NISTS 2020 Recap: Forging Stronger Connections to Support Transfer Students

Tara Zirkel
9 months ago
2 min read

Raise Me is winding down from an amazing week in Atlanta! Our team was fortunate enough to attend the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students (NISTS) Annual Conference, an event centered on data, best practices, and emerging trends in how to best support transfer students. We were thrilled to participate as sponsors, presenters, and as a partner of Ivy Tech Community College. Curious what we were up to? Check out our highlights below:

Concurrent Presentation: Exposure to Connection

Raise Me, Oakton Community College, and Columbia College Chicago joined together to present a concurrent session, Exposure to Connection: Collaborative Partnerships and Reimagining Cross Institutional Transfer Relationships. Using recommendations from the Aspen Institute’s (2016) Transfer Playbook our team described the ways Columbia College Chicago and Oakton Community College have strengthened their relationship via making transfer an institutional priority, emphasizing advising, and developing strong curricular pathways. Raise Me works to connect both institutions by incentivizing student achievement, which has contributed to a 64% increase in Oakton Community College students who attended Columbia College Chicago in Fall 2019. Our presentation is here.

Raise Me & Ivy Tech Community College: Indiana Transfer Partners Reception

Raise Me is thrilled to support students at Ivy Tech Community College, which is comprised of over 40 locations, making it one of the largest two year colleges in the country. Ivy Tech has shown tremendous thought leadership in the areas of completion and transfer — demonstrated by over 100 transfer agreements, dedicated transfer advocates, and concurrent enrollment opportunities. Raise Me was honored to participate in the Indiana Transfer Partners dinner, designed to appreciate the work of four year institutions in Indiana, and to foster an ongoing dialogue exploring collaboration opportunities that benefit students.

Lastly, Raise Me wants to extend a warm thank you to the entire NISTS team for creating such an important forum for sharing research, best practices, and emerging thought leadership that is so squarely focused on student success. Click here to learn more about NISTS and how they are leading the charge in transfer student success.

Want to be a Raise Me expert like Ivy Tech and Oakton? Reach out to ccinfo@raise.me to inquire about our free partnerships, marketing materials, and educator support.

Tara Zirkel

Tara Zirkel, Ed.D, is Senior Manager for Community College Partnerships Manager for Raise Me. Tara has over a decade of student affairs experience in community college settings, including as the Dean of Distance Education and Education Centers at Westmoreland County Community College and as the Director of Admissions, Interim Dean of Students, Adjunct Faculty, and Interim Associate Academic Dean at the Community College of Allegheny County. She holds a doctorate of education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she researched enrollment habits of community college students.