CHE will host transfer champions from institutions across South Carolina for a statewide conversation on improving the student transfer experience in South Carolina on October 13 at the Columbia Convention Center. Registration for the convening has closed. Event details and supporting materials for the event will be posted to this page as they become available.
Resources
TRANSFER CONVENING SCHEDULE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Time | Event/Topic/Details | Speaker(s)/ Organization | Location |
| 8:15-9:00 | Registration | Attendees | Lobby near Lexington A |
| 9:00-9:05 | Welcome and opening remarks by the CHE President and Executive Director | Jeffrey Perez, Ph.D., SC Commission on Higher Education | Richland A/B/C |
| 9:05-9:10 | Housekeeping notes for the day and introduction of keynote speaker | Tim Rees, Ed.D., SC Commission on Higher Education | Richland A/B/C |
| 9:10-9:40 | Keynote by the Deputy Under Secretary & Chief of Staff for the Under Secretary | Ashley Reich, US Department of Education | Richland A/B/C |
| 9:40-9:55 | Updates on Transfer Statewide Initiatives: Updates to include SC TRAC update and advising particulars for the 2026-27 academic year | Jennifer Black, SC Technical College System Amanda Shores, University of South Carolina - Columbia | Richland A/B/C |
| 9:55-10:00 | BREAK/Transition | ||
| 10:00-10:45 | Concurrent Session I | ||
| Title: A Transfer Champion Tune-Up: Reflecting on Practice as Agents, Connectors, and Advocates Learning Objectives: 1. Identify the specific behaviors associated with the agent, connector, and advocate roles. 2. Connect foundational transfer concepts to everyday decisions in their work with transfer students. 3. Identify at least one adjustment to make in each role. | Emily Kittrell, National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition; University of South Carolina - Columbia | Lexington A | |
| Title: Beyond Equivalency: How Coastal Carolina University Is Using Student Learning Outcomes to Rethink Universally Transferable Courses Learning Objectives: Identify and apply an outcomes-based approach to evaluating universally transferable courses for general education requirements, including strategies for faculty collaboration, registrar coding, and implementation at their own institution. | Leslie Barrett Brown, Ph.D., Coastal Carolina University | Lexington B | |
| Title: Small Colleges, Big Impact: Advancing Transfer Through Rural Partnerships Learning Objectives: Apply lessons from Denmark Technical College’s partnerships to strengthen collaboration, create clearer transfer pathways, and ensure that smaller institutions are not overlooked. Identify practical strategies for developing transfer partnerships that respond to the unique needs of rural students and communities. Outline a plan for engaging small and rural colleges in statewide transfer conversations, planning efforts, and partnership opportunities. | Marci Middleton, PhD, Denmark Technical College | Congaree A | |
| Title: From Enrollment to Transfer: Building an Education Pathway with Community at Its Core Learning Objectives: 1. Describe a model for coordinating mapped transfer pathways from a regional campus to comprehensive institutions. 2. Explain how to build an early college on-ramp and a credit-bearing community experiential learning component into an existing transfer pathway. 3. Apply lessons learned to scope a similar multi-campus, early-access, or experiential pathway at their own institution. | Majdouline Aziz, Ph.D., Cari Conley, University of South Carolina - Union and Zelda Waymer, SC Afterschool Alliance/USC-Union | Congaree B | |
10:45- 10:50 | BREAK/Transition | ||
| 10:50 -11:35 | Concurrent Session II | ||
| Title: Practical Strategies for Improving Transfer Student Momentum through Intentional Advising Practices Learning Objectives: Identify advising practices that reduce barriers and improve transfer student success. Explore how DegreeWorks and transfer planning tools support informed academic decision-making. Develop strategies to create a more seamless and student-centered transfer experience at their institution. | Heather Hoppe, Ph.D.; Horry-Georgetown Technical College | Lexington A | |
| Title: Guided Transfer Pathways through Collaborative Partnerships Learning Objectives: Participants walk away with practical steps that can be implemented at their institution using pathways for their students. These pathways will most likely look different but the principal behind creating pathways is the same. Showing how collaboration between partnership institutions positively impacts the transfer student and gives them a clear and understandable path as they navigate the transfer process from one school to the next. | Bill Brown, USC-Columbia | Lexington B | |
| Title: Turning Trash into Treasure: Building a School-to-Credit-to-Career Pipeline Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to apply the Treasure Pathway Framework to identify gaps between K–12 education, postsecondary credit, transfer, workforce development, and career pathways, while identifying cross-sector partnership strategies among K–12 schools, technical colleges, four-year institutions, and workforce partners that can reduce credit loss, shorten time to degree, and improve transfer and credential completion for South Carolina students. | Katrina Johnson, Ed.D.; KJ Legacy Reads, LLC | Congaree A | |
