Paving the Way for Transfer Pathways in Psychology and Sociology - Final Evaluation Report for Independent Transfer Pathways in North Carolina

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Callum

A final evaluation report on the Independent Transfer Pathways in North Carolina project outlines how two-year colleges can better support diverse students pursuing transfer and timely bachelor’s degrees. Funded by the Teagle Foundation, the initiative (launched in 2019) focuses on transparency in transfer, student support frameworks, and discipline-specific articulation agreements in sociology and psychology. It describes project activities, outcomes, and lessons learned from collaboration across community colleges and independent colleges and universities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Project Summary

North Carolina’s Transfer Context

Project Activities

Project Outcomes

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Paving the Way for Transfer Pathways in Psychology and Sociology Generously supported by Project Summary ............................................................................................................. 4 North Carolina’s Transfer Context .......................................................................... 6 Project Activities .............................................................................................................. 8 Project Outcomes ..........................................................................................................10 Conclusion......................................................................................................................... 14 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... 15 Final Evaluation Report for Independent Transfer Pathways in North Carolina Project Generously Supported by the Teagle Foundation Two-year colleges are a gateway to higher education. Serving their local communities and offering flexible learning opportunities at low to no cost, these institutions draw a highly diverse student body. While many of these students aspire to transfer to a four-year institution and earn a baccalaureate degree, a large number struggle to achieve this goal. The complex transfer process places barriers in students’ paths at both the sending institutions (community colleges) and the receiving institutions (fouryear colleges and universities), so the promise of transfer is seldom fulfilled. The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) have long aimed to repair this broken promise. Serving independent, predominantly nondoctoral colleges and universities, our two organizations see great mutual benefit in supporting community college transfer into our institutions to increase enrollments, support local communities, and provide students with a transformative liberal arts education that culminates in a timely baccalaureate degree. With generous funding from the Teagle Foundation, CIC and NCICU set out in 2019 to increase transparency in the transfer process and build a framework for student support, beginning with enrollment at a community college through graduation from a fouryear institution, with a focus on two degree pathways in sociology and psychology. We are deeply proud of the work achieved in the last four years through a strong collaboration between our institutions and the North Carolina Community College System. Despite the onset of a global pandemic in in its early months, the project not only generated the promised articulation agreements for these two pathways, but also built a stronger culture of transfer based on trust and a shared commitment to serving the students of North Carolina. We owe this success to the enthusiastic participation of faculty members and administrators at 14 community colleges, one independent two-year college, and 15 independent colleges and universities, as well as excellent leadership from staff at CIC and NCICU. It is our hope that this project, and the accompanying report, will serve as a model for future initiatives to revitalize and improve transfer processes from community colleges to independent four-year colleges and universities, particularly those that aim to build longstanding, statewide agreements. As we highlight in the ensuing pages, forging relationships based on trust and mutual respect—within campuses, between similar institutions, and across sectors—benefits everyone, particularly the millions of students who enroll in a community college with the dream of eventually earning a baccalaureate degree. President of North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities Hope Williams and former president of the North Carolina Community College System Thomas Stith sign the articulation agreement in psychology and sociology in April 2021.

FAQs

What problem does the Independent Transfer Pathways in North Carolina project address?

It targets the barriers that make transfer from community colleges to independent four-year institutions difficult, so that the promise of transfer is more likely to be fulfilled for students.

What disciplines are emphasized in the project’s transfer pathways?

The project focuses on two degree pathways: sociology and psychology.

How was the project supported and organized?

With generous funding from the Teagle Foundation, CIC and NCICU launched the effort in 2019 and coordinated collaboration among faculty, administrators, and staff across community colleges and independent colleges and universities.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Callum