The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) selected UCF as part of its new Transfer Student Success and Equity Intensive. The inaugural cohortsinclude 30 institutional teams comprised of two-year and four-year institutions. The purpose of the collaboration is to ensure students from communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic can access, persist through and realize their higher education aspirations.
“We are proud to have been selected to participate in the Aspen-AASCU Transfer Intensive,” says Theodorea Regina Berry, dean of the College of Undergraduate Studies and vice provost for the Division of Student Learning and Academic Success. “It strengthens UCF’s efforts to inform, engage, and support students as they pursue their academic and personal aspirations.”
The Transfer Intensive, funded by Ascendium Education Philanthropy, will take place through October. Teams will receive one-on-one consulting with experts and work to identify, understand, and utilize critical transfer outcomes and equity data. As part of this community of practice, teams will attend monthly sessions focused on co-creating practices and policies to improve transfer student success and equity.
“Participating in the project will enhance our existing partnership with Miami Dade College (MDC),” says Berry. “It will allow us to learn from cohort participants and identify new opportunities to remove barriers and enhance transfer student success.”
The MDC and UCF partnership offers a pathway for students to earn their two-year degrees at MDC and transfer to UCF to continue their education. The earlier they identify as a transfer student to UCF, the sooner they will connect with UCF Success Coaches and support services to help them seamlessly transition to UCF.
UCF recently launched the Transfer Connect program to further enhance transfer student success, which provides comprehensive support, engagement, and resources to prospective and enrolled transfer students, both in-person and virtually. Additionally, transfer students have access to UCF Connect’s Transfer Center, which will open its permanent location Feb. 15 in Trevor Colbourn Hall in suite 215.
UCF has the largest number of transfer students among all of Florida’s public universities and has been recognized as a leader in transfer student success with DirectConnect to UCF, which guarantees admission to UCF for students with an associate degree or articulated degree from one of six partner state colleges.
