Navigating Vertical Transfer Online: Access to and Usefulness of Transfer Information on Community College Websites

Objective: To transfer, students often must navigate complex and imperfect information about credit transfer, bureaucratic hurdles, and conflicting degree requirements. This study examined how administrators and transfer personnel think about institutional online transfer resources and examined community colleges’ online transfer information. Methods: For a sample of 20 Texas community colleges, we spoke to key transfer personnel about the information provided to students and reviewed college websites, assessing the ease of access and usefulness of online transfer information. We used a qualitative case study approach to triangulate findings from our data sources. Results: Approximately two-thirds of colleges in the sample fell below the highest standard on our rubric for either ease of access or usefulness, indicating room for improvement at most institutions. Many personnel recognized the strengths and limitations of their college’s online information, though several were ambivalent about the need for improving online information, arguing that online information is not as promising an intervention as face-to-face advising. Conclusions/Contributions: Our research illustrates the need for colleges to develop and update their online information intentionally, determining which information students need in order to transfer (including transfer guides for partner programs/colleges) and how students might search for that information, and ensuring that necessary transfer information is available and up-to-date. The framework provided by our website-review approach, coupled with a proposed rubric to assess ease of access and usefulness of transfer information, may guide institutions in their evaluation of their online transfer information.Educational Leadership and Polic

Ease of Access and Usefulness of Transfer Information on Community College Websites in Texas

Many first-time community college entrants aspire to earn a bachelor’s degree, but few do. To transfer, students often must overcome information constraints to navigate bureaucratic hurdles and conflicting requirements. For a sample of 20 Texas community colleges, the authors reviewed college websites, assessing the ease of access and usefulness of online transfer information, and spoke to key transfer personnel about the information provided to students. The authors used a qualitative case study approach to triangulate findings from their data sources. Approximately two thirds of colleges in the sample fell below the highest standard on the rubric for either ease of access or usefulness, indicating room for improvement at most institutions. Many personnel interviewed recognized the strengths and limitations of their college’s online information, though several were ambivalent regarding the need for improving online transfer information, arguing that the availability of online information alone is insufficient for successful transfer and not as important as face-to-face advising. This research illustrates the need for colleges to develop and update their online information with care, determining which information students need to transfer (including transfer guides for partner programs/colleges), how students might search for that information, and ensuring that necessary transfer information is available and up-to-date. The framework provided by this rubric may guide institutions in the evaluation of their online transfer information

Texas House Bill 51—An incognito performance-based funding policy: Implications for access and equity in Texas

Higher education policy discussions are largely shaped by competing viewpoints regarding who benefits from higher education—society or the individual (Bowen et al., 1997). This tension around who higher education most benefits informs decision-making for policy makers who might ultimately decide who should pay for higher education—the individual or state and federal governments (Labaree, 1997). Most importantly, the aforementioned premise undergirds policy makers’ perceptions of higher education as a justifiable public investment, which shapes their beliefs regarding their role in determining the function of public universities as state institutions (Labaree, 2013).This article is published as Bradley, D., & Doran, E. E. (2018). Texas House Bill 51—An incognito performance- based funding policy: Implications for access and equity in Texas. Texas Education Review, 7(1), 85-101. DOI: 10.26153/tsw/15. Posted with permission.</p