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Topic: Credit mobility

Past Event
March 17, 2024

Higher Education Leadership in Challenging Times: The Year Ahead

At the National Center’s 51st Annual National Conference, “New Crossroads in Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations in Higher Education and the Professions,” Ithaka S+R Managing Director and former President of Vassar College Catharine Bond Hill will speak on a panel with Ann Kurschner (Hunter College), Daniel Greenstein (Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education), Frederick P. Schaffer (former general counsel, CUNY), in a discussion on higher education leadership in challenging times. The session will take place on Sunday, March 17 at…
Blog Post
February 22, 2024

Providing Credit Transfer Visibility to Improve Credit Mobility

Ithaka S+R’s “Universal Credit Transfer Explorer” Launching in Three States in 2024

Updated February 2025: Transfer Explorer is currently in its beta release and will expand in 2025 to contain data from a growing number of institutions across four states, thanks to collaborations with the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, the City University of New York, the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, and the Washington Student Achievement Council. To help address the many challenges college students face when they move between institutions or attempt to transfer credits they have…
Past Event
February 22, 2024

Third-Party Agreements

Risk Assessment, Negotiation & Quality Control

Third-party agreements help institutions tap the expertise and resources of external providers. Third-party agreements can also be complex and fraught with risk. On February 22 at 2pm ET, join institutional law and policy experts as they share actionable insights for skillfully developing and managing a range of third-party and online program management agreements. In this webinar, panelists will explore critical elements to weigh before using third parties, risk assessment, negotiation, quality control, due diligence and monitoring. This complimentary webinar is…
Past Event
February 21, 2024

The Enormous Benefits of Credit Mobility Transparency: CUNY Transfer Explorer as a National Model

National Institute for Transfer Student Success Annual Conference

Having faculty work together to articulate courses and programs across institutions is notorious for taking years to complete, if it completes at all. In a session at the National Institute for Transfer Student Success Annual Conference in St. Louis, MO, Ithaka S+R’s Martin Kurzweil will join Lexa Logue and David Wutchiett to describe an alternative approach for facilitating student transfer consisting of obtaining high-quality credit transfer information and then making it public, enabling students intending to transfer and those persons…
Past Event
November 30, 2023

Comprehensive Recruitment and Transfer Advising Tools for Student Success

Promoting Transfer Equity and Transparency in Higher Education

At the New York State Transfer and Articulation Association Downstate Meeting, Ithaka S+R’s Emily Tichenor will join Nechelle Calhoun, Lexa Logue, and Chris Buonocore in a panel on recruitment and transfer advising tools for student success. The session will include a presentation on the Ithaka S+R Articulation of Transfer Credit (ACT) project as well as a demo of CUNY T-Rex Transfer Explorer and Universal Transfer Explorer. The panel is scheduled for November 30 at 10am ET.
Blog Post
October 24, 2023

The Trouble with Transfer for Student Veterans

The US military affords servicemembers a variety of opportunities to engage in postsecondary education, taking courses and earning academic credit, during and following their service. Those opportunities are a prominent selling point for enlistment and remain a priority for those considering joining up. There is a bitter irony in the high value that many service members put on these benefits because they do not yet know how difficult it will be to use the credits they have earned to complete…
Past Event
October 17, 2023

Student and Credit Mobility: Key Topics in Research and Practice

Modern students are increasingly mobile and acquire validated learning and college credits from more sources, and over longer periods of time, than ever before. But far too often processes, policies, inaccurate or invisible information, and poor inter-institutional collaboration block students from applying their past learning to college degrees. Institutions, state systems, and organizations across the country are working to better understand and overcome these challenges and boost degree completion. At the Oklahoma Statewide Transfer Student Success Conference, on October…
Past Event
September 12, 2023

Solving the Stranded Credits Problem

Today, 6.6 million students are facing the challenge of “stranded credits”—credits that cannot be transferred between colleges. In a system of competing higher ed institutions, a never-ending discussion on which courses count toward credits has resulted in a portion of the US population left in a perpetual state of near-completion toward a degree. Sometimes, these students have unpaid bills to colleges, so their transcripts are withheld. Underprivileged students are often disproportionately affected. In an upcoming virtual forum on September…
Blog Post
July 6, 2023

CUNY and Ithaka S+R Launch New Functionality in CUNY Transfer Explorer

Enhancements to CUNY Transfer Explorer (CUNY T-Rex) empower students to explore paths to degree completion with transparent and accessible information

In January 2023, the ACT team and CUNY introduced several new features on CUNY T-Rex, which included a refreshed homepage, a student portal for CUNY students to access their transcript and explore how their courses are applied across CUNY colleges, and functionality to let users explore how course credits (from both CUNY and non-CUNY institutions) and CPL apply at various CUNY colleges and to major and minor requirements. Today, we are pleased to announce the launch of additional, new features…
Past Event
November 9, 2023

Increasing Adult Learner Enrollment and Resolving Stranded Credits

“Stranded credits” are credits that students have earned but can’t access because their former institution is holding their transcript as collateral for an unpaid balance to the institution. Ninety-five percent of institutions withhold transcripts when students have a balance, and Ithaka S+R estimates that 6.6 million students nationally have stranded credits. Like student loan debt, stranded credits are inequitably distributed: institutions with higher shares of students of color and Pell-eligible students are estimated to have more former students…
Past Event
July 12, 2023

