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CAPS Summits

The first statewide Two-Year Transfer Summit, held on February 10, 2017, brought together more than 120 stakeholders, a vast number of whom were community college advisors, faculty and administrators who have already experienced—on students’ behalf—the many challenges of 2- to 4-year transfer. Also attending were government, industry and national laboratory representatives who understand the importance of the INCLUDES initiative on Colorado’s future STEM workforce. The goal of the summit was to get all players on the same page as to what the main challenges are for Colorado community college transfer students and receive solutions that can be tackled to improve the transfer process and provide needed supports for transfer students. Former Lt. Governor, and current President of WICHE, Joe Garcia, provided the keynote address, speaking to the participants about the importance of providing pathways for community college students, particularly those underrepresented in STEM, to navigate the transfer process and contribute to our nation's workforce.

A year later, the second statewide event was held on February 9, 2018. About 100 people attended the 2018 Two-Year Transfer Summit, inlcuding many repeat attendees from the previous year and dozens of new stakeholders committed to resolving the 2- to 4-year transfer issues in our state. The focus of the 2018 event was to work toward a process by which the 2- and 4-year curriuculum is better aligned for improving student success after transfer, thereby removing the barriers for students to graduate with less time to degree after transfer, and better understanding of the 2-year student experience after transfer. Congressman Jared Polis spoke about the importance of aligning the educational system for underserved students to realize success, as well as reduce the costs and barriers for first-generation and low-income students to earn quality credits towards a 4-year education, and particularly focused on diversifying STEM.

Co-Institutional Advisor Meeting

On April 28, 2017, 35 Advisors from Arapahoe Community College, Community College of Aurora, Community College of Denver, Front Range Community College, Pikes Peak Communty College, Red Rocks Community College, and several CU Boulder STEM departments met for 1/2 day at Red Rocks' Lakewood Campus to discuss transfer student challenges from the Advisor perspective. The group collectively came up with "next steps" to help with the improvement of current processes in place and provided suggestions for new programming to aid two-year students with their process to transfer.

CU Faculty Meetings

On May 11, 2017, 25 CU Administration and faculty members from many STEM disciplines on campus (Evolutionary Biology; Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology; Integrative Physiology; Geological Sciences; Engineering; and Chemistry & BioChemistry, among others) gathered to discuss transfer student issues from a faculty perspective and collaborate on process improvements and (new) program implementation.

On January 19, 2018, 23 CU Faculty members representing the majority of STEM disciplines on campus, met to learn more about the 2-year population at CU Boulder as well as work in groups to provide suggestions for enhanced curriculum alignment on a department-by-department basis.