On March 12, the L.A. Region K-16 Collaborative held the first transfer pathways community of practice. As the Collaborative’s regional convener, UNITE-LA is hosting a learning session series for partners and practitioners in the region, strengthening awareness about the Collaborative's priority areas of focus, barriers to student success, and current opportunities for collaboration.

Twenty-five regional practitioners joined our discussion, focused primarily on identifying barriers students face when transferring between public two- and four-year institutions. The group drew from personal and professional experience to map out the student experience, analyzing specific points in the transition, such as credit accumulation, advising and institutional partnership, which pose the greatest barriers to student success. In the course of mapping, leaders participated in cross-sector conversations, yielding a comprehensive list of roles for both the CC and CSU systems and the debunking of common myths or perceptions held by system leaders.

Building on the momentum of the first convening, UNITE-LA is hosting a second transfer-specific session in June. Informed by the takeaways from our first community of practice, our next session will focus on identifying ways to mitigate specific campus- or system-based challenges, raised in the March discussion. Our team also plans to host kick-off sessions on dual enrollment and work-based learning in April and May, mirroring the format of our transfer kick-off session.

For more information, please reach out to Matthew Moor, Manager of Postsecondary Initiatives, at [email protected].