This year the Tech and Transfer conference continued with the “hot” topics of the last few years – namely reverse transfer and data-driven decision making tools.
For those that may not be familiar with the concept of reverse transfer, it is essentially a completion strategy aimed at giving students credentials that they have earned, maybe without realizing it, through a combination of coursework at more than one institution. (This procedure has the “added” benefit of improving institutional completion and graduation statistics!) The most common scenario is when a 2yr/community college student transfers to a 4yr institution before fully completing their associate program requirements. Often courses completed at the 4yr can be transferred back to the 2yr school to allow the student to complete these program requirements and earn the appropriate credential. The benefit of reverse transfer to the student is the “resume-building” credential. The benefit to the 2yr school is a completion/graduation. The 4yr school can also report the student as an associates-level or certificate completer.
There tend to be two primary hurdles to the reverse transfer process. The first is FERPA, which requires that the student sign off on the release of personally identifiable and private academic record information, such as grades. The second is student responsiveness. The FERPA issues seem to have been pretty well ironed out over the last few years, as most reverse transfer processes include an opt-in/sign-off component for each participant, either at the point of transfer or at the point of completion of the transferable credits.
Data-driven decision making has been the mantra (and in some cases bane) of business offices at colleges and universities across the country for many, many years. More and more traditionally academic areas are looking to data to inform their decisions on programs, practices, and resource allocation. Looking at national trends as well as analyzing in-house data can help institutions be more responsive (and better positioned) to their students, stakeholders, and other constituents.
Clearly, there is an intersection of these two concepts when it comes to identifying candidates for the reverse transfer process!
Reverse transfer was also a topic of discussion at the SHEEO Policy conference in Newport, CA this year. Other discussions focused on policy relating to underrepresented populations, student voice, equity, religious freedoms, undocumented student populations, and tolerance on the nation’s higher education campuses.
While CollegeSource obviously has a business-driven purpose for attending these conferences, we enjoy the opportunity to stay in touch with the concerns of higher education, whether they directly correspond to our solution set or not. We are excited to be a part of the community and to support those members who are making a difference.
Thank you John for your article.. Great summation of both conferences! And yes, we very excited to play a role in the concerns of higher education and it’s community.