COTC Included in New Transfer Pathways Initiative for Three Disciplines

Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) is now a participating member of the Ohio Consortium for Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts.

This new project brings together 14 independent colleges and universities and 10 community colleges in Ohio to establish three pathways to a baccalaureate degree in English, psychology or biology for students at community colleges.

COTC Provost Eric Heiser, PhD, said, “COTC decided to join the consortium because it gave us yet another way to help serve the many diverse needs of our students. The value-add for joining this consortium provided us with lots of potential opportunity and zero downfall.”

The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) received a grant from the Teagle Foundation and Arthur Vining Davis Foundation to launch the consortium. It will build on lessons learned through CIC’s previous Teagle-supported project to support community college students’ transfer into CIC member institutions in North Carolina.

In announcing the grant, CIC President Richard Ekman said, “Private college and universities offer community college students a proven pathway to successful completion of a bachelor’s degrees. CIC’s member institutions are proud to contribute to the national priority of increasing degree completion rates for students who begin their academic careers at community colleges.”

The Ohio Consortium for Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts will build on a solid foundation for community college students’ transfer in the state of Ohio. As Project Director Winnie Gerhardt noted, “A strength of the transfer landscape in Ohio is the commitment of community colleges to helping their students transition to baccalaureate degrees and the many individual partnerships and articulation agreements they have forged with independent colleges and universities to achieve this goal.”

CIC and the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC) will draw on the existing relationships and mutual trust between participating institutions to design clear, consistent pathways to a baccalaureate degree at any of the institutions in the Consortium.

The Consortium will address some of the most challenging barriers faced by community college students transferring to four-year colleges and universities, including a lack of comprehensive advising and credit loss in the transition between institutions. According to Ekman, “Losing credits during the transfer process can have severe consequences for students. Not only does taking extra classes cost more and add to student debt, but it can also increase students’ time-to-degree or even lower their chances of graduating at all.”

Discipline-specific guided pathways that provide curricular templates for students to transfer as junior English, biology or psychology majors will alleviate credit loss and reduce the confusion and anxiety surrounding many transfer decisions, so students can focus on their goal: graduating with a bachelor’s degree.

Heiser added, “Both current and future students will benefit by having yet another transfer option as they finish their studies with COTC and move on towards a bachelor’s degree and beyond. We’re thrilled to add this transfer pathway to our growing list of transfer agreements.”

Participating CIC members include Ashland University, Baldwin Wallace University, Bluffton University, Capital University, Defiance College, Denison University, Hiram College, Lourdes University, Malone University, Muskingum University, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Tiffin University and Ursuline College.

Participating community colleges include COTC, Clark State College, Columbus State Community College, Cuyahoga Community College, Lakeland Community College, Lorain County Community College, North Central State College, Sinclair Community College, Stark State College and Terra State Community College.

The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of more than 750 nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils of independent colleges, and other higher education affiliates, that works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society. CIC is the major national organization that focuses on services to leaders of independent colleges and universities and state-based councils. CIC offers conferences, seminars, publications, and other programs and services that help institutions improve educational quality, administrative and financial performance, student outcomes, and institutional visibility. It conducts the largest annual conferences of college and university presidents and of chief academic officers in the United States. Founded in 1956, CIC is headquartered at One Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.

Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC) was founded in 1960 to conduct annual solicitations of companies and foundations to benefit private college in Ohio. OFIC has 33 member institutions and 80,000 students. OFIC solicits financial support from corporate donors that believe strongly in higher education, connecting students with donors and empowering donors to design scholarships that have a direct impact on Ohio students, their local community, and their future employees.

To find out about how to begin your bachelor’s degree at COTC, visit cotc.edu/start-your-bachelors-degree.