A summit at University of Pittsburgh will bring together educators and students from across the country to discuss and reflect on transfer pathways from community colleges to four-year institutions.
The inaugural summit, which will take place on Friday, will feature three keynote speakers, breakout groups, and participant engagement and networking. As of Tuesday, more than 160 people have registered.
It comes as many universities are looking to assuage the transfer processes for community college students. Nationwide, about a third of community college students transfer to four-year institutions — but some of these students face credit transfer issues, financial aid challenges and low bachelor’s degree attainment rates while trying to take the next step in their education.
Advancing community college transfers to Pitt has been a top priority for Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, the recently appointed dean of Pitt’s School of Education who also serves as executive director of the Council for the Study of Community Colleges. Zamani-Gallaher was instrumental in creating the 2024 Transfer Pathways Summit.
“The University of Pittsburgh is a highly selective, research-intensive institution that hasn’t always routinely embraced community college transfer,” Zamani-Gallaher said. “What we have to do is be much more deliberate and intentional in how we are [partnering] and collaborating … Community colleges are catalytic to student mobility, both educationally and economically.”
This summit — organized by Zamani-Gallaher and other Pitt leaders — is the “first step” for the Oakland university to strengthen its own transfer opportunities and lead the national conversation on this topic.
Administrators from schools such as Penn State will attend the conference, and students from Pitt, the Community College of Allegheny County, American University, James Madison University and Lehigh University will share their thoughts and experiences during a panel.
Keynote speakers will include Frankie Santos Laanan, dean of the College of Education at the University of Utah; Carrie Kisker, director of the Center for the Study of Community Colleges; and Linda Garcia, executive director for the Center for Community College Student Engagement at the University of Texas, Austin.
The theme of the inaugural summit is “Building Bridges and Facilitating Student Mobility.” Ideally, school leaders will leave the summit thinking about recruitment, financial aid, outreach and support through the lens of transfer student success, Zamani-Gallaher said.
“I think, moving forward, this is going to help us refine what a model of excellence for transfer initiatives could look like on this campus and others, and help to cement and crystallize our vision for the impact that transfer [opportunities] can have at this institution and within our communities,” she said.
The summit will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Alumni Hall. Registration is open on the School of Education’s website.
First Published: May 16, 2024, 3:34 p.m.
Updated: May 17, 2024, 10:42 a.m.