Baruch College Wins a $200,000 Award to Support Transfer Students Graduation Rates
May 15, 2019
Baruch College was awarded $200,000 by the College Completion Innovation Fund, a program of GraduateNYC, to support transfer students’ graduation rates. The funding will support a curricular redesign within the Zicklin School of Business, which will give transfer students access to major courses at the school while they work on eligibility requirements. This effort will help the College understand the impact of curricular changes on transfer student enrollment, academic success and degree completion.
Transfer students from CUNY community colleges with intended majors in business arrive at Baruch College with limited course options and are often not ready to begin taking courses in their major; and struggle to adapt to the new environment and requirements. To address this problem, the project funded will implement a multi-pronged solution.
A Multi-Pronged Approach
The approach includes revisiting the entry requirements and quantitative literacy skills needed for students majoring in business; curricular coordination across CUNY Colleges; outreach to advise transfer students from our largest feeder institutions; and the development of degree maps that chart students’ course to on-time graduation from the two-year college through the four-year college.
Over the years, many solutions have been considered to increase the likelihood that new transfer students are ready for course work in their major. Most of these solutions have focused on community college outreach and educating advisors and students about the Baruch math requirements ahead of time. This is the first solution that focuses on Baruch College that also looks at the math obstacle as an internal problem with an internal solution.
Focusing in on an Innovative Solution
To switch the focus from ‘let us fix them’ to ‘let’s fix us’ is part of what is innovative about this solution. Secondly, the College is taking an innovative look at curriculum with an eye towards the demands of the workforce. The focus is on working with our faculty to think about quantitative literacy, approaching the learning of math, interpreting data and logical thinking in a whole new, business-focused way. The College is also taking a holistic approach to creating policy changes that will better serve students. The solution is dynamic, data-driven, inclusive of faculty and administrative interests and collaborative with stakeholders in multiple areas.
Collaboration Across the College
Kannan Mohan from the Office of Undergraduate Programs at the Zicklin School of Business, Robert Kunicki in the Office of the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Strategic Academic Initiatives, and Stephanie Gika in the Office of Undergraduate Advisement and Orientation, collaborated with the College’s Deputy Director of Development and Chief Foundation Relations Officer Mary Tufts and the Associate Director of Pre-Award Administration & Proposal Development Melisa Mendez, to spearhead the proposal.
Division of Enrollment Management and Strategic Academic Initiatives
“We are delighted to work collaboratively with our colleagues in the Zicklin School, as well as our community college partners, to make sure that our entering transfer students are well-positioned to continue their academic momentum and complete their degrees successfully and in a timely fashion.” — Mary Gorman, Vice President
Student Success, Assessment, & Enrollment Initiatives
“This grant represents a huge leap forward in working across the college for student success. Our team looks forward to working with our colleagues at Baruch and beyond to offer our transfer students greater access to Baruch’s inclusive and transformational education.” — Robert Kunicki, Assistant Director
Undergraduate Programs and Professor of Information Systems, Zicklin School of Business
“This grant supports a key strategic initiative to redesign the undergraduate business curriculum in a way that aligns our program better with student and market needs. This will help us span boundaries collaborating across organizational units to pursue bold initiatives infused with a data-driven and agile approach” — Kannan Mohan, Executive Director
About the College Completion Innovation Fund and GraduateNYC
The College Completion Innovation Fund (CCIF) is a collaborative fund developed and managed by Graduate NYC, established in 2015 to spur innovation and the adoption of policies and practices to increase college degree completion in New York City.
Graduate NYC is a citywide initiative dedicated to significantly increasing college readiness and completion rates throughout New York City. It carries out its work in partnership with the New York City Department of Education, The City University of New York, and the Office of the Mayor. By scaling promising, high-impact practices and facilitating collaboration between philanthropic, educational and nonprofit institutions, Graduate NYC magnifies the effectiveness of the college access and success sector as a whole.
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