Publications and Research

Authors

Pamela Brown

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-23-2022

Abstract

Several evidence-based practices were combined to reduce barriers to transfer from associate to baccalaureate programs, and baccalaureate degree completion. The first strategy was creation of the STEM Transfer Collaborative (STC), an adaption of the CUNY Pathways general education articulation initiative (1). The STC focuses on collaboration by both the sending and receiving college faculty to begin transfer preparation and support before transfer occurs, through articulation agreements, shared professional development to align pedagogy and curriculum, and outreach to potential transfer students. There was also regular feedback to community college faculty on the success of their transfer students. A second strategy employed was Momentum to the Baccalaureate (MB), an adaption of the CUNY Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, ASAP (2). MB provides support for junior and senior-level transfer students who are either community colleges associate degree graduates (external transfer) or associate degree graduates who transferred to bachelor’s programs at the same comprehensive college they earned their associate degree at (New York City College of Technology of the City University of New York), which has a 2+2 degree structure (internal transfer). Components of MB include personalized mentoring, advisement, and monthly stipends to students who maintain full-time enrollment and good academic standing. Students’ majors are in high needs STEM areas and include computer engineering technology, computer systems technology, construction management and civil engineering technology, electrical engineering technology, and applied chemistry. Propensity matching was used to evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies. Participating campuses are part of the City University of New York (CUNY), and include six community colleges (Borough of Manhattan Community College, Bronx Community College, Guttman Community College, Hostos Community College, Kingsborough Community College, and LaGuardia Community College), five of which are Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and, as mentioned previously New York City College of Technology (City Tech), also an HSI, which offers associate and bachelor’s degrees (2+2 structure). Building Capacity: Enhancing Undergraduate STEM Education by Improving Transfer Success has made progress and demonstrated success at achieving goals, despite the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, preliminary results suggest that targeted pre-transfer and post-transfer supports improve transfer student outcomes. Students who transferred from a City Tech associate degree program to a City Tech STEM baccalaureate program and who received MB support had higher GPAs and better retention rates than a matched cohort of students who transferred from a City Tech associate degree program to a City Tech STEM baccalaureate program but who did not receive MB support. Students who transferred from a STEM Transfer Collaborative (STC) community college to City Tech’s STEM baccalaureate programs who received Momentum to the Baccalaureate (MB) support had significantly higher GPAs compared with a matched cohort of students who transferred from a STEM Transfer Collaborative (STC) community college to City Tech’s STEM baccalaureate programs but who did not receive MB support.

Comments

Brown, P., & Villatoro, M., & Milonas, E., & Mendoza, B., & Teo, H. J., & Razani, M., & Samaroo, D. (2022, August), Building Capacity: Enhancing Undergraduate STEM Education by Improving Transfer Success Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. https://peer.asee.org/41906, © 2022 American Society for Engineering Education.

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