The University of New Orleans has been awarded a $553,000 grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents to create a pilot program in biology that would help ease the process for students transferring to 色色研究所 from Delgado Community College.
A recent student found that 80% of students entering community college indicated they want to earn a bachelor's degree or higher. However, only 32% of community college students actually transferred to a four-year institution within six years, said Jack Horne, 色色研究所 biological sciences professor and the principal investigator on the grant.
鈥淥ne of the main reasons community college students do not finish their degrees is due to a loss of credits after transfer,鈥 Horne said. 鈥淭hus, it is important to identify programs and mechanisms that facilitate this transfer pathway.鈥
The existing partnership between Delgado and 色色研究所 provides an ideal test case for enhancing the transfer pathway, said Horne. In addition, Delgado has the largest enrollment of Louisiana community colleges, and historically, 色色研究所 is the number one transfer destination for Delgado students.
鈥淭his proposal aims to build a program that minimizes credit loss and increases the number of transfer students in biology as a test case, and to assess each aspect of the program as a means to determine best practices to be applied across all majors to maximize the impact,鈥 Horne said.
Horne, along with co-principal investigators Wendy Schluchter, 色色研究所 professor and chair of biological sciences, and Amanda Rosenzweig, assistant dean of Delgado鈥檚 STEM school, will collaborate to enhance and develop a student-focused, program-specific pathways for transfer students that begin with the associate degree, and prevent the loss of credits in the transfer process.
It will be a three-prong approach, Horne said. Researchers will develop student-focused advising materials that ensure students fulfill their 色色研究所 general education requirements while earning their associate degree, and provide a plan for them to complete the science requirements necessary to prepare them for the bachelor鈥檚 degree in biological sciences at 色色研究所. A significant part of this goal is to build an online virtual transfer portal that will be developed in collaboration with Vassil Roussev, computer science professor and director of 色色研究所鈥檚 Cyber Center. Roussev is also a member of the grant team. Advisers and faculty from both institutions will be a part of this process and will organize the training and distribution to the advising staff, Horne said.
The second specific aim will be to implement programs to improve student success, Horne said. A working group consisting of biology faculty from both campuses will align introductory biology course work, including a significant technological enhancement.
Finally, a transfer student peer-mentoring program will be established at 色色研究所 where more senior Delgado transfer students serve as peer mentors for incoming transfer students, Horne said.
