from VCCA Journal, Volume 6, Number 1, Winter 1991, 18-19
© Copyright 1991 VCCA Journal
ln March of 1987 a task force led by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) produced a set of ten guidelines for student assessment programs in response to a mandate from the Virginia General Assembly. For community colleges, one of the most important requirements was "Guideline 8" instructing four-year institutions to provide progress reports to community colleges on transfer students.
ln recent years, more Virginia Western Community College (VWCC) students have transferred to Radford University than to any other public four-year institution. For this reason, data on transfer students provided by Radford was especially important to the VWCC outcomes assessment program.
A complete academic record for each student was provided on a microcomputer diskette. As VWCC assessment staff began to analyze the data, an odd coincidence gave birth to an idea for a more reciprocal reporting relationship. lt was noted that 44 VWCC transfer students enrolled at Radford in the fall of 1989. Nearly the exact same size group, 43 "reverse transfer" students, entered VWCC that same term, having previously attended Radford. So VWCC provided a DBase file on these students to Radford's assessment office. ln both exchanges, the data included name and social security number, along with academic records, to enable the receiving institution to verify and analyze the information.
The data from Radford revealed some important results. VWCC transfer students in general did very well at Radford. They did not experience any drop in mean grade-point average (dispelling the "transfer shock" myth); 85% were in good standing, and associate degree completers were, on the average, more successful than non-completers.
The data reported by VWCC revealed that a third of the transfers from Radford who entered Fall '89 were curricular students (i.e., enrolled in a program of study); and Radford's assessment staff discovered that reverse transfers attending VWCC generally left Radford in good academic standing, contrary to the common assumption that it is mostly unsuccessful students who "drop-out" of senior institutions to go to a community college.
By studying both general trends and individual student records, it was concluded that transfer patterns are much more complex than had been anticipated. Students move back and forth between institutions for a variety of reasons.
On the surface, it appears that the traditional path -- high school followed immediately by two years at the community college, completed with a baccalaureate degree at a four-year institution a couple of years later -- is more likely the exception rather than the rule. Further research is needed, but if this conclusion proves to be true, it could have profound implications for both VWCC and Radford.
The exchange of information about transfer students is the first of many collaborative efforts being planned to enhance the student outcomes assessment programs of VWCC and Radford. Both institutions have used the ETS Academic Profile to assess general education outcomes, and some longitudinal studies are being considered. Radford's alumni questionnaire may be revised to collect new information for community colleges. Finally, collaboration in the development of departmental assessment projects will be explored.
If the purpose of outcomes assessment is not only to provide answers but also to generate more questions about student performance and institutional effectiveness, then the partnership begun by VWCC and Radford University has already been mutually rewarding.
Steve Culver is Director of Student Assessment at Radford University. He currently serves as President of the Virginia Assessment Group, an informal association of college faculty, administrators, and state higher education officials actively involved in the assessment field.
David C. Hanson is Director of Instructional Support Services at Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke where he has served as assessment coordinator for the past four years. He is a frequent conference speaker and an independent consultant on college outcomes assessment.