UHCL aims to strengthen transfer student success

University of Houston-Clear Lake has been selected to participate in an initiative that will improve efforts between UH-Clear Lake and San Jacinto College to expand overall student success and set more measurable goals for improved and more equitable transfer student success.

"UHCL is a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), which is a great organization that brings colleges and universities across the U.S. together and determines best practices in student success, including evaluating equity issues, social mobility, and academic support for students," said UHCL Interim Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Christopher Maynard.

"The Aspen-AASCU Intensive: Transfer Student Success and Equity award allows the Aspen Institute to lead us through a dialogue of what we can do to improve so that we can ultimately have a more significant impact on students," he explained. "This process will allow us to identify what we can do to further strengthen our relationship with San Jacinto College, which has long been an important partner in the region. The activities that come out of this initiative will position us to seek additional grant funding to achieve those goals."

The Aspen-AASCU process will build upon the work of Houston GPS, another initiative involving universities and colleges in the region working together to provide a seamless pathway for students who transfer from one institution to another.

"We have been doing great work with Houston GPS, working together to find ways to achieve better student transfer success and ultimately overall student success," Maynard said.

Maynard said receiving the grant was the result of a highly competitive application process: "Only 30 universities were accepted into this program nationally. UHCL and San Jacinto College made a compelling proposal for how we could continue to build upon the great work accomplished through Houston GPS."

"These are the initiatives that have special meaning to me," he said. "It's all about student success and you can see real, tangible results. This is about how we can make a positive impact on each student's life."