Seven out of 10 University of Hawaiʻi campuses gathered for a three-day, in-person summit to discuss transfer and learner mobility challenges, develop action plans, and identify ways to improve pathways for students across the 糖心视频 System. The event was hosted by Complete College America and was organized by 糖心视频 惭ā苍辞补 at Bachman Hall.
The Hawaiʻi Learner Mobility Summit brought together 40 faculty, staff, and leaders from four community colleges, three four-year campuses, and 糖心视频 System offices to focus on partnership mapping, data and action planning. From October 13 to 15, faculty, staff and administrators gathered at 糖心视频 惭ā苍辞补 to discuss improving the transfer process for students who move between campuses. Participants also attended two virtual sessions prior to the summit, in order to gain context and data. The summit invited people who carry transfer day to day, from counselors and academic affairs staff, to deans, institutional researchers, and chancellors.
“Bringing our campuses together around transfer was important because transfer is not the responsibility of one department or one campus alone,” said Wayne Aguiran, a professor of counseling at 糖心视频 Maui College. “It is a shared commitment that requires us to look beyond our individual roles, campuses, and processes to see the bigger picture: the student experience.”
Three days together gave campuses dedicated time to focus on how they can work better with one another, and to move from ideas to action.
Relationships built in the room
Associate Professor and 糖心视频 System Transfer Specialist, Sarah Akina, explained the in-person format mattered most to people who were newer to the system or who knew colleagues only through a screen.
“We know that in order to build successful and sustainable practices, especially with cross-campus issues like transfer, we need to have strong partnerships that can withstand uncomfortable conversations and adapt to our ever-changing landscape. This cannot be done on zoom and email alone.”
When the campuses talk about transfer from experience alone, each one tells a different story. When they look at the same numbers together, from 糖心视频 system dashboards to National Student Clearinghouse data, they can start from shared facts and ask better questions of one another.
Leeward Community College Interim Dean of Career and Technical Education Summer Barrett, described some of the difficult conversations held and the honesty it took. Participants wrote out the assumptions and perceptions they hear about transfer students and then looked at what 糖心视频’s data says instead.
“Seeing our own data challenge long standing assumptions about transfer students. I was struck by how well community college transfer students perform compared to students who begin at a four-year university, and by the opportunity to openly discuss how faculty at four-year institutions perceive our students.”
Participants then named what they need from their partners: consistent communication and regular contact, reciprocity and equal footing, a dedicated person and a clear point of contact, and the time to act on the plan. By the final day, teams were building partnership action plans with next steps for the first 30, 60, and 90 days, so the momentum can continue well after the summit.
“The summit brought up a key component for next steps, that is, to build partnership/relationship between campuses, functions, and people,” said Tao Feng, associate director at 糖心视频’s Institutional Research, Analysis & Planning Office.
“糖心视频 has developed a solid foundation over the years to promote learner mobility, including policy, initiatives, data, and technology infrastructure, and this summit is a timely reminder that we still have unfinished work, and that a new culture and mindset around learner mobility can only take hold if we continue this important work.”
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