Projects

IMPROVING PRACTITIONER KNOWLEDGE TO INCREASE TRANSFER

The project "Improving Practitioner Knowledge to Increase Transfer" (IPKIT) has been funded by Lumina Foundation for Education as one means to increase attainment of the baccalaureate by community college transfer students. Through the creation of various learning modules, the project aims to provide both two- and four-year college practitioners with the knowledge and skills to gather and analyze institution-specific data on transfer student preparation and the transfer process. The immediate goal is the improvement of support programs for community college students who plan to and do transfer to baccalaureate-degree granting institutions. Dr. Barbara Townsend is the PI for the grant, which began August 1, 2006.

The learning modules, which can be found at the IPKIT Web site, are on the following topics:

• Institutional Audit of Policies, Practices, and Attitudes Affecting Transfer Students
  • Version 1: For Community Colleges
  • Version 2: For Baccalaureate Degree Institutions
• Conducting Focus Groups about Transfer
• Constructing Surveys about Transfer
• Coding Open-Ended Responses to Survey Questions
• Data Sources for Information about Transfer and Degree Attainment

MISSOURI COLLEGE ADVISING GUIDES

The Missouri College Advising Guides program at the University of Missouri-Columbia has been funded by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation as one of 10 programs across the country. The program has the goal of increasing “college enrollment and graduation among high-ability, low-income high school students and to encourage community college students to continue their studies toward completion of bachelor’s degrees”  (MU News Bureau release, March 21, 2007). To do so, the University will select recent MU graduates to work in eight high schools and three community colleges as college advising guides for one or two years. They will “guide students on how to prepare themselves for college admission, how to choose a college that matches their interests, and how to complete admissions and financial aid applications…[and] provide parents with information they need to encourage and support their children’s pursuit of a college degree. Those working in the community college will help ensure that disadvantaged students take the courses they need to continue their educations at four-year institutions around the state” (MU News Bureau release, March 21, 2007).

Dr. Jeff Williams is the Principal Investigator and Dr. Barbara Townsend in the Co-Investigator for the $1 million four-year grant, which began May 1, 2007. Dr. Townsend has primary responsibility for working with the guides placed in the community colleges, including development of their training curriculum.

THE ADULT LEARNER AND THE APPLIED BACCALAUREATE

Funded by Lumina Foundation for Education, “The Adult Learner and the Applied Baccalaureate” is a two-year project designed to provide federal, state, and local leaders and policy makers with up-to-date, detailed information about the applied baccalaureate phenomenon in the United States, including the extent to which it currently targets adult learners’ educational needs and the potential it shows for meeting adult learners’ needs in the future.

Recognizing the vital link between a healthy economy and a well educated adult workforce, this project sought in its first year to document the extent of the applied baccalaureate phenomenon, whether awarded by associate degree-granting institutions, typically called community colleges, or by traditional baccalaureate degree-granting institutions. Additionally, the project identified state-level and institutional factors that influence the development and sustenance of these degree options for adult learners.  Click here to see the report from the 1^st year: The Adult Learner and the Applied Baccalaureate: National and State-by-State Inventory(pdf). Click here to see the policy brief from the 1st year: The Adult Learner and the Applied Baccalaureate: Emerging Lessons for State and Local Implementation(doc).

The next phase of the project will include visits to selected states and institutions to examine in greater depth the policy decisions behind the creation of applied baccalaureate programs as well as details of their implementation, including student outcomes.

Dr. Barbara K. Townsend is the P-I and Dr. Debra Bragg at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign is the Co-PI of this two-year project, which began September, 2007, and is funded for a total of $294,800.

UNIVERSITY ACTIONS AND DIMENSIONS AFFECTING TRANSFER STUDENT'S ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION

This study, funded by the University of North Texas Institute for the Study of Transfer in 2006, sought to ascertain the formal and informal institutional actions and dimensions affecting the academic and social integration of community college transfers within a large, public, Research Extensive university. Twelve participants from a previous study were interviewed about their experiences at the university, in terms of Tinto's theory of factors affecting college departure. The viability of his theory for community college transfers was examined. Additionally, the findings yielded insight into what baccalaureate-granting colleges can do to better integrate community college transfer students into the university community and thus retain them to baccalaureate completion.  

The principal investigators on this project, funded at $750, were Barbara Townsend and Kristin Wilson. The study will appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of College Student Retention.