Cosumnes River College
Professional Standards Committee
Sabbatical Leave Report
Type B
Fall 2011
“HBCU Transfer Guide Sheets and General Education Course Advising”
Howard University
Clark Atlanta University
Morehouse College
Spelman College
Hampton University
Johnson C. Smith University
by
Teresa W. Aldredge, Ed. D.
Counselor
Submission Date: March 19, 2012
Abstract:
As stated in my initial application, the purpose of this sabbatical was twofold. The first purpose was to increase awareness and opportunities for students transferring to institutions of higher learning outside the state of California. The second purpose was to attempt to create relationships with these transfer institutions that would hopefully spark the development of Transfer Admission Agreements for students transferring to these institutions. The institutions focused on included six Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs): Howard University, Washington, DC; Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA; Morehouse College; Atlanta, GA; Spelman College, Atlanta, GA; Hampton University, Hampton, VA and Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, North Carolina. This report will provide information on the plan objective, background, activities performed, methods to share and a critique of the experience.
Objective:
The objective of this sabbatical leave was to create additional transfer resources for students planning to transfer to HBCU institutions specifically to create Transfer Guide Sheets and Course Advising Sheets for students. To achieve this objective a .30 FTE sabbatical leave was granted to allow time to research transfer requirements, review catalog course descriptions, draft transfer admission guide sheets and general education advising sheets for dissemination to counseling faculty and students.
Background:
Initial contact was made with these six HBCUs in Spring 2009 during a Black College Tour I attended. Interest was expressed by both parties that developing transfer admission agreements would be beneficial since these transfer institutions would often see an increasing number of applicants from the state of California. I obtained contact information from several of the admission and outreach officers including speaking with the Vice President and Provost at two of the transfer institutions. During my visit I collected college catalogs (where available) and left a Cosumnes River College catalog with their staff prior to leaving the campus. A counseling colleague at El Camino College in Torrance, CA also encouraged me to apply for this sabbatical since she had completed a similar sabbatical and several of her students have already successfully transferred to these HBCUs.
Activities:
The activities included a comprehensive review of the course catalogs of each respective Historically Black College and University including a review of each college website for transfer admission requirements, and other important transfer information. I began to draft course articulation charts for all courses listed in each respective HBCU core curriculum pattern. This process was extremely time consuming and probably was not needed since so many courses were similar in title and content. I called upon several faculty members at Cosumnes River College to help me analyze the “questionable” course descriptions as I was developing the general education core curriculum advising sheets. Technology aided in this process since I could email the course descriptions and wait for a response. A webinar was utilized on one occasion to talk with several HBCUs at one time. This conversation was broad in nature and was not specific to any one agreement. It sparked the interest of other HBCUs (Fisk University and Bennett College in particular) who are interested in creating agreements with Cosumnes River College. I was contacted directly by Fisk University (Nashville, TN) who visited our campus on March 1, 2012 and as a result of this visit they are interested in a district-wide partnership for our students. I visited Atlanta, Georgia in November 2011 to personally distribute current (2011-12) Cosumnes River College catalogs to Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Spelman College and to remind them of my culminating visit to their colleges in spring 2012. Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) Agreements and Transfer Admissions Priority (TAP) Agreements templates were developed for each of the six HBCUs including General Education Core Curriculum Advising Sheets. All of these draft agreements are included in this report.