NISTS Award Winner Spotlight

AACRAO Technology & Transfer Virtual Summit

Join a AACRAO Technology and Transfer Virtual Summit session honoring this year’s Bonita C. Jacobs Transfer Champion-Rising Star Award winners, including Ithaka S+R’s Emily Tichenor. Learn about their journeys as transfer agents, connectors, and advocates, how they’ve overcome challenges to find success, and their top tips and strategies for influencing change. Both seasoned professionals and newcomers to the transfer community will walk away with valuable insights and practical takeaways for creating and sustaining transfer-focused policies, programs, and supports. This…
Past Event
August 7, 2023

Bans, Compacts, and Collections… Oh My! State Approaches to Addressing Stranded Credits

Institutions and states are facing increasing pressures to stop the practice of withholding student transcripts for failure to pay balances in full. In fact, over half of states have enacted or considered policies on this issue over the past several years. The Department of Education and the CFPB have also weighed in with guidance and new policies. In this session at the 2023 SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference, leaders from three states that have taken unique approaches to addressing…
Past Event
May 9, 2023

Stanford Humanists At Large Fellows Visit Ithaka S+R

On May 9 at 1:00 – 4:00 pm ET, fellows from Stanford University’s Humanists at Large (HAL) program will visit the ITHAKA office to learn more about Ithaka S+R’s work and meet staff. The visit will open with a panel discussion with PhD-holding S+R staff Dylan Ruediger, James Ward, and Colette Johnson, moderated by Daniel Braun to introduce audience members to the organization and the career paths of staff. In the afternoon, Daniel Braun will lead a workshop offering…
Past Event
July 11, 2023

CUNY Transfer Explorer

A Cross-Organizational Effort to Promote Credit Transparency

In May 2020, the Articulation of Credit Transfer (ACT) team, a collaboration between Ithaka S+R and the City University of New York (CUNY), introduced CUNY Transfer Explorer, an online, public tool which allows anyone to see how courses at one college are treated at any other college in the CUNY system upon transfer. At a presentation at AACRAO’s Technology and Virtual Summit on July 11 at 4 pm ET, CUNY Lehman’s Juan Villalona, ITHAKA’s Maddie Danks and Jessica…
Past Event
March 21, 2023

“Alt-Ac” Careers for Humanities PhDs

On Tuesday, March 21 from 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET, Steve Pokornowski and Kurtis Tanaka will participate in a roundtable discussion hosted by the University of Michigan Library on “alt-ac” careers for humanities PhDs. The panel will discuss the opportunities and challenges of pursuing careers off of the tenure track and the changing professional landscape of academia, reflecting on their own experiences. Speakers include Hannah Alpert-Abrams, Sara Cohen, Patricia Hswe, Stephanie Rosen, Katina Rogers, and Jim McGrath. Learn more about…
Past Event
March 22, 2023

Texas Student Success Program Inventory Launch

Ithaka S+R was commissioned by the Student Success Division of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to develop the Texas Student Success Program Inventory, an online resource that organizes information about student success programs at Texas institutions on an easy-to-use, searchable platform. On March 22, 2023 at 1:00 pm CST/2:00 pm EST, the THECB and Ithaka S+R will host a webinar to introduce users to this new resource. In this webinar, Ithaka S+R will provide some background…
Past Event
March 29, 2023

Navigating Non-Linear Career Paths

On March 29 at 12 pm PT, Ithaka S+R Director of Strategy and Operations Colette Johnson will speak on an installment of the Versatile PhD’s Career Pathways series, on “Navigating Non-Linear Career Paths.” The virtual event will feature discussion on how professionals outside of the academy create and maintain networks, move between roles and industries, and tolerate the uncertainty that accompanies all of the above, offering advice for PhDs interested in alternative career paths. Learn more and register for…
Blog Post
February 16, 2023

Opening the Black Box of Credit Transfer to Everyone

$4.4 Million in New Grants to Enhance and Expand "Transfer Explorer" within CUNY and Beyond

Losing credits when transferring to a new institution is a major barrier preventing many college students from earning a degree. Providing better information about how credits transfer, and providing that information early enough to enable students and advisors to plan, are crucial steps to tearing down that barrier. With an additional $4.4 million in philanthropic funding, the groundbreaking Transfer Explorer is poised to take those steps, at scale.
Past Event
February 1, 2023

Using A University-Wide Initiative to Fuel Transfer Reforms

Transfer Explorer At CUNY

On February 1 from 4:10 – 5:00 pm ET, Pooja Patel will participate in a National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students (NISTS) annual conference session on “Using a university-wide initiative to fuel transfer reforms.” This session provides an overview of the continued development of Transfer Explorer, a tool introduced at the 2022 NISTS conference that aims to reduce loss of transfer credit, and its adoption at the City University of New York (CUNY) as part…
Past Event
April 27, 2023

Holistic Credit Mobility: Centering Learning in Credential Completion

Session at the WICHE Academic Leadership Forum

At the 2023 Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) Academic Leadership Forum, Martin Kurzweil and Chau-Fang Lin will present on holistic credit mobility and the framework for centering learning in credential completion, sharing findings from an Ithaka S+R issue brief funded by the Ascendium Education Group. The session is schedule for Thursday, April 27 at 11:15 – 12:15 pm.