Celebrating and Supporting Transfer Pathways
Thank you for your interest in the Transfer Hub newsletter! We are pleased to share our inaugural issue of this quarterly newsletter focused on Oregon's statewide policy work and promising practices for improving transfer pathways for Oregon students.
October 17-21, 2022 is National Student Transfer Week
Join in celebrating transfer students by sharing stories #TransferStudentWeek
Every year, the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students (NISTS) hosts a National Student Transfer Week, and the Oregon Transfer Council is pleased to join in the celebration this year.
This year’s theme: Plug into Transfer! Help your students and colleagues get "plugged in" to transfer resources and supports, whether before, during, or after the point of actual campus change (physical or online).
The transfer student experience begins at the first moment of contemplation and lasts all the way through degree/goal completion. Whether you work at a primarily transfer-sending or -receiving institution, there are numerous opportunities to celebrate, educate, and reflect on all things transfer.
If you are planning programs celebrating transfer, NISTS will provide the artwork to help you advertise! Click the link below to download this year's free marketing kit or find more information.
5th Annual Transfer Week Webinar Series
CollegeSource will be moderating free presentations and panels on various transfer topics with higher education professionals.
The Transfer Week Webinar Series provides the opportunity to hear from many voices in sessions including information on transfer centers, equity, a collaborative approach to transfer, and advising military transfer students.
Sessions will be held every day, October 17-21. Can't make a session? Register and they will send you a link to recordings, when available.
Oregon Transfer Council News
To improve and build upon the work of HB 2998 (2017), the Oregon Legislature passed SB 233 (2021) establishing the Transfer Council, which first convened in October 2022. The Council is charged with developing recommendations on a common course numbering (CCN) system and Major Transfer Maps (MTMs) and with addressing other credit transfer-related concerns. The HECC and Transfer Council are currently developing Oregon Administrative Rules (OARS) that will establish clear expectations and requirements for implementing MTMs. You can sign up to receive public meeting notices for the Transfer Council and its subcommittees here.
The Transfer Council will also vote on the next round of courses for CCN during the October 21, 2022 meeting. The list of courses for CCN consideration was developed by Transfer Council and is based on a Faculty Feedback Survey that solicited comments on course clustering based on a list of the most commonly transferred courses. The survey also included responses from dual credit faculty and staff at all seven public universities and 17 community colleges.
You can find more updates below on Common Course Numbering and Major Transfer Maps.
Transfer Spotlight
Each edition of the Transfer Hub will spotlight a group, subcommittee, institution, or organization that is working with the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to improve the transfer experience for students in Oregon. This fall's Spotlight is on the Transfer Council’s Elementary Education Major Transfer Map (MTM) Subcommittee, and their work creating efficient pathways into the teaching profession.
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[Opinion] Creating Pathways for Elementary Education
By Angie Cole, Associate Professor of Education/Early Childhood Education at Central Oregon Community College
Part of the First MTM “Roll-out”
When the first Major Transfer Map (MTM) process rolled out under the guidance of the HECC, partners in elementary education pathways across the state were eager to be included. Leaders in Education have been anticipating a teacher shortage for many years and have worked to create an efficient pathway into the profession. Efforts have also been focused on diversifying the teacher workforce in Oregon. Without structured and sustained efforts to guide this collaboration, the work was slow.
For years, higher education institutions throughout Oregon have created degree pathways into teaching that are creative, rigorous, and inspiring for students. However, they have also each been unique, and it has made the transfer process slow and often inefficient. Many students ended up spending much longer than four years to become licensed teachers in Oregon and many others lost motivation to complete the pathway. We know this inefficiency has particularly impacted diverse, second language, and first-generation students.
HECC did ultimately approve the inclusion of the elementary education pathway in the first MTM cohort, and the result has been the creation of the Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer (AAOT) Elementary ED degree.
AAOT Elementary ED Degree
The benefits of this new degree are many. First, it utilizes the existing structure of the AAOT degree. This allows for familiarity with requirements and includes many courses already offered at institutions across the state. The structure of the AAOT ensures that students starting at the community college level have a wide variety of general education requirements met when they are ready to transfer—and the identified courses will ultimately help students prepare for the Oregon Educator Licensure Assessments (ORELA) and licensure tests required by the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC)....
Read the full article by Angie Cole at the link below, including her insight on alignment, advice for current and future Elementary Ed majors, those interested in the Elementary Education MTM....
For more information on Major Transfer Maps, contact Daniel Anderson, Office of Academic Policy and Authorization at the HECC at daniel.anderson@hecc.oregon.gov.
Suggested reading on increasing diversity in Elementary Education:
Educator Advancement Council. (2022). 2022 Oregon Educator Equity Report.
Monto, C. (2019). Increasing diversity in teacher candidates: An Oregon model using a community college pathway into teacher education. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 45(1), 54-64.
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Student Spotlight
Transfer student success stories.
Jessica Bautista, AAOT (2019) from Chemeketa and BA (2022) in Elementary Education from Pacific University
Q: Tell us about your transfer pathway. What was challenging, and what was helpful?
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A: My transfer path wasn’t easy. I am a first-generation student and have many family responsibilities. I started at Chemeketa and appreciated how my academic program was clearly linked to transfer. They kept reminding me that my end goal was university graduation, not just the two-year degree at Chemeketa. The other thing about Chemeketa is that I got to know the faculty. This really helped because as I was about to graduate, my mom got sick and passed away. I also got pregnant. The combination of responsibilities required me to step away from school. But I had such strong relationships with the Chemeketa department that I knew who to reach out to when I was ready to start school again. They helped me get the right classes to finish and transfer to Pacific University. My transfer was smooth and easy. My coursework in Education was directly relevant to my studies at Pacific, and I graduated in two years as a licensed teacher....