HBCU Contacts: / Cosumnes River College Contacts:Clark Atlanta University / Celia Esposito-Noy, Vice President
Dr. Cynthia Clem, Vice President / Michael Marion, Dean, Counseling
Dr. Joseph Silver, Provost / Hoyt Fong, Department Chair, Counseling
David Aagaard, Transfer Center Director
Hampton University / Lynn Fowler, Articulation Officer
Ms. Angela Boyd, Director of Admissions / CRC Counseling Faculty
Ms. Jorsene Cooper, Director of Admissions
Discipline Faculty
Howard University / Emmanuel Sigauke, English
Ms. Tammy McCants, Assoc. Director of Admissions / Michael Carney, MESA/Mathematics
Dr. Annette Davis, Director of Advisement / Mark Hunter, Mathematics
Maureen Moore, Humanities
Johnson C. Smith University / Michael Lawlor, Physics
Dwight Sanchez, Director of Admissions / Jason Newman, History
Matilde Mukantabana, History
Morehouse College / Jeanne Edman, Psychology
Dr. Weldon Jackson, Sr. Vice President/Provost / Travis Parker, Physical Education
Mr. Danny Bellinger, Director of Admissions / Charles Van Patten, Philosophy
Colette Harris-Mathews, Comm Studies
Spelman College / Tamyra Carmona, Biology
Ms. Arlene Cash, Director of Admissions / Mark Lee, Chemistry
Methods for Sharing:
Once these transfer admissions agreements and course advising sheets have been codified by both institutions then they will be published widely across the campus including the Counseling Center, Transfer Center, EOPS & DSPS offices, Student Support Center and Admissions & Records. Copies will also be distributed to the Transfer Center Directors and Articulation Officers across the Los Rios Community College district. Student workshops on transferring to an HBCU will be conducted at least twice throughout the year. Counselors will be given specific training on how to use these HBCU transfer guide books at the Annual Los Rios Counselors Association meeting.
Critique:
The objective of creating additional transfer resources for students planning to transfer to HBCU institutions has been met however these transfer planning documents have not been codified by either institution. My role as counselor at Cosumnes River College does not constitute my ability to sign any document on behalf of the institution or the Los Rios Community College district. It has been difficult to move these documents through the system swiftly and efficiently without lots of discussion both at the local and district level. The Cosumnes River College Transfer Center Director took samples of the Transfer Admissions Guarantee (TAG) Agreements to a district-wide meeting to discuss the issue of MOUs. We both felt that this would be an appropriate meeting to share my work. As of the date of this report, the district is still discussing the idea of district wide MOUs. It is my hope that Cosumnes River College (specifically our administration) will move forward with these agreements without a district decision. Even if there is a delay in signing the Transfer Admissions Guarantee (TAG) Agreements, I believe the general education core curriculum advising sheets and Transfer Guide Sheet will be useful for counselors and students in the short term. I would utilize the services of the National Clearinghouse of Student Data to demonstrate the usefulness of these types of agreements and to more accurately track where our students transfer after they leave our institutions. In addition our Transfer Center will house these transfer guide sheets so information can be gathered on the number of requests we receive from students for this information. As you may know, transfer guides and course advising sheets are not static documents. They must be updated on an annual basis or as needed. I have taken on that responsibility of making sure these documents remain up to date so that they can provide the most accurate and current information for our students. Finally the counselors will be trained on how to utilize this new resource and we can also gather information from them on the number of students that use this information by creating a specific counseling appointment code “HBCU” to track the number of appointments we receive from students requesting this kind of transfer appointment.
The benefits of creating transfer admission agreements and transfer admissions priority consideration agreements for our students are nearly immeasurable. These transfer admission guides and advising tools create a seamless transfer process for both the student and the counselor. I consider this sabbatical a first step in creating transfer pathways for our students. It is my hope that these agreements are replicated across the Los Rios Community College district.
Transfer Admissions Guarantee Agreement (TAG)
Transfer Admissions Priority Consideration (TAP)
Introduction to TAGS and TAPS
This booklet contains agreements that have been developed between Cosumnes River College and six Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The goal of this project was to develop a process that would increase and afford a more seamless transfer of students to the HBCUs. Teresa Aldredge coordinated this project as part of her fall 2011 sabbatical leave.
Transfer Admission Guarantee Agreements (TAGS) are agreements established between two institutions that set parameters for guaranteed admission including minimum grade point averages, minimum number of units completed and specified course requirements. Transfer Admission Priority Consideration agreements set parameters for admission but do not necessarily guarantee admission but will provide priority consideration for admission including housing and scholarships usually based on higher grade point averages.
