The Partnership for College Completion welcomed over a 100 attendees to Malcolm X College for a presentation and discussion of its newest report, Seamless Success: Transforming College Transfer in Illinois in mid-June.
The report, originally published in April, reveals the flaws in Illinois’ higher education transfer system. At the event, state leaders, practitioners, presenters, and panelists were able to dive deeper into the origins of the report, discuss the transfer experience, and share ideas to make the transfer experience in Illinois better for students.
Malcolm X College President, David A. Sanders, kicked off the morning with a rousing welcome.
“It’s important to hear students’ perspectives…They are hearing things from different individuals telling them they can’t do it because of where they come from. It’s not true. Our students can do anything, and we need to tell them they can do anything but fail.”
“Seamless Success puts real data and real stories to the transfer experience. Individual institutions are not meant to solve these problems alone. We must partner together to make sure we’re driving this that represents the change we want to see.”
“We got work ahead of us. It doesn’t matter what our race or our creed. What’s important is we put our students first and an education system that benefits all.”
PCC Executive Director Lisa Castillo Richmond set the tone for the presentation. “Even in the best of times, making change is challenging work. Higher education is not experiencing ‘the best of times’ right now. Week after week, it’s like weathering a storm when we’re far out to sea. While we aren’t the ones who created the problems, we have the responsibility to find solutions to change them.”
PCC Director of Policy and Research Mike Abrahamson and Research and Data Associate Giselle Palacios presented the origins of the Seamless Success report. College transfer has been one of PCC’s top priorities since it started nearly 10 years ago.
Transfer issues stem from systems that are not designed to work with one another. These systems were often not even designed primarily to work for the students that have to navigate them. That means there are many potential policies that can improve transfer pipelines, but there’s no silver policy bullet that will fix it. To determine the policies that could be effective, Palacios did a landscape scan and found more than 140 policy recommendations. She synthesized those recommendations and narrowed them down to a few dozen worth considering what’s impactful, compelling, and achievable.
One of the key pieces of Seamless Success report are the student experience testimonials, driving home the need for this research and change. Similar to the report, two students who transferred during their undergraduate experience shared their challenges navigating the process.
“My journey here wasn’t linear, and that’s exactly why I believe in the power of second chances, student support, and institutions that meet people where they are.” Read more about Salvador’s experience
“Transferring wasn’t as smooth as I had hoped. Even though I had completed an associate’s degree, many of the courses I took at Harper didn’t end up fulfilling the requirements for lower-level classes at National Louis.” Read more about Emelia’s experience
Following the two powerful testimonials, a panel of state leaders and practitioners, moderated by Illinois Community College Board Executive Director Dr. Brian Durham, discussed transfer in Illinois, the good, bad, and areas of near and long-term improvement. The panelists were (from left to right):
- Veronica Herrero, Chief of Staff and Executive Vice Chancellor at City Colleges of Chicago
- Dr. Nikos Varelas, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Programs, Student Success, and Effectiveness at the University of Illinois Chicago
- Illinois State Senator Cristina Castro for the 22nd District
On what’s working well and areas of improvement
There is broad support across stakeholders groups like IBHE and ICCB regarding transfer systems and affordability. There’s also support from funders. There’s still so much we’ve done but still so much yet to do. At City Colleges of Chicago, over half of our associate degree completers will transfer. But calling out the opportunity–anywhere between 1,200-1,600 students yearly are completing their associate’s degree, wishing to earn their bachelor’s degree but aren’t going anywhere. There is a lot of work for us to do so those 1,600 students don’t fall through those potholes throughout the process or leaks in the system.
Veronica Herrero, Chief of Staff and Executive Vice Chancellor at City Colleges of Chicago
There are many things that work well. The whole community is coming together to help our students. Illinois is leading in student success, in collaboration, and others are learning from us. Have we done everything possible to help our students? No, but that’s why we’re here right now. Students need to know what it takes to graduate. Affordability and support structures are the areas we need to address.
Dr. Nikos Varelas, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Programs, Student Success, and Effectiveness at the University of Illinois Chicago
When I transferred, I spent a semester dealing with remedial classes, adding time to completing my degree. Then, my school only offered specific sections at a certain time of year, so you had to wait a whole year if you missed signing up. Then, you find out that you need that class to sign up for your other classes. I tell that story to shape how I shape policy. Hearts are in the right place but need to get everyone in agreement about a path forward to making true change.
Illinois State Senator Cristina Castro for the 22nd District
On the role community college plays in transfer and how to improve outcomes
“What we’ve learned is that partnerships or agreements we have with four- year institutions like UIC are important, but it’s also important to take a step further. The most successful partnerships roll up their sleeves, break down silos, and come together to see what works best for students. When you do that, magic happens. Zero credit loss, multiple pathways in STEM, setting up students of color so they can be successful at UIC and beyond. Advisors are meeting, sharing goals on how many additional students can graduate from Chicago Public Schools, then go to City Colleges, and of those transfer to UIC. It’s truly transformational. What can policy do? There are a lot of tools that have been created. We need to continue to think about tools to encourage transparency and accountability to ensure students are successful.” Veronica Herrero
On how student engagement plays into transfer
“We know transfer is a difficult process. Students lose credits in various ways; we know nationally, 43% of credits do not transfer. Locally, we’re way better than that. However, the programs are packed with courses, so if they don’t take the right courses at the right time, that results in more of a delay. The problem is not just for transfer students, but also first-year students will also take more course work. We need to work on eliminating silos between institutions.” Dr. Nikos Varelas
“All of this is great but it puts the onus on the students. Why can’t we have one system that works for everyone? This does not work for everyone. All these different programs across the state, but we need a system that’s easy to use for anyone who touches it. Let’s build a system that works for everyone at every institution. At the end of the day, we want to do what’s best for the students, and how we can keep them here [in Illinois] and engaged. There’s a lot of bipartisan support. Everyone can do something, whether it’s advocacy, going through system by system. We have to hear from you.” Illinois State Senator Cristina Castro
The day wrapped up with table discussions, led by To&Through. Some of the takeaways from those discussions included the importance of peer experiences (students asking a friend) and the use of technology, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence.
