Colleges will help students to transfer
As an increasing number of Ohio students take nontraditional paths to college, Capital University and Columbus State Community College are partnering on an initiative to better support transfer students.
Even though the two institutions are separate, their hope is that they can begin to operate more like “one school with a 4-milelong hallway,” said Martin Maliwesky, associate vice president of academic affairs at Columbus State.
The two schools kicked off the 18-month endeavor Friday. In partnership with the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, they are sharing institutional data and information and working in committees as part of a joint study to determine what they are doing well, what they should change, and what they can start doing to improve the success of transfer students.
The two schools already share a transfer partnership agreement, which gives students a seamless transfer from Columbus State to Capital after completing their first two years of requirements. The ultimate goal of the joint study is to increase completion of fouryear degrees by transfer students.
“We have had a
relationship with Columbus State, by virtue of the students that we share, for many, many years,” said Capital President Beth Paul. “Our commitment today is to deepen that.”
Transfer students typically have more difficulty transitioning to and completing degrees at four-year colleges. A 2016 study by Columbia University and the Aspen Institute — an educational and policy-studies organization based in Washington, D.C., that has offices in Aspen, Colorado, and elsewhere — showed that among community college students who successfully transferred, only 42 percent completed a bachelor’s degree at a fouryear university.
Early ideas for Capital and Columbus State include Columbus State students accessing Capital resources, potentially including student housing, library access, participation in student organizations and athletics, and some dual enrollment.
“We’re going to start treating (transfer) students not as Columbus State students that come to Capital, but as Capital students who just aren’t on this campus yet,” said Jody Fournier, Capital’s provost and vice president of learning. “It’ll be a new day for transfer students.”
Both Capital and Columbus State have worked with the Gardner Institute on studentsuccess initiatives in the past. The North Carolinabased nonprofit partners with colleges, universities, philanthropic organizations, educators and others to improve teaching, learning, completion, equity and social justice.
John H. Gardner, the head of the institute, said that although the number of Ohio high school graduates is decreasing, the decline in college-age students is being offset by an increase in seventh- through 12th-graders taking college courses.
“Here in Ohio, you’ve got this perfect storm, demographically,” he said. “You’ve got this huge transfer population in the pipeline. Institutions have got to be prepared to better serve those students.”
Stakeholders from both Capital and Columbus State met Friday to begin sharing ideas and information. Next, committees of staff and faculty members and students from both schools will continue to collaborate, ultimately coming together to create an action plan and begin implementing it next year. Both schools, though, will make some immediate adjustments as needed.
“This is a big deal to students and families throughout central Ohio,” said Columbus State President David Harrison. “When you think about the assets and the diversity and the differences that we have between the institutions, I think we can really use that to our advantage.”