Partners: American Association of Community Colleges (District of Columbia); American Council on Education (District of Columbia); American Indian Higher Education Consortium (Virginia); League for Innovation in the Community College (Arizona); National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (Maryland).
Partners: American Council on Education (District of Columbia); American Indian Higher Education Consortium (Virginia); American Association of Community Colleges (District of Columbia); Council of the Great City Schools (District of Columbia); Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (Texas); League for Innovation in the Community College (Arizona); National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (Maryland); United Negro College Fund (Virginia).
The National Articulation and Transfer Network (NATN) is building an alternative pathway for traditionally underserved student populations to access historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, and tribal colleges and universities to address the problem of inadequate access to higher education.
Thus while today's youth are attending college in record numbers, a college education is still more accessible to some than others with the gap between minority and traditional students continuing to widen. Without intervention, increasing numbers of people of color will be left behind.
Through NATN, an historic coalition, the nation's large urban community colleges and culturally enriched colleges and universities are working together with the cities’ largest high schools to establish linkages specifically designed to provide a direct pathway through higher education for underrepresented students. NATN will establish the pipeline that attracts, expands, and sustains the impact of efforts to increase minority representation throughout higher education. As a result, the numbers of underserved students succeeding at the baccalaureate level will increase by 25 percent over the next five years, making a significant impact on the lives of these graduates and those they encounter while reversing the widening education gap.
NATN operations and services are being designed and developed by a cross-section of secondary and postsecondary personnel working with technical consultants in web-application software. The development efforts of NATN capitalize on plans designed by four key work groups producing a national articulation agreement and transfer manual/guide; shaping the development of technological support systems; piloting, a technological infrastructure with interactive applications for students and staff; and develop a longitudinal research database to measure the success of students entering the NATN pipeline.
A college-to-college articulation agreement addresses critical transfer planning issues. Key informational requirements related to transfer planning are addressed through representative focus groups and incorporated into the design specifications for technological applications. The technological platform has been initiated with completed specifications and requirements. A research model has been articulated with the methodology to investigate selected issues. And “early adopters” have tested the initial version of the NATN system.
Within each of the four work groups, completed implementation strategies have been documented. By the end of the project, articulation agreements will be endorsed; the basic software system will be developed; student profile and tracking systems will be designed; and the system will be piloted. A full report on the assessment of progress is developed, disseminated to all member institutions, and posted on the NATN website annually.
As intended, FIPSE funding has fueled this initiative, making it possible to begin development. Congressional appropriations for 2002 and 2003 are further supporting the development of the system prototype accessible to member institutions and affiliated users via the internet. Other philanthropic organizations are interested in investing in the National Articulation and Transfer Network.
ONLINE REFERENCE:
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Ann Zinn
Project Director
City College of San
Francisco
50 Phelan Avenue, E200
San Francisco, CA 94112
Tel: 415-239-3303
Fax: 415-239-3918
Kenneth Christmon
Wilberforce University
1055 North Bickett Road
Wilberforce, OH 45384
Tel: 937-708-5527
Fax: 937-376-0148
Charles Cook
Houston Community College
System
3100 Main Street
Houston, TX 77007
Tel: 713-718-5040
Philip Day
City College of San
Francisco
50 Phelan Avenue, E200
San Francisco, CA 94112
Tel: 415-239-3303
Fax: 415-239-3918
Katherine L. German
City College of San
Francisco
50 Phelan Avenue, E200
San Francisco, CA 94112
Tel: 415-239-3303
Fax: 415-239-3918
Alex Johnson
Cuyahoga Community College
2900 Community College
Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44115
Tel: 216-987-4034
Fax: 216-987-4026
Norm P. Will
Florida Community College
at Jacksonville
South Campus
11901 Beach Blvd., Rm. D-108
Jacksonville, FL 32246
Tel: 904-646-2200
Fax: 904-646-2209
Anthony Potts
Ste. 210
4343 E. Camelback Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85018
Tel: 602-840-7300
Fax: 602-840-7500
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