Tennessee higher education leaders met to help transfer students succeed

Public and private university officials, whose work serves as a key to the success of Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam’s Drive to 55 initiative, met in February to collect more tools for growing the number of college-educated Tennesseans.

More than 130 transfer counselors, registrars, and advising directors from Tennessee’s public and private colleges and universities met in Murfreesboro on February 22-23 for the 2017 Tennessee Transfer Summit.

Attendees heard from transfer expert Janet Marling. Marling is vice president for student affairs at the University of North Georgia and executive director of the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students. She gave the keynote address on resolving obstacles to transfer student success.

India Lane, University of Tennessee associate vice president for academic affairs and student success, said collaboration is key for successful college transfers.

“Bringing this passionate group together will enhance intercampus interactions and add to the momentum of current statewide initiatives,” Lane said. “We also hope to learn what we need to do next to optimize policy and practice for transfer and other student populations across Tennessee.”

Kathryn Rhodes, dean of academic student services at Roane State Community College, recognized the need for transfer initiatives to accommodate the increase of students participating in the Tennessee Promise.

“Some students who might in the past have chosen to go to a four-year school instead are choosing community college because it’s a better deal for them, and so we’ve seen an increase in students who are then planning to transfer,” Rhodes said.

Along with a detailed overview of multiple initiatives to ease and promote transition from community college to four-year university, such as reverse transfer, Tennessee Transfer Pathways, and Tennessee Reconnect, attendees were updated on:

• state and national trends and issues for transfer students,
• innovations in campus-based transfer programs and services, and
• intra-campus collaboration for greater student transfer success.

The 2017 Tennessee Transfer Summit was hosted by the University of Tennessee and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

“Creating clear and straightforward transfer options benefits all students in Tennessee, whether they are first-time students or adults coming back to get a degree,” said THEC’s Assistant Executive Director of Adult Learner Initiatives Jessica Gibson. “When students understand their path forward in higher education, they have the tools they need to persist, graduate, and reach their education and career goals”

The agenda and speaker biography are available at http://transfersummit.tennessee.edu.

This press release was submitted by Alyssa Janssen.