Community College Transfer Pathway Guide Process
Community College Transfer Pathway Guide Process
Date Issued: January 24, 2024
Office Responsible: Undergraduate Admissions
Overview
The University of Michigan-Flint’s Transfer Pathway Guides are public-facing documents intended to serve as resources for prospective students, community college advisors, and other external constituents who help prospective students plan their academic programs. Each guide describes a pathway from a Michigan community college to a specific UM-Flint degree program. They include classes that can be taken at the community college and those that can only be taken at UM-Flint. UM-Flint currently has approximately 300 Transfer Pathway Guides for 28 Michigan community colleges.
Background
UM-Flint’s current Transfer Pathway Guide format was designed by a committee that was formed in September 2020. This group was charged with developing a template which:
- Can be used by any academic unit
- Is easily interpreted by prospective students and community college advisors
- Meets accessibility standards
- Is viewable on both desktop and mobile devices and is printable
- Can be easily updated and maintained
The Transfer Pathway Guide Committee was made up of representatives from Undergraduate Admissions, ODE, and academic units, with input on design and accessibility from MAC. After developing multiple design options, the committee sought feedback from current transfer students, UM-Flint faculty and staff, and community college partners. The current design incorporated feedback from these constituents and was approved by the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs.
Guide Selection Criteria
It is up to each academic unit to decide which of their programs need Transfer Pathway Guides. It is not necessary, or even desirable, to have guides for every undergraduate program, as each guide takes time to build and maintain. The most effective guides:
- Promote transfer to existing programs with high transfer enrollment and new programs with the potential for high transfer enrollment.
- Focus on primary target community colleges, including:
- Mott Community College
- Lansing Community College
- Oakland Community College
- Washtenaw Community College
- Delta College
- St. Clair Community College
- Macomb Community College
- Wayne County Community College
Process for Creating New Guides
In order to ensure that all transfer guides are uniformly formatted and meet accessibility standards, academic units that would like to develop a new transfer guide are asked to use the following process:
Step 1: Submit Request Form
Complete the Transfer Pathway Guide Request form
The person submitting the form will be asked to specify who is responsible for the development and maintenance of the new guide. Units can develop guides for any program they wish. This form enables Undergraduate Admissions to build a shell for the requested guide. Its purpose is not to grant or deny permission to establish a new guide.
Step 2: Receive Template and Edit
Admissions will create a pathway shell using the established template and give the designated contact permission to edit the guide. Detailed instructions for editing the guide will also be provided.
Step 3: Review and Publication
Admissions will review the completed guide for consistency and accuracy and will publish it to the Transfer Pathway web page.
Ongoing Maintenance and Annual Review
To remain useful, Transfer Pathway Guides must be reviewed and updated regularly. Academic units are encouraged to proactively make updates as program requirements change, new courses are developed, and existing courses are discontinued.
To facilitate this ongoing review, academic units will be asked to verify the accuracy of each Transfer Pathway Guide annually:
Annual Review Process
- Undergraduate Admissions will send a reminder to the responsible party for each guide shortly after a new catalog is published. Historically, guides have been updated over the summer, but as more faculty have become responsible for these guides, we are moving up the timeline to align with their appointments.
- Academic units will be asked to make necessary changes and verify the accuracy of guides within 30 days.
- If a guide is not verified within 30 days, regular reminders will be sent.
- Guides that are not verified by August 30 will be removed from the university website until they are confirmed to be accurate.
- If the contact for a guide does not respond to multiple inquiries, Undergraduate Admissions may contact academic unit administration to verify that we have the right contact on file.
Key Deadlines
| Action | Timeline |
|---|---|
| Verify accuracy after annual reminder | Within 30 days |
| Deadline for verification before removal | August 30 |
For questions about Transfer Pathway Guides, please contact Undergraduate Admissions.