By Malenah Hunter, Associate Director of Membership and Awards, ̽»¨Â¥
In this session, "The Digital Bridge: Using TransferVirginia.org to Navigate College-to-College Transitions," the “Digital Bridge” refers to , a platform for navigating college-to-college transitions. Melody Crenshaw, a Transfer Virginia Portal Coordinator in the Virginia Community College System, reviewed the priorities and solutions identified by the state to improve the transfer student experience and explained how academic strategies can be paired with a technology platform to provide students with a streamlined approach to assessing their opportunities. Crenshaw also challenged attendees to evaluate the applicability of Virginia’s strategies to the state’s broader transfer initiatives.
Within the national transfer landscape, over 40% of transfer credits can be lost due to unclear student pathways and inconsistencies in advising. Along with some key legislation on articulation and guaranteed agreement, Transfer Virginia was created as a solution to address the many inefficiencies and inequities present in transfer. To collaboratively bring the state together, the goals for the platform became clear:
Make transfer smoother for students.
Reduce barriers.
Improve credit efficiency and time to degree completion.
Address the information equity gap.
All VA community and four-year public colleges, one public two-year college, and most of the private four-year colleges were on board with these initiatives. Next came the work of aligning their courses based on learning outcomes.
Where It Started & How It’s Going
The Transfer Virginia platform was launched in the Fall of 2021 and is part of the wider “umbrella,” which outlines the pathways and steps specific to the transfer process in Virginia.
Students who have earned a General Education Passport guaranteeing a certain number of credits that follow them to their next institution, or a UCGS certificate or associate degree, are ready to begin their transfer exploration.
After course revision and development of a common curriculum across the institutions, the resulting transfer guides and agreements are created and given a place on the platform.
Using the same layout for every institution allows for easy navigation and access to see maps, upload transcripts, and search using filters.
Some key features include:
Profiles of institutions and programs for all participating institutions.
Course equivalency and credit transfer charts.
Information on established pathways and degree maps.
Direct contact information for advisors specializing in transfer on their campus.
Freshmen or students who have not completed a prior degree can see exactly where their credits will fit with a "plug and chug" matching tool. Once they’ve created their portfolio, they can communicate directly with the right person who will have all of their information and respond to them.
Results May Vary
Although the platform was designed to be a seamless one-stop shop, complete cooperation and smooth sailing are never a sure thing. While all the steps and tools are available to students, the system can’t account for the mid-degree change of heart (as students are wont to do on occasion).
One of their frequently used features is the “My Fastest Degree” tool, which calculates the lowest number of credits the student would have to take and at which institution, based on the information they’ve entered. However, the student may not always be enthusiastic about what they receive.
It becomes especially difficult to coordinate a successful transfer when the institutions themselves need to be “reminded” of what they signed up for. There is no cost or enforceability, but the institutions do decide the level of commitment with the platform’s participation standards ranging from basic to full partner. Transfer Virginia currently has a poll out to institutions to see what their actual workflow is like when working with students, so they can improve the platform.
Best Practices in Advising:
Time and energy can go a long way; however, there are other considerations:
Train all advisors on technology tools to increase confidence.
Build tool usage into existing advising materials.
Introduce the portal early.
Use the tool in one-on-one sessions & workshops.
Collaborate with partner institutions.
Learning mobility enables students to move across institutions without being punished and left behind. If students would rather go somewhere else, they can look beyond their backyard; they deserve to know that there are many opportunities around them.