This project seeks to positively impact the success of low-income transfer students across Washington State by expanding our existing STEM Transfer Partnerships (STP) community of practice (CoP) and adding partnerships in non-STEM pathways. The purpose of the information we ask for in this application is to understand your institutional contexts and relationships, and to select five transfer partnerships.
The STP program, which currently includes 9 partnerships between 19 2-year and 4-year institutions, was established in 2021 to improve STEM transfer and completion for low-income students. Beginning in fall 2024, participating institutions expanded their teams and added undergraduate students to their change leadership teams, who also engage in a dedicated student CoP. We want to use what we have learned from STP to continue to expand these partnerships and the STP CoP beyond STEM programs.
While we are working to secure additional funding, the current funding is for one year and is designed as a foundation-building and pilot phase. This may include identifying and implementing targeted strategies to address identified barriers to transfer, and generating evidence to inform future scaling and investment. Some of the goals of this pilot year include:
- Establish or strengthen cross-institutional partnerships
Begin or improve data sharing between partners
Identify 1-2 barriers in transfer pathways for low-income transfer students
Pilot targeted, evidence-based activities or efforts to address barriers
Hire and engage student members on your partnership team (one per institution) to help collect and identify data on transfer barriers and experiences from the student perspective
Each new partnership team (consisting of one program/department at each institution) chosen to participate will receive $10,000 ($5,000 per institution). The goal is to bring together pairs of institutions to share data, identify priority barriers in transfer pathways, and pilot one targeted strategy to improve transfer experiences and outcomes for low-income students. While the long-term aim is to create solutions to increase bachelor’s degree completion among low-income transfer students, teams are expected, during the project period, to demonstrate progress in implementing data-driven solutions. Partnerships will also work to create sustainable partnerships that share their learning with their own institutions and throughout the state.
CCRI will support the Washington Transfer Partnerships from selection through action planning. Using an equity-focused selection rubric, CCRI will identify 5 partnerships that reflect diverse geography, disciplines, and starting points. We will facilitate an introductory webinar and provide onboarding materials to set teams up for success. Throughout the pilot year, CCRI will conduct regular check-ins and provide coaching and technical assistance to strengthen collaboration, along with data guidance and templates to support action plan development. New partnerships will connect to the STP community of practice for shared learning across the state. This work will be coordinated with the Student Success Center at SBCTC.