| Title: Credit That Counts: Making Transfer Credit Visible, Applicable, and Actionable Learning Objectives: Identify points in the transfer journey where students can lose credit, time, and degree momentum, including the distinction between credit acceptance and degree applicability. Apply lessons from North Carolina's transfer experience to South Carolina institutional and regional transfer initiatives. Assess their institution's transfer readiness across five dimensions: visibility, applicability, planning, advising, and measurement. Evaluate how technology-enabled transfer planning can connect articulation, degree audit, advising, and student-facing information to improve pathway transparency. Identify actionable metrics including credit loss, excess credits, time to degree, reverse transfer, and transfer-student completion that can be used to evaluate transfer effectiveness and inform policy and practice. | Sarah Crook, Ellucian | Congaree B | |
| 11:35-11:40 | BREAK/Transition | ||
| 11:40 -12:25 | Regional Collaboration Session I | ||
| Regional Collaboration Session: Upstate | Kenita Pitts, SC Commission on Higher Education | Lexington A | |
| Regional Collaboration Session: Midlands | Kathy Rollins, SC Commission on Higher Education | Lexington B | |
| Regional Collaboration Session: Lowcountry | Tim Rees, EdD, SC Commission on Higher Education | Congaree A/B | |
| 12:25 -1:35 | LUNCH | ||
| 1:35-2:20 | Interest Area Collaboration Session II | ||
| Interest Area: Get Involved in the Transfer Excellence Council | Tim Rees, Ed.D., SC Commission on Higher Education | Richland A/B/C | |
| Interest Area: Practical Transfer Data Use/Tools | Jennifer Black, SC Technical College System Amanda Shores, University of South Carolina - Columbia | Lexington A | |
| Interest Area: Holistic Credit Mobility: The Framework, the Cohort Experience, and Practical Tools | Madeline Trimble, Ithaka S&R | Lexington B | |
| Interest Area: Admissions & Registrars | Brandon Diehl, Charleston Southern University | Congaree A | |
| Interest Area: Advising & Student Services | Collytte Medders & Nichole Spivey, University of South Carolina - Aiken | Congaree B | |
| 2:20-2:25 | BREAK/Transitions | ||
| 2:25-3:10 | Concurrent Session III | ||
| Title: From Credits to Careers: Transfer Pathways as Workforce Pipelines Learning Objectives: Participants should be able to: 1. Describe how specific transfer initiatives (e.g., Transfer Explorer, regional transfer partnerships) support talent pipelines in sectors like healthcare, education, advanced manufacturing, IT. 2. Identify at least two practices to align transfer pathways with local and regional workforce needs (e.g., co designed pathways, employer validated learning outcomes, stackable credentials). 3. Outline a plan to engage workforce and employer partners in their own institutional transfer strategies. | James Thompson I, Ph.D., SC Commission on Higher Education | Lexington A | |
| Title: SC Transfer Students Outcomes Dashboard Learning Objectives: Session attendants will learn the following: The data and the data work used to create the dashboard. The main metrics and definitions applied in the dashboard. The dashboard's filters included and their usability. The key findings according to this analysis. The main details on how to use the dashboard from an institutional perspective | Mariana Manic, SC Commission on Higher Education | Lexington B | |
| Title: Advancing Transfer Student Success Beyond a Curricular Focus Through the Carolina Experience Learning Objectives: To summarize the transfer student experience at the University of South Carolina gathered through six years of focus groups and a new survey. Describe the support offered for transfer students at the University of South Carolina. Identify actionable practices they can adapt to support the transfer student population at their own institutions. | Amber Falluca, Ph.D. & Kimberly Dressler, USC-Columbia | Congaree A | |
| Title: How Solid Are Your Systems? Building Sustainable Systems that Strengthen Student Experiences and Yield Positive Outcomes Learning Objectives: 1. Assess the strength of their current organizational systems supporting transfer students. 2. Identify gaps that create barriers to student success. 3. Learn strategies for building collaborative systems across academic affairs, student affairs, advising, enrollment management, registrars, faculty, institutional research, and workforce partners. 4. Examine how leadership, communication, and organizational culture influence system effectiveness. 5. Develop a practical action plan for strengthening sustainable, student-centered systems. 6. Explore continuous improvement strategies that support long-term institutional success. | Carlita King, Ed.D., CSK2 Enterprise, LLC | Congaree B | |
| 3:10-3:15 | BREAK/Transitions | ||
| 3:15-3:30 | Thank you and closing remarks | Tim Rees, EdD, SC Commission on Higher Education Jennifer Black, SC Technical College System Amanda Shores, University of South Carolina - Columbia Angela Peters, Ph.D., SC Commission on Higher Education | Richland A/B/C |