Eastern Works to Become State's Most Transfer-Friendly University
Nov-13-2003
Eastern Illinois University is making it easier for community college students from across the state to transfer to the institution.
The university is partnering with colleges throughout Illinois in a series of initiatives aimed at simplifying the transfer process and making Eastern the destination of choice for students wishing to continue their undergraduate education. These programs range from off-campus credit programs, to articulated and 2 plus 2 agreements between schools, to formal collaboration on the presidential level, all aimed at simplifying the process for students to achieve their higher educational and career goals.
Transfer students are an important constituent of Eastern's enrollment. About 40 percent of its undergraduate students come to the university as transfers, having begun their post-high school educations at other institutions, generally community or private colleges.
Lake Land College in Mattoon historically has sent the most transfer students to Eastern; during the Fall 2002 semester, for example, 19 percent of transfer students at Eastern came from Lake Land.
Other major feeder colleges include the Illinois Eastern Community College system in southeastern Illinois and Parkland College in Champaign at 11 and 12 percent, respectively, for the same period, followed by Danville Area C.C., Moraine Valley C.C. in Palos Hills, the College of DuPage, Joliet Junior College, Southwestern Illinois College in the Belleville area, Lincoln Land C.C. in Springfield, Rend Lake College south of Mount Vernon, Kaskaskia College near Centralia, William Rainey Harper in Palatine, Illinois Central College in East Peoria, Prairie State College in Chicago Heights and Lincoln College in Lincoln.
Central to Eastern's commitment to streamlining the transfer process for students has been the university's effort to build relationships with community colleges throughout the state. This effort was spearheaded by Eastern President Lou Hencken, who convened the first meeting of the Community College Presidents Advisory Committee in April 2002. The group, composed of leaders from Eastern and more than a half dozen community colleges, is unique in the state of Illinois and has gathered each semester since.
The advisory committee aims to enhance the articulation of programs and services, identify areas for partnerships and cooperative planning and programming, and explore ideas to efficiently and effectively meet the educational needs of residents of community college districts and the state, said Larry Larvick, Eastern transfer admissions counselor.
The Community College Presidents Advisory Committee concept has shown its worth, said Lake Land College President Robert Luther, whose school sends the greatest number of transfers to Eastern.
"We have more than 800 students at Eastern, so it's important to us that the transfer process be seamless and problem-free, and the Community College Presidents Advisory Committee has proven its value," Luther said. "It gives us an opportunity, if problems exist, to make them known to the administration, and, more importantly, it helps us to anticipate them before they become problems and find answers."
Eastern is equally committed to fostering that dialogue.
"We're constantly trying to improve our relationships with community colleges by articulating our programs and services with top-level administrators and, in turn, hearing from them what we can do to improve," said Larvick. "We've addressed their concerns, and now what we're trying to do is build relationships. We want to make Eastern the most transfer-friendly institution in Illinois and to be known for our partnerships with the other community colleges in our service area."
These partnerships are taking several forms.
At the heart of simplifying the transfer process have been Eastern's articulation and 2 plus 2 program-level transfer agreements with several community colleges.
Articulation agreements are officially approved compacts that match coursework between schools. They are designed to help students make a smooth transition to Eastern after graduating from a two-year institution by ensuring that their credits are transferable and that the students can obtain an undergraduate degree from Eastern in two additional years without having to repeat coursework.
Eastern has more than 40 articulation agreements for a variety of majors and programs in place with Lake Land, Parkland, Danville Area, Kaskaskia, Lincoln Land, Rend Lake, Richland, Sauk Valley and Moraine Valley colleges.
In addition, Eastern maintains a wide-range of off-campus degree and contract credit programs of value to potential transfer< students through its School of Continuing Education. As part of those programs, the university offers off-campus coursework leading to undergraduate and graduate degrees in Belleville, Effingham, Centralia, Robinson, Champaign, Danville, Olney, Springfield, Mount Vernon and Decatur.
Eastern administrators and counselors also frequently travel in person to community colleges around the state to foster university-community college alliances.
Students who have transferred to Eastern have been pleased with the experience.
"It was very smooth," said Roxana Hampton of Charleston, who came to Eastern from Lake Land College in January 2003 as a community counseling major. "The advisers were very supportive and walked me through the entire process, and the financial aid department was really on top of the game.
"With the Board of Trustees program, all my courses counted. That was the big reason I wanted to come here; I didn't have to start over. It's been a very positive experience."
The average student transferring to Eastern transfers 58 credit hours and is 22 years old, although ages have ranged from a low of 17 to a high of 70.
