Unlock the secrets behind successful academic pathways with Associate Provost Colleen Swain, a beacon of knowledge in the realm of higher education. Discover the strategies that UT Tyler uses to ensure community college students graduate after they transfer.
Feel the passion behind Swain’s words as she paints a vivid picture of UT Tyler’s dedication to student success. Every effort is a meticulously crafted stepping stone, ensuring that not a credit goes to waste on the journey to a bachelor’s degree.
TRANSCRIPT
LANDESS:
A recent study by the Aspen Institute says only a third of community college students will actually transfer to a 4-year college and only half of those will earn a BA within 6 years. I’m UT Tyler Radio News Director Mike Landess. How about here in East Texas? UT Tyler Radio Connects with Professor of Education Dr. Colleen Swain for some answers. Do those Aspen Institute numbers surprise you?
SWAIN:
First of all, thank you so much for having me here, Mike, so we can talk about this. It doesn’t surprise me, but when we look at the Aspen report, it is a national report. And Texas has different laws in place to better support transfer students, and so actually, it looks better in Texas. Now, not remarkably better. Forty-five percent of students transfer and get a bachelor’s degree within 6 years in the state of Texas. You also have to recognize that the study by Aspen was from the 2015 cohort, because they study 6 years, and so that always requires time, and we kind of had a really big event happen in the world between 2015 and now.
LANDESS:
Yes, we did.
SWAIN:
And so that certainly impacts this finding.
LANDESS:
Now, perhaps the most visible partnership with the community college is the one that UT Tyler has with TJC (Tyler Junior College). President (Kirk) Calhoun is very good friends with TJC President Juan Mejia, and the two have celebrated that partnership many times publicly. Is all of that working as well as they hoped it would?
SWAIN:
Absolutely, and having the experience of being at different universities in Texas and also within the nation, the relationship that UT Tyler has with TJC, with Kilgore College, with TVCC (Trinity Valley Community College) is so unique. It is very rare to find universities and community colleges work so closely together. Let me give you some examples of some things that we do. First of all, we’re very close to the people at the community colleges, and it’s so beneficial when you have the opportunity to just pick up the phone and call that colleague at the other institution.
SWAIN:
UT Tyler, we host transfer summits. And that allows the faculty members from different departments and majors to come together from TJC and UT Tyler and the faculty work together on degree maps, so that, “Here’s what you can take at TJC, and here’s what will transfer and move smoothly into our degree, and that allows for loss of credits. You don’t want to take courses that don’t apply to your degree program.” You want to make sure that you are taking classes, that you feel assured that this matters. This is going to make a difference. So we work on those, and then we post those pathways on our website, so that students can look at those at all times, and you can pick your major and look and see, “What is my major at TJC, and how does this apply If I’m going to transfer?”
LANDESS:
The Patriot Promise has been a big part of making all of that work. Explain to folks who may not know what the Patriot Promise is how it works.
SWAIN:
That is a fantastic scholarship offered by the UT System and our Board of Regents to allow students whose family income is below a certain threshold that the difference between what is covered by financial aid is covered by Patriot Promise, and so it allows students to not worry about tuition and fees and have the opportunity to earn their degree.
LANDESS:
I’ve discussed with Dr. Mejia the very aggressive media campaign that TJC has had in East Texas over the last several years, and while it obviously touts all that TJC has to offer, I haven’t seen anything specific to the transfer opportunities from TJC or UT Tyler. Is the program relying on word of mouth, or will there be more of a public campaign to let that be known?
SWAIN:
I think the way we handle the transfer is this close personal relationships with students at each community college. Another thing that we do at UT Tyler is we go to the community colleges every month. Our advising team, our admissions team, and we meet with students there. We also have transfer days and evenings, honestly, where students can come from those community colleges and tour and visit UT Tyler, so that they feel comfortable here when it’s time to make that transition.
LANDESS:
One of my grandsons is going to TJC, and he’s planning to get an associate degree there. I’d love to see him transfer to UT Tyler for a B.A., but what would be the draw? Now, he’s a Arkansas fan. Whether he’ll do that or not, I don’t know. A girlfriend might figure into that, but that’s another personal story. What would be the draw for someone to, if they were looking beyond UT Tyler, what would you say to them that make them want to come here?
SWAIN:
We have an abundance of programs and resources that we make clear to our transfer students, so that they know that they can be successful and earn their degree. We know the data clearly shows that, yes, you can be very successful with an associate’s degree, but with adding a bachelor’s degree to that, then your opportunities expand into management, into different levels in your career. So it does benefit you both career-wise, financially, to come and finish your degree. But at UT Tyler, some of the things that we have for you is, first of all, we have a required orientation for transfer students, and it’s not that we talk to you about how to be successful in college. You’ve already proven that. But now it’s, “Let us take the mystery out of how things work at UT Tyler.”
SWAIN:
So you come in, and it is a smooth transition. I have taught at very large institutions, and one of the benefits of UT Tyler is the smaller class, is the personal connection, is the fact that the faculty at UT Tyler are embedded and work closely with the workforce, so that networking, that connecting, that community — that doesn’t always happen with larger institutions. And then financially, honestly, UT Tyler is a very economical place to earn your degree.
LANDESS:
Good to know. Would you like to see the UT Tyler transfer programs with community colleges in East Texas? Where would you like to see them this time next year? What kind of goals are there?
SWAIN:
Well, they’re goals for our students to continue to be more successful. Now I will say that UT Tyler does really well with our transfer students. The most recent cohort — now remember, we always look 6 years — and so the most recent cohort is 2018 data, and again, we still have that pandemic that’s in the middle of all of that.
LANDESS: Right.
SWAIN: But 65% of our transfer students who came in in 2018 graduated with their bachelor’s degree within the time frame, and that is actually third in the System behind Austin and Dallas.
LANDESS:
Wow, that’s fantastic.
SWAIN:
And so, we are very successful, and that has been the same since 2015 to 2018. We’re usually third or fourth within the System. When I look at how our Fall ’23 transfer students did, when I look back at how many came back this spring — 85.9%, almost 86% of students, of our transfer students did. I would love to see us at 90 at this time next year and to continue, because we know the value of getting that degree. We know it’s hard because many of our students, whether they’re transfer or come as native students, they’re working, and so we recognize how hard this is, but we know it’s worth it. It’s a short-term effort that pays long-term dividends.
LANDESS:
Long-term dividends, yes. On a related subject, how does UT Tyler do in the area of retention and graduation rates? Can we do better? Are we doing great? Where are we?
SWAIN:
As I mentioned earlier, I think in terms of our retention and graduation rates, they are in the 70s to 80s. Graduation rates are a little lower. Now I will say that our students graduate. It may not even be within the 6 years, but what we find is our transfer students in particular are persistent, and they may only take one or two classes, and so it takes them a longer time, but they finish their degrees. And so if you look at just data on did they finish, regardless of time, we’re fantastic. Matter of fact, we’re best in the System. But when we, you know, I would like us to really be at 80s, 90s percent. I want the best for our students, I want the best for our community, and when East Texans have those degrees that allow them to expand opportunities, our economy also does better.
LANDESS:
Thanks for listening as UT Tyler Radio Connects with University Professor of Education Dr. Colleen Swain. For UT Tyler Radio News, I’m Mike Landess.
(Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain phonetic spellings and other spelling and punctuation errors. Grammar errors contained in the original recording are not typically corrected.)
