SUNY Oswego is leading the way on better connecting community colleges with the transfer experience with the recent kickoff of the Central New York Transfer Collaboration (CNYTC), which includes partners at Cayuga, Jefferson and Onondaga community colleges.

The effort received support with $85,000 SUNY funding for yield activities to further strengthen relationships and the transfer pipeline between these schools. An additional $12,000 in SUNY Transformational Funds over the next two years will go beyond just these transfer activities to develop a more enduring partnership among the institutions. 

“Over a third of our new baccalaureate students transfer to the university each year after completing coursework or associate degrees at other institutions,” SUNY Oswego President Peter O. Nwosu said in announcing the collaboration. 

“We have the capacity to increase that number, and we are in the process of building a robust infrastructure to make that increase a reality,” President Nwosu added. “We have always worked with our community college transfers to make the student experience as straightforward as possible, making us a leader for transfer students; these new efforts will help us continue improving in this space.” 

Thanks to funding from SUNY, the institutions will partner “to enhance seamless transfer pathways to Oswego for community college students,” President Nwosu said. 

Cory Bezek, SUNY Oswego’s vice president for enrollment management, noted that the reality is that the relationships between Oswego and these institutions continue to be more one of collaboration than competition.

“When they do better, we do a lot better, so if we can find ways to support each school and their mission, it’s going to make us stronger,” Bezek said.

Every year, between a quarter and a third of incoming SUNY Oswego students are transfers, with many coming from CCC, JCC and OCC, so making the process smoother and more effective just helps everybody, Bezek added.

“The ultimate goals of this coalition are to create an environment where transfer students receive credit for all the classes they’ve taken and to ensure that all their credits count towards the degree they seek,” President Nwosu noted. “Transcripts are evaluated in days, not weeks, like our competitors. High school seniors entering community college will know from Day One what courses they’ll need for their associate and bachelor’s degrees. All colleges in the coalition will be in constant contact to provide the right information and the support and encouragement transfer students need to succeed.”

Cooperative activities

As seen from the SUNY funding, the system has solid support for more seamless and effective transferring between schools, especially for setting up student success.

“SUNY has been on since the initial call,” Bezek said. “They have been very supportive of regional partnerships.”

President Nwosu said that making a clear path to a degree means working with partners to find the best pathways, reducing credit duplication, identifying which credits will count and eliminating the red tape that can get in the way of students looking to transfer.

The different institutions working together is a big part of it, with Bezek hoping to host a summit with transfer counselors in the future to make the process even more efficient. Another initiative involves bringing SUNY Oswego receptions to partner campuses and providing busing to SUNY Oswego admissions programs from community colleges.

“It’s more of a relationship foundation,” Bezek explained. “We want to make it a standing relationship where there is an intentional time in which the leaders are finding time together.”

But it also means looking at new approaches, such as having Oswego transfer students serving as ambassadors to previous institutions, including speaking to organizations they were in.

“Talking to a peer is always a more effective process,” Bezek said.

For more information on becoming a transfer student at SUNY Oswego, visit the Transfer Admissions page.