By Victoria Keraj
With the goal of guaranteeing a smooth transition from CUNY community college to CUNY senior college, the CUNY transfer initiative was passed Jan. 2023, to “adopt University-wide policies and practices and align program requirements.”
The transfer initiative aims to “‘maintain its close articulation between the senior and community college units’” so as to operate the University as ‘an integrated system’.”
Phase one of the initiative began in 2023 in cooperation with the University Faculty Senate (UFC) to create working groups of faculty expert participants. Their goal was to collect data and develop universal pathways for majors between the CUNY colleges. The working groups first started creating transfer paths for Accounting, Business, Computer Science, Education, Engineering, and Psychology.
The first phase was completed in Spring 2024 and more pathways began to develop. The pathways will be finalized by spring 2025. CUNY Chancellor Matos Rodriguez recently announced the CUNY transfer initiative would take effect in the fall 2025 semester.
The CUNY Transfer initiative is one initiative of many in the CUNY Lifting New York strategic roadmap; a plan focusing on reforms to “amplify [CUNY’s] position as the nation’s premier urban university and a force for equitable social, economic and civic impact,” by 2030.
The plan states “Factors that unnecessarily delay educational progression are inefficient, costly, and unjustifiable.” According to a statistic from CUNY, “Four lost credits was the median among students who lost credits; the typical student who lost credits could save $1,220 in tuition by avoiding credit loss.” These effects often exponentially impact students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
The transfer initiative contributes to the plan’s goal of “providing widespread access to higher education that is not only world class, but also student-centered, attainable, affordable and tailored to meet the needs of [CUNY’s] diverse communities,” by reducing the amount of time and money that could be spent due to inconsistent credit transfers.
When asked about her decision to transfer from Manhattan Community College, BC student Dante Clemente said, “I knew I wanted to stay within the CUNY system for my undergraduate education-the transfer process for my credits and scholarship opportunities for CUNY were appealing to me compared to other public or private colleges.”
This initiative would promote intentional development that will ensure seamless transitions from community colleges to senior colleges. This would also include intentional designs in degree progression to promote flexibility for transfer students.
“The CUNY Transfer Initiative offers a seamless pathway for students to become part of the Brooklyn College community, ensuring little to no loss of credits,” commented Provost April Bedford. “This provides a significant advantage for students aiming to further their education at Brooklyn College and successfully earn their bachelor’s degree.”
More information on the CUNY transfer initiative can be found at https://www.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/page-assets/about/chancellor/strategic-roadmap/CUNY_Lifting_New_York.pdf.