Yes, there will be additional presenters for this sessionCommittee: Group I: Admissions and Enrollment Management

First Learning Outcome: Best practices and lessons learned from an ongoing case study 

Second Learning Outcome: Creating a transfer student experience

Third Learning Outcome: Shared resources amongst institutions

Core Competency: Collaborative Decision-Making

Proficiency: Transfer & Articulation Proficiency

Intended Audience: General Audience / Intended for Everyone

As one of the largest regional systems in the nation, Kent State University’s (KSU) footprint spans all northeast Ohio. Similarly, this region is home to numerous two-year institutions with similar objectives, vying for the same prospective students. As the enrollment crisis continues to permeate nationally, developing strategic partnerships with these institutions is essential to support student access, student success, and institutional sustainability. With a focus on creating transfer-specific, high-value activities and opportunities, Kent State and its partners have developed degree pathways and scalable transfer programs and services.

In the Spring of 2019, Ascendium Education Solutions, Inc. (Ascendium) awarded KSU with a grant endorsing their efforts to develop a comprehensive statewide transfer blueprint. Working with three regional two-year institutions – Lorain County Community College, Eastern Gateway Community College, and Columbus State Community College, this project would develop vertical high-impact pathways, enhance transfer student advising and engagement, increase data sharing, and address the needs of underrepresented students. This session will provide a brief history of the Kent Regional system and how competing interests among local institutions, shifted to a partnership with common goals.

What role does the mission of the KSU regional campuses play in nurturing these partnerships and how has KSU leveraged its eight-campus system to support these collaborations to enhance access to a wide array of student populations.

Included in this review will be:

History
An account of previous opportunities/partnerships (EGCC)
The impetus - What worked/Didn’t work
The pandemic and pivoting

Current State
Successes in pathway development
Creation of transfer modules
Course development

Future State
Enhanced transfer advising
Data sharing opportunities

Presenter(s): 

Andrew Crawford Kent State University

Donald Bean Kent State University

Jonathan Gates Kent State University