Student Success

Aspen – AASCU Transfer Student Success Intensive

An initiative to support partnerships between community colleges and AASCU members in advancing the practices and policies associated with improved, more equitable transfer student success.

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Join a community of practice focused on transfer and equity.

The Aspen – AASCU Transfer Student Success Intensive, funded by Ascendium Education Philanthropy, is a one-year initiative of monthly sessions designed to support partnerships between community colleges and AASCU members in advancing the practices and policies associated with improved, more equitable transfer student success. The institutions receive one-on-one consulting with experts, and work to identify, collect, understand, and utilize critical transfer outcomes and equity data to develop a forward-looking strategic transfer plan.

Who Should Participate

  • AASCU institutions that identify up to two community college partners committed to participating in the entire year-long initiative
  • To participate, AASCU institutions must assemble a campus team consisting of at least the following required roles:
    • President
    • Cabinet-level lead
    • Project management lead
    • Institutional research office representative
    • Faculty representative
    • Representative responsible for transfer functions

How You’ll Benefit

  • A year-long, 12-part, virtual series of strategy-focused workshops based on the Aspen Institute and Community College Research Center (CCRC) Transfer Playbook and other transfer research
  • Four hours of free consulting to support your transfer efforts
  • Support to identify, understand, collect, and utilize critical disaggregated transfer data
  • A national community of practice, focused on elevating excellence in transfer reform
  • Elevation of your institution’s transfer success reforms, stories, and successful practices on Aspen and AASCU media and communication platforms
What to Expect
Community College Representatives
  • President of the four-year institution/s. As part of their commitment to the Intensive Presidents will:
    • Attend all four presidential sessions. See cohort 3 preliminary schedule for reference

      • Convene with their partner president outside of Intensive sessions to set a concrete partnership vision statement Review initial transfer data and support the collection of future data needed to track progress toward short and long-term transfer goals Approve the model/s, goals, reform priorities, Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP), and funding to support the STEP Communicate with internal and external stakeholders about the STEP and the value of transfer students to the institution Share transfer goals and value of transfer students to the institution/s through joint statement with partner president, community appearances, regional op-eds, etc.

  • Cabinet-level lead from four-year institution/s. As part of their commitment to the Intensive Cabinet-level leads will:
    • Attend all Intensive sessions.
    • Facilitate team activities during each session.
    • Connect regularly with their counterparts, project managers, and core team members between sessions to ensure they are on track and ready for each session
    • Align the team’s goal and practice reform priorities with the president’s vision
    • Generate alignment among key leaders and stakeholders on their respective campuses.
    • Guide presidential and board commitments to the Intensive
    • Lead the execution of the Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP)
    • Lay solid foundations for effective communication and governance across partnerships
  • Project management lead from four year institution/s -preferably with direct responsibility for transfer (e.g., a director of transfer, transfer advisor, transfer coordinator). *Please note: this role requires strong organization, coordination, and administrative skills. As part of their commitment to the Intensive project managers (PM), leads will:
    • Attend all Intensive sessions Manage team communications across the partnership/s and with the Aspen/AASCU Team.

      • Manage team materials, notes, and assignments in the shared Google Drive Coordinate internal and external meetings between partner presidents, stakeholders, and/or the Aspen/AASCU Team Work in partnership with cabinet leads to align vision and operations Manage the development and finalization of the Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP), including submitting the STEP to the Aspen/AASCU Team

  • Institutional research office representative from the four-year institution/s
    • This representative will also attend an IR onboarding session before the Transfer Intensive Kickoff to better understand the transfer data teams will be working with. The IR rep from the community college and the four-year institutions should also expect to meet outside of monthly sessions to confer on transfer data alignment.
  • Faculty representative from the four-year institution/s
    • The best representative for this role is a current faculty transfer champion and supporter on your campus. Perhaps a dean, department chair, faculty senate representative, etc.
  • One-to-two other representatives from the four-year institution/s that have direct responsibility for transfer functions at the institution/s
    • The best representative/s for this role/s would be a transfer center director, advising, registrar, financial aid, student affairs representative, or others who are working with transfer students regularly, etc.;
  • In addition to those required to attend all sessions, other campus representatives are invited to specific sessions based on their institutional role and session topic. See session topics for reference.
Four-Year Institution Representatives
  • President of the four-year institution/s. As part of their commitment to the Intensive Presidents will:
    • Attend all four presidential sessions. See cohort 3 preliminary schedule for reference

      • Convene with their partner president outside of Intensive sessions to set a concrete partnership vision statement Review initial transfer data and support the collection of future data needed to track progress toward short and long-term transfer goals Approve the model/s, goals, reform priorities, Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP), and funding to support the STEP Communicate with internal and external stakeholders about the STEP and the value of transfer students to the institution Share transfer goals and value of transfer students to the institution/s through joint statement with partner president, community appearances, regional op-eds, etc.

