A WORKSHOP ON TRANSFERRING FROM 2YC TO 4YC IN ILLINOIS

A SAGE 2YC (Supporting and Advancing Geoscience Education at Two-Year Colleges) local workshop was held at Illinois Valley Community College, IL in March of 2015. The 1 day workshop on Best practices to improve preparation of 2YC students for transfer brought 15 geoscience educators together, 9 from 2YC and 6 from 4YCU, to discuss the challenges to students transferring from a 2YC to a 4YCU and solutions to overcome these challenges. These conversations were able to continue direct discussions from a previous SAGE 2YC local workshop in 2013 with both sides of the transfer issue present. The workshop participants self-identified through gallery walks, the top challenges to geoscience students in 7 categories, and the best practices to mitigate those challenges in four areas. Discussion of present transfer agreements at the course and degree levels, along with individual vignettes from students who have successfully transferred was enlightening. This workshop was very successful in developing a network of 2YC and 4YCU geoscience instructors in Illinois that will improve the mentoring, training and success of geoscience majors in Illinois. As an example of that developing network, a white paper for counselors in Illinois on transfer recommendations for geoscience students is in preparation. The workshop concluded with a field trip to the nearby Mattheissen State Park.