Seamless Transition Between Schools Needs Stitching

Achieving the much-vaunted “seamless” transition between North Carolina’s community colleges and universities may require more than superficial fixes. That is the impression given by a report prepared last year for the North Carolina State University history department.

History graduate student Leslie Hawkins wrote “The Experiences of Community College Transfer Students to North Carolina State University” at the request of several history department faculty members. Some students who had transferred to N.C. State from North Carolina community colleges were “having trouble adjusting to the work load expected of them,” the report says. Hawkins conducted student interviews, communicated with community college faculty by email, and collected academic materials used at the community colleges such as syllabi and exams.

A meeting between community college staff and some members of the N. C. State history department is scheduled for March 26 to discuss the report.

Hawkins’ findings are pretty stark. For example, most transfer students she interviewed had “discovered that they were not academically prepared for the amount of reading or writing expected by NCSU,” she wrote.

“The majority of their classes were lecture courses with little or no required reading,” wrote Hawkins. “Some of the classes the students took did not require a paper at all,” she said, noting that when essays were assigned, they were usually no longer than three to five pages.

Furthermore, these history majors had “limited, if any contact with primary documents before arriving at NCSU.” One student she interviewed did not know what a primary document is (it is an original historical document rather than a commentary). Hawkins noted that history classes in community colleges should use primary documents—“even some high school teachers are beginning to introduce the idea of using primary documents to understand history.”

Steven Hill, head of the humanities department at Wake Tech, said in an interview that his history staff was somewhat “taken aback” by the paper. At least some teachers are emphasizing primary sources, he said. Even in the required textbooks, primary sources are highlighted, he noted.

Hill added that the N. C. State faculty should realize that the courses are survey courses, that these students have not declared a major, and that some students simply don’t have the skills at that early stage to write long research papers. He also pointed out that Wake Tech has a writing center to help students with grammar and the mechanics of writing papers. Wake Tech offers two semesters each of U.S. History, Western Civilization, and World History. “I am eager to go to the meeting and find out more,” said Hill.

Jonathan Ocko, head of the history department at N.C. State, emphasized that the report is “anecdotal” rather than definitive. It reflects efforts by history faculty (and not all faculty members agreed that a report was needed) to explore how to “work with the community colleges to help the students have a more immediately successful transition.” Ocko noted that community colleges have a “broad audience to deal with,” composed of both students seeking vocational training and those hoping to graduate from a four-year college.

Out of 390 history majors at the time Hawkins began her report, 37 had transferred some history credits from a North Carolina community college to N.C. State. Those students were the focus of the report. The largest number of students (14) came from Wake Technical; the other community colleges represented were Wilson, Technical, Nash, Davidson, James Sprunt, Tri-County, Gaston, Beaufort, Forsyth Technical, Alamance, Guilford, Coastal Carolina, Wayne, Cape Fear, Wilkes, and Surry.

After emailing all 37 students, Hawkins ultimately met with six. She also wrote to community college faculty and obtained class materials from history courses at five schools.

In addition to having experienced a lower workload and less writing, Hawkins found that the students’ testing experience did not provide them with adequate preparation. The community college tests appear to be “more closely related to a college-prep level course in high school than to a test in a history course at a four-year institution,” she wrote. “They feature matching, true/false, multiple choice, short answer, and one-page essays.”

Another problem, according to Hawkins, was the “nature of students often found in community college classes.” One student told her that the “lack of dedication” among students in her classes reduced her own motivation.

A teacher at Coastal Carolina commented on two kinds of students at community colleges. Speaking about many of the students who came directly from high schools, he said he was “amazed at the amount of family instability, personal issues, physical handicaps (issues), immaturity, etc.“ But he was “equally amazed” at the “focused learning, dedication, responsibility, and energy” of older students.

Hawkins reported that although the students she interviewed laid most of the blame at the feet of their two-year colleges, they also expressed a need for more helpful advising once they arrived at N.C. State. One interviewee recommended a faculty advisor for every ten students (there is one for every 38 students now). “Having the additional faculty available certainly could alleviate some student frustration during what can be a challenging and stressful process,” wrote Hawkins.

She specifically recommended that students entering N.C. State be told about History 300, the introductory course required of history majors. This course helps students learn how “to read analytically, research and write long papers, use primary sources, and participate in class discussions.” Some transfer students did not learn about History 300, while others found that the classes were full (transferees are among the last to stake out their courses).

Although N. C. State may make some changes as a result of the report, the deeper question has to do with the expectations that North Carolina’s community colleges hold for their students. It appears that, at least in some cases, community college standards are too low to enable their students to transfer to a four-year flagship university. If this is not changed, what does “seamless” transition mean?

Jane S. Shaw is the executive vice president of the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy.