To be successful as a system, and to best support all campuses, people, and regions they serve, SUNY is endeavoring to introduce extensive, comprehensive and meaningful change in transfer and student mobility practices. Key to achieving these goals is having the commitment and involvement of all campuses. SUNY should work with all stakeholders to be assured there is common understanding of shared goals to improving transfer outcomes and the experiences of students.
To this end, The Steering Committee is proposing a model to foster a meaningful system of governance and engagement with a community of professionals that emphasizes shared accountability and responsibility to students. Recommended governance and support models are designed to help all campuses set goals, monitor progress, receive support and have clear guidance.
Transfer support is not limited to individuals with specific titles or roles. Key individuals, policymakers and advocates exist in all areas of the University. Because of the breadth of expertise and the diversity of roles and expertise, it’s important to be assured we establish a means to understand who the key stakeholders and contributors to campus success are SUNY-wide. The proposed Academic Advising Network will help to create a platform for disseminating information and receiving valuable feedback, but it may not encompass technical, record-keeping, research or policy professionals and faculty who are integral to the process. The following roles are projected to be added to the DTP-approved and Office of Student Success authored Campus Profile project, which collects key campus leaders and other information such as college calendars, registration times, and critical policies.
A key challenge we face as we attempt to assess, understand, and communicate about transfer policy and practices is the fact that we are often unable to identify lead personnel on campus.
Each campus will have a transfer officer drawn from the existing ranks of campus transfer faculty, professionals or advisors who will serve as the main campus contact for transfer initiatives, programming, and policy updates. The officer should be a staff or faculty member occupying a role in which they lead, direct or manage transfer policy and processes on their campus. The officer will serve as a liaison to SUNY System Administration and the Student Success Office. Transfer officers will constitute a community that will meet at least annually. Transfer officers are partners in development and are not designed to be individuals that are accountable for all aspects of transfer on campus; rather, they are facilitators and problem solvers who work collaboratively with other campus colleagues and SUNY System Administration to develop and sustain transfer goals.
Because SUNY is a diverse system where FERPA regulations and protections apply campus-to-campus, it is critical that personnel be identified to help students and other support stakeholders ensure compliance and uphold the safety and privacy of student data, while facilitating open communication.
Campuses will name a dedicated individual who can be contacted regarding transfer-related FERPA releases and campus FERPA compliance. Campuses can determine if the primary FERPA officer1 will be the most appropriate contact or may assign a designated staff member for transfer-related FERPA items. These contacts will receive annual training and updates on the state of transfer-related FERPA cases and guidance and assist in guiding SUNY System Administration and our partners in developing FERPA-compliant policies, procedures and tools.
1 Most often, the campus registrar, Chief Information Security Officer or local campus counsel serves as the FERPA Officer.
Key to supporting new and evolving approaches to transfer support, is having a dedicated group of actors committed to sustaining and enhancing transfer services. The Transfer Task Force Steering Committee has proposed a governance and advisory structure that will draw on the expertise of various professional areas and include members from all regions and sectors. Given the meaningful work of the Transfer Task Force, the proposed governance borrows heavily from the cross-functional approaches used there and seeks to integrate former groups, such as the Student Mobility Steering Committee (SMSC), who served as a lead body for most transfer initiatives. The following proposed structure outlines an enhanced and more inclusive group of stakeholders.
The Student Mobility Steering Committee was initially established to address issues related to the SUNY Seamless Transfer policies and the SUNY Transfer Paths. Under an expanded transfer agenda, a group with a broader charge is recommended. This group will oversee and provide navigation to subgroups with specific missions and roles.
The Transfer Advisory Council shall serve as a lead consultative body that consists of leaders from throughout the SUNY System. Like the SMSC, the group will be a key source of guidance informed by leaders in transfer-aligned roles – drawing from faculty, professional, student and System Administration ranks. The Transfer Advisory Council will have the ability to form subgroups and working groups with focused missions or problem-focused goals and will convene standing groups as prescribed by policy or procedures established by the Chancellor or the Board of Trustees. The council should consist of faculty governance leadership including the FCCC President or designee, the UFS President or designee and the SUNY Student Assembly President or designee.
Proposed Membership
FCCC President
UFS President
Faculty Member Appointed by the FCCC President
Faculty Member Appointed by the UFS President
Executive Committee Chair of the SUNY Association of Chief Academic Officers
AVC for Transfer and Articulation
One SUNY System Provost Representative
One SUNY System Community Colleges and the Education Pipeline Representative
One SUNY System Provost Representative
SUNY Chancellor Faculty Fellow for Transfer (If Applicable)
One Representative Transfer Officer from a Community College
One Representative Transfer Officer from a State-Operated College
One Representative from the SUNY Delegation of the New York State Transfer and Articulation Association (NYSTAA)
Proposed Charge
(1) Make recommendations to Senior Vice Chancellor for Student Success on matters concerning the ability of students to transfer from one campus to another within SUNY as prescribed by SUNY Board of Trustees Policies.
(2) Establish and review transfer appeal procedures as defined by SUNY Board of Trustees Policies and the Seamless Transfer Policies. Appeals processes include student transfer credit appeals, campus-to-campus appeals, and Transfer Path core course appeals.
(3) Provide leadership and priorities to the Transfer and Articulation Advisory subcommittees.
(4) Set priorities for the revision of Transfer Paths.
(5) Recognize and prioritize areas in need of improvement within transfer and articulation policy and processes.
(6) Identify reports, benchmarks, and metrics to be used by the SUNY System.
(7) Provide an annual report in concert with the Transfer and Articulation Office and Institutional Research assessing transferability of credits, campus-to-campus transfer rates, percentage of credits articulated, and other transfer and articulation metrics as defined by Advisory Committee, the SUNY Board of Trustees or SUNY Leadership.