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Student Spotlight
Transfer student success stories.
Mia Mitchell, Elementary Education AAOT (2022) from Central Oregon Community College, working toward a BS in Elementary Education at OSU-Cascades.
Q: Tell us about your transfer pathway. What was challenging, and what was helpful?
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A: After high school, I took a gap year and when I was ready, I decided to enroll at COCC. Then COVID hit. At the time, I wasn’t sure I wanted to major in education, even though my mom, nana, and aunt are all educators. I was living with my cousin (who is also a 4th grade teacher) while her husband was deployed and began helping her daughters with homework while they were doing school online. It was then that I discovered how much I loved seeing them make connections as they learned. That experience also helped me realize that I was interested in teaching. At COCC, I got connected with Angie and Amy in the Elementary Education program and before long, I fell in love with the curriculum. It didn’t feel like work and was nothing like school when I was a kid. I have a learning disability and remember what it was like to be on the opposite end of students who excelled in school. I didn’t think I liked learning until I found something I was passionate about. Now I want to be a positive influence in students’ lives while making learning fun!
For more on the barriers students face when transferring, and how they overcome these challenges, see: Ellis, M. M. (2012). Successful community college transfer students speak out. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 37(2), 73-84.
Exploring Transfer Patterns and Pathways
The vertical pathway represents the traditional route for transfer, but students follow many pathways to degree completion or academic goal achievement.
 "Vertical transfer is the exception, rather than the rule" for students today (Taylor & Jain, 2017, p. 275). Students transfer for many reasons that often have little to do with academic factors, which suggests that the reasons for transfer and how students transfer are complex. How should this inform policy and practice at institutions? What do you know about transfer pathways at your institution?
 
Featured Reading on Transfer Patterns and Pathways
- Katsinas, S., Bray, N., Hagedorn, L., Dotherow, S., & Malley, M. (2019). From vertical to dynamic transfer: Recognizing continuous swirl in American higher education. Change, 51(3), 44-51.
- Li, D. (2016). Multiple paths to success: Degree completion of 4-year starters taking various pathways. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2017(170), 87-101.
- Shapiro, D., Dundar, A., Huie, F., Wakhungu, P.K., Bhimdiwala, A., Nathan, A., & Hwang, Y. (2018, July). Transfer and mobility: A national view of student movement in postsecondary institutions, fall 2011 cohort (Signature Report 15). National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
- Taylor, J. L., & Jain D. (2017). The multiple dimensions of transfer: Examining the transfer function in American higher education. Community College Review, 45(4), 273-293.
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Transfer, mobility, and progress: National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s update on transfer students. (2022). Fifth in the Series. National Student Clearinghouse.
Transfer Council: Common Course Numbering Update
Beginning April 2022, four faculty subcommittees (Writing, Communication, Math, and Statistics) and one systems and operations subcommittee (e.g., registrars, enrollment specialists) began meeting regularly to align the most transferred courses. This work is in response to SB 233, which authorized creation of a statewide common course numbering system.
Common Course Numbering, or CCN, has been adopted by 20 states as of July 2022 (ECS 50-State Comparison). CCN focuses on creation of a uniform numbering convention for lower-division courses to ensure course equivalency and to facilitate transfer of course credit. Ultimately, CCN seeks to reduce the number of credits lost (sometimes referred to as “fallthrough” credits) when transferring institutions. For students, this means real savings in time and money.
Work on alignment for the first round of CCN includes the following courses: Writing 121, 122, 227; Math 105, 111, 112; Statistics 243, 244; and Communication 100, Public Speaking, and Interpersonal Communication. Committees consist of 8 members from community colleges and 8 members from public universities. In all, 20 out of 24 Oregon public colleges and universities are represented on one of the five CCN subcommittees (80 faculty and staff members total). Subcommittees align course prefixes (subject code), descriptions, numbers, titles, credits, and learning outcomes.
For more on Common Course Numbering (CCN) in the State of Oregon, visit the HECC’s Resources for Common Course Numbering webpage.
Transfer Council: Major Transfer Maps Update
Join in the Public Process on Transfer in Oregon
Fall 2022 Transfer Council Public Meeting Schedule
Transfer Council welcomes public comment on public meetings relating to transfer. Sign up for public meeting notices here to receive final meeting dates and links to agendas, supporting documents, etc. Upcoming meeting dates are listed below:
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Transfer Council: 10/21/ 11/18; 12/16; all meetings are held 10 am to 12:30 pm.
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Transfer Council Subcommittees:
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CCN Systems & Operations Subcommittee: 10/18, 1-3 pm.
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CCN Writing Subcommittee: 10/14, 2 to 5 pm; 10/21, 2 to 5 pm; 10/28, 10 am to 1 pm.
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CCN Communications Subcommittee: 10/13, 4:30 to 6 pm; 10/20, 4:30 to 6 pm; 10/27, 4:30 to 6 pm; 11/3, 4:30 to 6 pm.
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CCN Math Subcommittee: 10/13, 8 to 10 am; 10/14, 3 to 5 pm; 10/20, 8 to 10 am; 10/21, 3 to 5 pm; 10/27, 8 to 10 am; 10/28, 3 to 5 pm; 11/3, 8 to 10 am.
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CCN Statistics Subcommittee: 10/12, 3 to 5 pm; 10/19, 3 to 5 pm; 10/26, 3 to 5 pm; 11/2, 3 to 5 pm.
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