  • Cabinet-level lead from four-year institution/s. As part of their commitment to the Intensive Cabinet-level leads will:
    • Attend all Intensive sessions.
    • Facilitate team activities during each session.
    • Connect regularly with their counterparts, project managers, and core team members between sessions to ensure they are on track and ready for each session
    • Align the team’s goal and practice reform priorities with the president’s vision
    • Generate alignment among key leaders and stakeholders on their respective campuses.
    • Guide presidential and board commitments to the Intensive
    • Lead the execution of the Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP)
    • Lay solid foundations for effective communication and governance across partnerships
  • Project management lead from four year institution/s -preferably with direct responsibility for transfer (e.g., a director of transfer, transfer advisor, transfer coordinator). *Please note: this role requires strong organization, coordination, and administrative skills. As part of their commitment to the Intensive project managers (PM), leads will:
    • Attend all Intensive sessions Manage team communications across the partnership/s and with the Aspen/AASCU Team.

      • Manage team materials, notes, and assignments in the shared Google Drive Coordinate internal and external meetings between partner presidents, stakeholders, and/or the Aspen/AASCU Team Work in partnership with cabinet leads to align vision and operations Manage the development and finalization of the Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP), including submitting the STEP to the Aspen/AASCU Team

  • Institutional research office representative from the four-year institution/s
    • This representative will also attend an IR onboarding session before the Transfer Intensive Kickoff to better understand the transfer data teams will be working with. The IR rep from the community college and the four-year institutions should also expect to meet outside of monthly sessions to confer on transfer data alignment.
  • Faculty representative from the four-year institution/s
    • The best representative for this role is a current faculty transfer champion and supporter on your campus. Perhaps a dean, department chair, faculty senate representative, etc.
  • One-to-two other representatives from the four-year institution/s that have direct responsibility for transfer functions at the institution/s
    • The best representative/s for this role/s would be a transfer center director, advising, registrar, financial aid, student affairs representative, or others who are working with transfer students regularly, etc.;
  • In addition to those required to attend all sessions, other campus representatives are invited to specific sessions based on their institutional role and session topic. See session topics for reference.
Team attendance/participation
  • Presidents of all participating institutions must attend the four presidential sessions (detailed in the session calendar here.)
  • Project managers (PM) and cabinet lead representatives from all participating institutions should expect moderate follow-up and/or pre-work outside the monthly intensive sessions.
    • Pre-and-post-session work should include, but is not limited to:
      • routine discussion with partner PM, cabinet lead, and core team members between sessions to ensure the team is on track and ready for each session,
      • follow up with presidential and board commitments based on the Intensive participant project plan,
      • optional office hours with Aspen/AASCU staff for continued professional development, peer consultancy, and knowledge sharing;
      • in addition, PMs must attend a training session before the Intensive Kickoff
  • Other transfer intensive team members must attend all monthly sessions. For reference, see the cohort 3 session calendar here.
Time and discussion for transfer data collection
  • Aspen/AASCU will provide teams with strategies for collaborating with their institutional research office to obtain critical metrics for transfer student success outcomes per research-based practices.(Aspen/AASCU will provide a data report and a goal-setting template.)
  • IR representatives must attend a training session before the Intensive Kickoff.
Time and discussion for student feedback and insights
  • Aspen/AASCU will provide teams with strategies and sample questions for leading student focus groups while participating in the Intensive.
Four hours of free consulting with transfer experts
  • Institutions will be required to participate in at least two hours of consulting (either as a partnership team or individually as an institution) to address specific concerns within the year-long program

Thanks to the generous support of the Ascendium, there is no cost of participation.

2021-22 Cohort Impact

Our 31 institutional teams reached:

20

U.S. states

71

institutions and 3 systems ​

21

rural/town institutions​

50

suburban/urban institutions ​

27

MSIs (9 HSIs, 1 PBI, 1 AANAPISI)​

1M+

undergrads served annually​

13K+

transfers between partners annually​

50%

of these students attain BA in 6 years​

63

presidents

Roster of 2021-22 institutional teams.
2024-2025 Cohort
State 4-Year Institution 2-Year Partner
AL Athens State University John C. Calhoun State Community College
CA California State University, Channel Islands Oxnard College
AZ Northern Arizona University Arizona Western College
VA James Madison University Blue Ridge Community College
TX Texas A&M University – Texarkana Texarkana College
TX University of Houston, Victoria Victoria College
WI University of Wisconsin – Parkside Gateway Technical College
WA Washington State University – Everett Everett Community College
IL Western Illinois University Spoon River College
MA Westfield State University Holyoke Community College

     Applications  for the 2025-2026 cohort are closed.

Please contact Kate Hamilton, Senior Program Manager, Aspen Institute with inquiries about future opportunities, questions, or concerns.

Our Partner

Aspen Institute College Excellence Program

Supported by

Ascendium