Creating and Sustaining Community College-University Transfer Partnerships

Book excerpt: This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study of the factors influencing the creation and maintenance of a community college-university transfer partnership. Using an organizational perspective known as network embeddings theory, the researcher interviewed faculty, staff, and administrators at a university and three community colleges involved in a partnership to enhance transfer. Several findings emerged as important factors in creating and sustaining community college-university transfer partnerships, including the importance of previous relationships between institutions, the significance of presidential support for partnership practices, the need for adequate and sustained funding, and the importance of maintaining a university presence on community college campuses. This paper concentrates on two of these findings: challenges in partnership management and governance, and the importance of involving faculty in partnership programs and activities. The paper concludes with participants' views about the importance of transfer partnerships in the future and implications for policy and practice. An appendix presents the Interview Protocol.