During our Teagle/Arthur Vining Davis grant funded project, “Oregon Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts,” we have learned that strong partnerships with community colleges are critical to building effective pathways for community college students to transfer to private liberal arts universities. The partnerships must include communication networks, personal connections between sectors, and consortial agreements that make student facing information clear and accessible. Building these partnerships is complex and requires input and buy-in from multiple entities in each sector. In this presentation I will focus on our work to build partnerships between Oregon’s 17 community colleges and eight members of the Oregon Alliance of Independent Colleges & Universities. I will share lessons learned from: • Work during our planning grant • Student input • An Alliance sponsored, Credo facilitated, Ford Family Foundation funded campus scan for transfer student readiness • Five regional workshops that targeted invitations to advisors, administrators and faculty • Presentations at conferences that have a significant presence of either faculty or staff as academic advisors • Shared documents we have co-created between sectors that provide advice on best practices for informing and supporting transfer-intending and transfer students • A video series that will be developed on selected topics in the transfer process • Faculty connections with staff advisors • A realization that this process needs to officially begin with high school counselors. I will share agendas for workshops, best practices documents we have co-created, and planned next steps. I will solicit advice on topics for informative videos and additional ideas for partnership building.