Transfer Admission Guarantee Agreements (TAGS) were developed for the following HBCUs: Clark Atlanta University, Hampton University, Johnson C. Smith University and Morehouse College. Transfer Admission Priority Consideration Agreements were developed for Howard University and Spelman College. Samples of these agreements were given to the Cosumnes River College Transfer Director for dissemination at a district-wide meeting of Los Rios Transfer Directors. Information about the project was also shared with the Cosumnes River College Articulation Officer and the Counseling faculty at large.
Students are also actively engaged in the TAGS and TAPS process. Students planning to transfer to one of these designated HBCU campuses will meet with a counselor and complete the S-TAG (Student Transfer Admission Agreement) or S-TAP (Student Transfer Admission Priority Consideration Agreement). Students agree to all the conditions of guaranteed admission in addition to completing the college application and submitting official transcripts.
The general education advising tool sheets were developed to align the general education core requirements at the transfer institution (HBCU) with similar or comparable general education courses at Cosumnes River College. These general education advising sheets will serve as an advisement tool for use by the counselors and students to assist them with selecting the most appropriate courses for that student’s educational goal.
Since this project has begun I have heard from several more HBCU campuses who are interested in developing TAGS with Cosumnes River College. These interests are being pursued based on the desire of our students to transfer to these prestigious institutions. It is hoped that other Los Rios colleges will follow this template to develop similar agreement for their students.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Transfer Admissions Guarantee (TAG) and
Transfer Admissions Priority Consideration (TAP) Chart
Name / Transfer Admission Requirements / Student AdvantagesClark Atlanta University / 15 transferable units and 2.5 GPA
Hampton University / 30 transferable units, 2.5 GPA
Transferable English and Math / · Student application fee waived
· Priority consideration for housing and scholarships with 3.0 or higher GPA
Howard University / 15 transferable units must be completed including transferable English and Math
· 2.5 GPA Arts & Sciences majors
· 2.8 GPA Nursing and Communications majors
· 3.0 GPA and 30 transferable units for Business majors / Priority consideration for housing and scholarships with 3.3 or higher GPA
Johnson C. Smith University / 12 transferable units and 2.0 GPA / · Application fee waived
· Priority consideration for housing and scholarships with 3.0 or higher GPA
Morehouse College / 26 transferable units and 3.0 GPA / Priority consideration for housing and scholarships with 3.3 or higher GPA
Spelman College / 30 transferable units and 3.0 GPA / Priority consideration for housing enrollment
Address: 223 James P. Brawley Drive S W
Atlanta, GA 30314
Phone: 800.699.3228
Website: www.cau.edu
Founded: 1988
Student Body: 3,041
Tuition and Fees: $26,788
Faculty-Student Ratio: 17:1
Accredited: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Schools/Colleges:
School of Business
School of Arts and Science
School of Social Work
School of Education
TRANSFER ADMISSIONS GUARANTEE (TAG) AGREEMENT
Between
CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY and
COSUMNES RIVER COLLEGE
Clark Atlanta University (hereinafter referred to as CAU and Cosumnes River College (herein referred as CRC) enter into the following agreement governing the matriculation at CAU. Beginning Fall Semester 2012 and continuing until either party decides to dissolve the agreement.
During the period of this agreement, CAU will:
1. Accept students who have completed a minimum of 15 transferable semester units (credits) with an overall 2.5 or higher grade point average. The maximum number of units (credits) that students can transfer is 56.
- Only transfer credit which includes courses in which a grade of “C” or better was earned will be accepted (courses taken eight or more years previous to transfer will not be included in accepted transfer work).
- Student has completed the agreed upon courses that are deemed to be equivalent to CAU courses
- Student understands that he/she may need to complete additional prerequisites as required by the programs in which he/she enrolls at CAU.
During the period of this agreement, CRC will:
2. Publicize the agreement among its students and faculty and identify potential students who would benefit from this transfer agreement;
3. Make available to prospective transfer students, through early advisement sessions, information and requirements for admission to CAU, a list of general education CAU courses and the equivalent courses at CRC.