As a result of the 1996 mandate from the Arizona State Legislature, the Arizona Board of Regents and the State Board of Community Colleges established a Transfer Articulation Task Force (TATF) to develop a seamless statewide articulation and transfer system that enables community college students to transfer without loss of credit toward a baccalaureate degree. Composed of university and community college representatives, this collaborative task force developed a Transfer Model that provides for enhanced support and advocacy for students with a means to resolve issues and problems encountered in the transfer process. This provision requires that each university and community college designate a Transfer Liaison, originally known as a Transfer Student Ombudsperson (TSO), to work in partnership to resolve issues arising from the transfer process as reported by students, advisors, faculty members and college officials. Therefore, the Arizona public state universities and community colleges will jointly share the responsibility for identifying and resolving problematic issues that impede a seamless transfer process.
ARIZONA STATEWIDE TRANSFER LIAISON MISSION
It is the joint mission of the state university and community college Transfer Liaisons to act as a resource for students who have met the essential and reasonable expectations of a student attempting to transfer and still perceive obstacles in their transfer process. The Transfer Liaison will act to ensure that articulation processes and any transfer processes related to articulation among the community colleges and the Arizona state post-secondary public institutions are student-centered, equitable, and logical.
Specifically, the Transfer Liaison will:
Clarify advising/transfer issues for students experiencing obstacles in the transfer process.
Explain transfer process issues and speak on behalf of a student experiencing difficulty in communicating with the transfer institution or refer a student to the appropriate Transfer Liaison.
Work collaboratively with other Transfer Liaisons to resolve problems and issues related to transfer to provide a seamless transfer process.
Serve as an on-campus clearinghouse to document issues and share at Advising ATF meetings.
TRANSFER LIAISON QUALITIES
The individual appointed as Transfer Liaison for a campus is ideally an experienced advisor who has contact with students on a regular basis and has an extensive understanding of complex ‘front line’ issues. The Transfer Liaison is knowledgeable about the processes within the community college and/or university and has the skills to advocate for the student within these processes. The Transfer Liaison’s broad knowledge base should include the ability to resolve problems and conflicts so as to remove barriers to the student’s successful transfer whenever possible. In addition, the Transfer Liaison must be easily accessible to students, faculty and staff.
The Transfer Liaison is an advocate for students seeking to transfer or who have transferred and have encountered obstacles in the transfer process. It is assumed that students will have completed the expectations listed in this document before contacting the campus Transfer Liaison. Knowledge of the transfer process will be made available to students via college catalogs, web sites, etc. Students will be encouraged to establish contact with university personnel before leaving the community college.
TRANSFER LIAISON RESPONSIBILITIES
Act jointly with other institutions to ensure that problematic articulation issues are identified and resolved to allow a smooth and seamless student transition.
Facilitate, on behalf of the student, advising issues, articulation compliance, and seamless transfer with the appropriate university/community college personnel.
Troubleshoot unresolved issues and transfer problems encountered by the student with the appropriate Transfer Liaison counterpart.
Identify transfer related training needs for advisors and staff.
Gather and document information, issues, and problems encountered by students and advisors related to transfer.
Maintain a Transfer Liaison log, listing issues and problems.
Submit to the Statewide Transfer Liaison Committee, as required, a report of the problems, articulation compliance issues, and successful experiences encountered by the Transfer Liaison or any community college representative.
In consultation with the community college Transfer Liaison, the university Transfer Liaison will compile an annual report detailing problems and resolutions to be submitted to the Advising ATF and APASC.
Attend statewide Transfer Liaison meetings to exchange ideas and discuss issues and solutions.
Provide an orientation to their successor. Notify AAATF/Transfer Liaison chairs of Transfer Liaison assignment changes.
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
Students can expect a satisfactory transition experience if they have taken care of their responsibilities in the transition process. These expectations of students are essential to ensure the seamless transfer process. Students who have met these expectations and still perceive obstacles in the transfer process should contact their campus Transfer Liaison. These responsibilities are outlined below:
Declare a major and select a university. Undecided students are encouraged to work closely with the Academic Advisors, Counseling Department and/or Career Center to select a major, university and career choice.
Work with an advisor at the community college to develop an educational plan.
Select and successfully complete course work based on this educational plan.
Request all necessary documents and official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions be sent to the community college and/or university in a timely manner.
File for AGEC or AGEC in progress, as appropriate in a timely manner.
File for graduation at the community college, if appropriate, in a timely manner.
Follow guidelines for university admission and to the appropriate professional program within the particular college. This includes such things as deadlines, GPA requirements, immunizations, financial aid, and, where appropriate, any necessary requirements for a particular professional program.
Work with the appropriate university advisor to continue their educational plan.
TRANSFER LIAISON PROBLEM RESOLUTION PROCESS
To resolve issues that arise from transfer, the following process will take place: student, advisor, faculty, staff or college official will report the issue to the community college Transfer Liaison. At the discretion of the Transfer Liaison, some problems/issues (i.e. financial aid, housing, etc.) may not be documented or conveyed to a university Transfer Liaison. Instances of this nature will be referred to the appropriate source for resolution without further assistance from the Transfer Liaison. However, a process or policy determined to be an unreasonable barrier to transfer or potential issue to transfer should be documented.
All pertinent information and documentation related to the problem or issue will be gathered including dates and contacts involved.
Incident will be reported by the Transfer Liaison to the Advising ATF Co-chairs, and shared at upcoming Advising ATF meetings.
TIMELINE AND PROCESS
A community college Transfer Liaison to whom a problem is reported will provide a written account of the problem to the appropriate university Transfer Liaison.
The university and community college Transfer Liaisons will jointly resolve the problem in a timely manner.
Should the community college Transfer Liaison and the university Transfer Liaison disagree on the resolution, or should the university Transfer Liaison be unable to resolve a problem in the allotted time, the issue will be forwarded to the university’s chief academic officer for a final decision.
Results will be reported to the initiating Transfer Liaison.
Outcome will be reported to the student.
DOCUMENTATION
In order to maintain a reliable bank of occurring issues for follow-up and documentation, each campus Transfer Liaison will follow protocol according to their individual institution. Each Transfer Liaison will be responsible to share this information at the following Advising ATF meeting.
Issues, recommendations or referrals determined to be urgent will be forwarded by the Transfer Liaison to appropriate individuals as soon as possible.
An annual report will be compiled by the Advising ATF Committee and will include an analysis, summary, and explanation of issues. This report will be forwarded to APASC.
Transfer Liaison issues will be a standing agenda items at the Advising ATF meetings. If the Transfer Liaison is not also the Advising ATF member, the Transfer Liaison will be invited to attend the meeting. It is the responsibility of each campus Transfer Liaison to bring transfer issues to share at the Advising ATF meeting.
TRAINING NEEDS
To support the effectiveness and professional development of Transfer Liaisons the following training resources are needed:
Regular updates of on-going changes and decisions involving transfer articulation.
Request will be made to APASC to provide Statewide Transfer Liaisons with a monthly report.
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