Illinois Transfer Center Directors

Historical Background

In Spring 1990, the Illinois Board of Higher Education began awarding Higher Education Cooperation Act (HECA) Minority Articulation Program Grants to individual community colleges to establish transfer centers to improve the visibility of the baccalaureate transfer programs and to increase the number of minority students successfully transferring to baccalaureate institutions. During this period, grants were awarded to establish minority transfer centers in 16 community colleges. There are now 28 transfer centers in community colleges which are currently supported by HECA grants.

In May, 1990, the Illinois Board of Higher Education conducted an orientation workshop at Olive-Harvey College for the directors of the then newly-funded Transfer Centers. Because the directors felt that the information obtained from this workshop was so useful in accomplishing their program goals and objectives, they scheduled future meetings. Under the guidance of staff from the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the Transfer Center Directors have been meeting twice a year since 1990.

The Transfer Center Program
The Transfer Center serves as the focus for transfer activities to encourage, guide, and inform students about opportunities and processes for transferring from community colleges to baccalaureate degree-granting institutions. Specifically, the goal of the Transfer Centers is to increase the number of minority students transferring from community and junior colleges to baccalaureate institutions and subsequently completing baccalaureate degrees.

Objectives:

• To identify potential transfer students and advise them on the transfer process (including assistance     in completing admissions, housing and financial aid applications), on institution and program choice,     and on program and course selection in preparation for transfer.
  
• To arrange for potential transfer students to meet with representatives of baccalaureate institutions of     interest; and to meet with alumni who have successfully transferred.
  
• To make up-to-date program and course articulation information available to potential transfer     students and advisers in a usable form.
  
• To provide evidence of regular mechanisms for cooperating, coordinating, and communicating with     other campus offices and programs (such as counseling and advising, financial aid, admissions or     outreach, assessment and tutoring services, organized minority student groups, deans     department/division chairs, and faculty members) to promote minority student access, transfer and     academic success.
  
• To provide evidence that cooperating baccalaureate institutions are or will provide an official liaison     to the Transfer Center to coordinate student visits, workshops and advising for students, course and     program articulation activities, and the provision of student follow-up information.

Since program articulation between associate and baccalaureate institutions is essential to the transfer process, the transfer center directors are involved in arranging articulation meetings between faculty from the same academic disciplines at the community college and baccalaureate institutions. The key roles of center directors are bringing together faculty and staff to share information, discuss transfer issues, solve problems and develop activities designed to strengthen inter-institutional relationships and to improve the transfer process.

Contact Infromation is available from the Transfer Coordinators' Directory.




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