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 transfer student success.

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A community of practice focused on transfer outcomes.

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 transfer student success. The institutions receive one-on-one consulting with experts, and work to identify, collect, understand, and utilize critical transfer outcomes and data to develop a forward-looking strategic transfer plan.

Team Design

  • AASCU institutions partnered with up to two community colleges committed to participating in the entire year-long initiative
  • Campus teams consist of the following required roles:
    • President
    • Cabinet-level lead
    • Project management lead
    • Institutional research office representative
    • Faculty representative
    • Representative responsible for transfer functions

Benefits of the Transfer Intensive

  • A yearlong, 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.

    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.
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.

    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.
Team attendance/participation
  • Presidents of all participating institutions must attend the four presidential sessions
  • 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.
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.

Program Impact

The 41 institutional teams in cohorts 1-3 reached:

23

U.S. states

91

colleges and universities

1.1M+

undergraduates served annually​

16K+

transfer students per year

The 10 institutional teams in cohort 4 reach:

3

states not previously represented

6

Hispanic-Serving Institutions

4

Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions

1

Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institution

4

Rural-Serving Institutions

39.7%

of the cohort’s enrollment is comprised of Pell grant recipients

Cohort 4 (2025-2026)
State 4-Year Institution 2-Year Partner
CA California State University, Fullerton Fullerton College
CO Metropolitan State University of Denver Community College of Denver
HI University of Hawaii-West Oahu Kauai Community College
Honolulu Community College
ID Idaho State University College of Southern Idaho
ME University of Southern Maine Southern Maine Community College
NC University of North Carolina-Charlotte Central Piedmont Community College
NY Queens College, CUNY LaGuardia Community College
Queensborough Community College
OR Portland State University Portland Community College
PA Slippery Rock University Butler County Community College
Community College of Beaver County
TX University of Houston-Downtown College of the Mainland

 

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