To the Editor:
Your recent article, “The Transfer Maze” (The Chronicle, August 4), offered a unique perspective on transfer challenges which I found highly informative. I will share other challenges about transfer which run much closer to the core of what it means to be a community-college student with intent to transfer.
First, students who fail a class at a community college and plan to transfer within four years must repeat and pass that class in time to complete their associate’s degree within two years. When this class is a general-studies class not closely related to a core degree requirement, then the student at a four-year college who fails an equivalent course may have up to the end of the fourth year to repeat and pass the class “on time.”
Second and similarly, students who earn a grade of D in any class must repeat and improve their grades in that class in order to transfer the credit. Students who earn the same D at the four-year institution may not need to repeat the class at all, and can graduate with the D on the transcript.
Third, some students who intend to study full time may start their final semester with just one or two classes remaining before they can complete their degree and transfer. They need to spend an entire semester taking just one to two classes, or find other creative and productive ways to use their time before transferring. This dilemma does not exist for students within their first two years at a four-year college. The dilemma causes even more challenges for students receiving financial aid.
Working in Virginia, I have seen a number of strong transfer initiatives in my state over the past several years such as Transfer VA and ADVANCE. I also see reverse transfer expanding. These initiatives help address some of these issues, but much more work needs to be done. When we are able to address and resolve the issues outlined above we will have made significant progress toward equity for transfer students.
Jeffrey Vetrano
Associate Dean, Math and Computer Science
Northern Virginia Community College
Loudoun Campus
Sterling, Va.