Transfer Prep Grant Reaps Great Success!

Transfer Center

The development of the Transfer Center is definitely the heart of the grant and serves as the focal point for everything transfer at Crafton. The mission of the CHC Transfer Center (TC) is to promote a transfer culture at CHC through various activities and programs such as the Faculty Transfer Advocates, Transfer Fairs and workshops, counselor trainings, and University Rep appointments. Relationships with universities are being fostered where none previously existed and our students are benefiting from these efforts. Universities such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, Cal State Sacramento and even out-of-state universities are regularly visiting CHC to recruit Crafton students. Consequently, CHC hosted UCLA’s first regional “Transfer Day” conference for students in the Inland Empire, a typically underserved geographical area.  Students and faculty alike have benefited from the increase of on-site university representatives who meet individually with students to assess progress towards completing admission requirements and to deliver professional development for counseling and instructional faculty. For the first time, CHC students are offered the option of participating in Transfer Guarantee Admission programs with local campuses such as Brandman University and with out-of-state institutions such as Arizona State University or Bellevue University in Nebraska.

The TC has adopted the slogan “It takes a college to transfer a student” and one of the ways the TC is committed to building and maintaining a culture of transfer is through professional development. Part and full-time counseling faculty participate in monthly “transfer trainings” in an effort to maintain currency

with the complexity and fluidity of transfer requirements. In addition, Faculty Transfer Advocates participate in 2 trainings per semester to learn how transfer, student services, and mentorship can help students achieve their educational goals. The outcome is self-evident with the increase of applications for transfer, the well- attended Transfer Fairs and workshops, and the annual increase of students visiting the Transfer Center.

As the TC Coordinator, Mariana Moreno has exceeded all of our expectations in creating a stellar Transfer Center and Services that competes with the best in the state. As an example of her influence, admission offers from UCs and local universities (CSUSB, CPP and U of R) now far exceed the admission rates from all other California Community Colleges! The following chart highlights the growth and development of the TC since it’s opening in February 2011:

2011-2012	2014-2015
Utilization of Transfer Center 753 contacts: 403 walk-ins 199 workshop appointments 134 individual appointments	Utilization of Transfer Center 1643 contacts: 653 walk-ins 627 workshop appointments 363 individual appointments
Transfer Fairs (Fall & Spring) 1141 contacts reported	Transfer Fair (Fall) 1064 contacts reported
University Reps 11 universities for tabling & individual appointments	University Reps 22 universities for tabling & individual appointments
CSU Applicants 180 individual students	CSU Applicants 372 individual students
UC Applicants 61 individual students	UC Applicants 112 individual students
135 applications	296 applications

College Honors Institute

Another activity supported with grant funds is the expansion and development of the College Honors Institute (CHI). With the guidance from the Honors Steering Committee and the leadership from our Honors Coordinator, Daniel Bahner (as well as our previous coordinators!), The most significant benefit of CHI is the opportunity students have to utilize the agreements Crafton has with a variety of prestigious universities.

This gives our students another pathway for transfer in a very competitive way.  As a result of the college’s membership in the Honors Transfer Council of California (HTCC), students who successfully complete CHI requirements are eligible for priority admission and scholarship consideration at many public and private four- year institutions. All fourteen of our Spring 15 CHI completers were admitted to their first-choice university for Fall 2015.  Some of the schools included UCLA, UCB, UCI, Yale University, Loma Linda University, CSUSB, CSUF, CSULB, etc.

Additionally, students develop their leadership abilities by becoming a CHI Ambassador, their compassion through community service, and their engagement through interaction with other Honors students. All Honors students are expected to present research during each semester at the CHC Student Research Conference and/or at the annual HTCC Student Research Conference or Symposium at UCI or UCB/Stanford. Student participation in a research conference is a valuable addition to their academic experience. Because of the mentoring and enthusiastic support from our dedicated Honors Faculty, students are able to excel and grow in their chosen fields. The following chart illustrates to date the growth of the Honors Program:

	Spring 2012	Spring 2015
Honors Students	38	54
Honors Sections	26	28
Honors Courses Offered	14	21
Honors Seats Taken	24	44
CHI Completers	2	14
Honors Faculty	15	22

Supplemental Instruction

Finally, the Transfer Prep Supplemental Instruction (SI) at Crafton is an academic support program that increases student retention and success in transfer courses that historically have been difficult for students. Some of the transfer courses that were targeted in the SI program include HIST 100/101, ANAT 101, PSYCH 100, CD 105, ENGL 101/102/152, and SPAN 101/102. The SI model provides peer support by the SI Leader through regular review sessions outside the classroom. An SI leader is not a tutor, nor a teacher, just a good student (who previously completed the course) showing others how to be good students. Each semester every SI leader receives training prior to the beginning of the term, and in-service training continues throughout the semester as well. These training sessions include specific teaching and learning theories and strategies.  Daniel Bahner, the SI Coordinator, conducts the training, meets weekly with each SI leader, periodically attends the SI sessions and offers formative feedback for the improvement of the program.

The SI program has grown substantially over the last four years.  In Fall 2011, there were three SI courses with 65 students who participated and in Spring 2015 there were 10 SI courses with 252 students. The research continues to show that students who participate in the SI program and attend SI sessions continue to be more successful than students in the same course who do not attend. More specifically, students who attended two or more SI sessions had a statistically significant and substantially higher success rate than students in the section who did not attend SI. Additionally, Hispanic students who attended two or more SI sessions had a statistically significant and substantially higher success rate and were more likely to complete their courses than Hispanic students in the same course who did not attend.

The Title V teams consists of Daniel Bahner, Mariana Moreno, Ruby Zuniga, Keith Wurtz, Cheryl Marshall, Cindy Gundersen, and Debbie Bogh. Past team members were Karen Childers, Jennifer Floerke, Gary Williams, and Ginger Sutphin.

CHC was privileged to have a five-year Title V grant to develop programs that centered on student success. Over the past five years, this HSI (Hispanic Serving Institutions) grant provided the college with approximately $620,000 each year to facilitate the implementation of various activities aimed to increase the transfer and graduation rates of CHC students, with a focus on Hispanic students. Additionally, it sought to develop a Grants Office and to increase the research capabilities of the college as a whole. The success of the grant can largely be attributed to the collaboration and support of the college administration, faculty and staff, and also to the dedication and enthusiasm of the Title V team. Three of our programs, The Transfer Center, Crafton Honors Institute, and Supplemental Instruction are summarized below.