Just as the Transfer Task Force Steering Committee directed overall progress and output, the Transfer Advisory Council will convene subcommittees that are similarly focused and mission specific.
Student Transfer Services Subcommittee
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Mission |
The Student Transfer Services subcommittee is focused on transfer services across common areas of direct student service: advising, registration, financial aid/student accounts and admissions/recruitment. This group is designed to connect various areas of student support and subject matter experts to assess and develop cross-unit practices and policies in consideration of the entire student transfer experience. |
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Membership |
Campus academic advising staff or faculty (2) Representative from SUNY Enrollment Management (1) Representative from SUNY Community Colleges and the Education Pipeline (1)
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Responsibilities |
(1) Develop best practices for transfer recruitment, advising, registration and financial support areas. (4) Coordinate training opportunities and programs for transfer support in concert with the CPD and other SUNY stakeholders. |
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Leadership |
The group shall be chaired by a SUNY System representative from Enrollment Management or Community Colleges and the Education Pipeline, and co-chaired by an appointed member drawn from the above representatives. |
SUNY Transfer Path Subcommittee
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Mission |
The SUNY Transfer Path subcommittee will be charged with maintaining, refining, and improving the SUNY Transfer Path program. The group will also be charged with increasing awareness of the Transfer Paths and their applicability to academic programs. This committee is effectively the successor to the SMSC and retains all of the Transfer Path and curricular responsibilities of the SMSC. |
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Membership |
As a group concerned with academic policy and the applicability of courses to academic programs, it shall consist of SUNY faculty members who are involved in support and/or development of SUNY Transfer Paths. Teaching Faculty Members of Different Disciplines Appointed by the FCCC (3) |
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Responsibilities |
(1) Establish an ongoing, cyclical review process for evaluating the appropriateness of course descriptions and the Core Courses which are assured to transfer within the major. (2) Convene discipline working groups to review Transfer Path content, core courses, and categories. (3) Provide reporting and data to discipline working groups to guide the assessment and review of Transfer Paths. (4) Develop mechanisms for proposing changes to Core Courses and Transfer Paths when necessary. (5) Work with SUNY Stakeholders and the Transfer Data and Communication subcommittee to maintain and develop online catalogs (lookups) of Transfer Paths and Core Courses. |
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Leadership |
The group shall be chaired by a SUNY System Provost representative, and co-chaired by a campus member drawn from the above representatives. |
Transfer Data and Communications Subcommittee
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Mission |
The subcommittee will be charged with maintaining SUNY transfer resources online and improving Transfer Path and transfer initiative communications and marketing. |
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Membership |
This group will be largely focused on providing data and dashboards and supporting/developing SUNY centralized resources. Accordingly, most members hold specific roles related to these tasks.
AVC for Transfer and Articulation (1) SUNY Press and Communications / Digital Communications representative (1) SUNY Institutional Research representative (1) Campus community college Institutional Research representative (1) Campus state-operated campus Institutional Research representative (1) SUNY Enrollment Management representative (1) Campus community college enrollment management representative (1) Campus state-operated campus Enrollment Management representative (1) Community college registrar representative (1) State-operated college registrar representative (1) |
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Responsibilities |
(1) Provide oversight and design guidance for the transfer.suny.edu portal. (2) Manage, develop and refine the online SUNY Transfer Paths and Core Course lookups. (3) Develop communication strategies and reporting to support the work of the Transfer and Articulation Advisory Council and its subcommittees. (4) Develop strategies to increase awareness of SUNY transfer initiatives including Transfer Paths, Degree Works and other tools developed centrally. (5) Assist in the development of listservs, communication lists, online communities and campus profiles. (6) Identify, scope, and lead the development of transfer business intelligence tools including dashboards and reports for use by SUNY and the public. (7) Provide training in concert with the CPD, IR and OIT for users of dashboards and reporting tools. |
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Leadership |
The group shall be chaired by a SUNY System representative from the above representatives, and co-chaired by a campus member drawn from the above representatives. |
Historically, SUNY System Administration has had limited staff and resources dedicated to transfer student success. With the introduction of the Student Success Office and the Transfer and Articulation Office, an opportunity exists to create a system of support and management that can help direct and sustain transfer policies and practices year-to-year.
The Transfer and Articulation Office will facilitate and help guide the work of the Transfer and Articulation Advisory Council. As part of its role, the office staff will be charged with defining overall priorities in concert with shared governance, providing support staffing, and coordinating the proposed transfer advisory and leadership groups. In addition, the Advisory Council will provide the Transfer and Articulation office with proposals for policy and procedural changes. The office will be responsible for reviewing, refining, and advancing proposals from the Council and its subcommittees, and presenting those proposals to SUNY Leadership including the SUNY Board of Trustees, where applicable.
The staff will be charged with partnering with campuses by providing guidance, direction, reporting, and data focused on campus efforts and responsibilities under policy. The office will be responsible for ensuring all campuses are working towards established transfer improvement benchmarks and monitor such efforts through provision of timed reports to inform campus efforts. The office will also support campuses in interpreting policy and providing communication and training in support of policies prescribed by the SUNY Board of Trustees and SUNY System Administration. This will include the directing of transfer and articulation data standards in accord with Institutional Research standards. The office will also support day-to-day operations of all centrally managed transfer features, tools, and technologies. This includes fielding transfer credit appeals, cross-registration, reverse transfer, providing student/faculty/staff support, training, and reviewing transfer-aligned issues provided by System Offices or campuses. It also will be charged with project management and leadership when new policies, initiatives or tools are implemented or undertaken.