Oklahoma--Oklahoma State University has partnered with Northern Oklahoma College and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in an initiative aimed at increasing transfer rates for minority, first-generation and adult students.
Funded by ECMC Foundation and Ascendium Education Group, the Equity Transfer Initiative (ETI) will award up to $27,500 to partnerships between community colleges and four-year institutions to advance and align transfer pathways to increase transfer and completion rates for underrepresented student populations.
The initiative, led by the AACC, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the Association of Public and Landgrant Universities (APLU), includes 16 partnerships from 13 states involving 17 community colleges and 19 universities.
Cheryl Kleeman, director of the OSU Transfer and Student Veteran Success office, said the initiative presented two important opportunities for OSU: The ability to serve a largely marginalized population of students and the opportunity to strengthen its partnership with NOC.
“We had already been working on ways to better support transfer students between our two institutions, and the ETI was a natural progression,” Kleeman said. “The ETI also aligns with one of OSU’s highest priorities to promote a more diverse and inclusive environment. The ETI gives us the ability to build seamless pathways into OSU for underrepresented transfer students, which will lead them to high-demand careers.”
“NOC values its partnership with OSU and is thankful for the opportunity through the Equity in Partnership grant to strengthen that relationship even further in assisting more students with smooth transfers,” said Dr. Pamela Stinson, NOC vice president for academic affairs. “The application deadline for the grant required a quick turnaround, but the institutional research offices and other leads on both campuses worked hard and quickly to provide the necessary data and narrative to support how readily our institutions could build on the existing partnership.”
The ETI aims to serve 6,000 students over the two-year project period. Each team must place at least 100 students on one of five identified transfer pathways by the end of the first year and a total of 300 or more by the end of the second year.
AACC President and CEO Walter G. Bumphus said he is delighted to see the project come to fruition.
“As a part of AACC’s Unfinished Business initiative, it is vitally important for community colleges to close the equity and achievement gaps,” he said. “The Equity Transfer Initiative is designed to focus on new and evidence-based equity strategies that will ensure ...
