP Communicate with internal and external stakeholders about the STEP and the value of transfer students to the institution Share transfer goals and value of transfer students to the institution/s through joint statement with partner president, community appearances, regional op-eds, etc.
  • Cabinet-level lead from four-year institution/s. As part of their commitment to the Intensive Cabinet-level leads will:
    • Attend all Intensive sessions.
    • Facilitate team activities during each session.
    • Connect regularly with their counterparts, project managers, and core team members between sessions to ensure they are on track and ready for each session
    • Align the team's goal and practice reform priorities with the president's vision
    • Generate alignment among key leaders and stakeholders on their respective campuses.
    • Guide presidential and board commitments to the Intensive
    • Lead the execution of the Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP)
    • Lay solid foundations for effective communication and governance across partnerships
  • Project management lead from four year institution/s -preferably with direct responsibility for transfer (e.g., a director of transfer, transfer advisor, transfer coordinator). *Please note: this role requires strong organization, coordination, and administrative skills. As part of their commitment to the Intensive project managers (PM), leads will:
    • Attend all Intensive sessions Manage team communications across the partnership/s and with the Aspen/AASCU Team.
      • Manage team materials, notes, and assignments in the shared Google Drive Coordinate internal and external meetings between partner presidents, stakeholders, and/or the Aspen/AASCU Team Work in partnership with cabinet leads to align vision and operations Manage the development and finalization of the Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP), including submitting the STEP to the Aspen/AASCU Team
  • Institutional research office representative from the four-year institution/s
    • This representative will also attend an IR onboarding session before the Transfer Intensive Kickoff to better understand the transfer data teams will be working with. The IR rep from the community college and the four-year institutions should also expect to meet outside of monthly sessions to confer on transfer data alignment.
  • Faculty representative from the four-year institution/s
    • The best representative for this role is a current faculty transfer champion and supporter on your campus. Perhaps a dean, department chair, faculty senate representative, etc.
  • One-to-two other representatives from the four-year institution/s that have direct responsibility for transfer functions at the institution/s
    • The best representative/s for this role/s would be a transfer center director, advising, registrar, financial aid, student affairs representative, or others who are working with transfer students regularly, etc.;
  • In addition to those required to attend all sessions, other campus representatives are invited to specific sessions based on their institutional role and session topic. See session topics for reference.
What is the Application Process?
The Transfer Intensive application is currently closed.

Please contact Kate Hamilton, Senior Program Manager, at kate.hamilton@aspeninstitute.org with any inquiries about the 2025-26 cohort, future opportunities, questions, or concerns.
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