FAST FACTS* 10 to 12 students enter the Bridge Program at Chattanooga State each year.* The Bridge Program started three years ago.* Between 25 and 30 social work students are enrolled in the UTC social work program each year.Source: Chattanooga State and UTC
State leaders want community colleges and universities to make it easier for students to transfer from two-year to four-year schools. But Chattanooga State and UTC officials say one successful model of a seamless transfer agreement already exists.
For the last three years, students in the Bridge Program have begun their four-year social work degree at Chattanooga State and are shepherded into the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s bachelor’s degree program in social work without problems.
“Some students come to community college ’cause they are scared of the big university,” said Anne Carroll, dean for social and behavior science at Chattanooga State. “This kind of acclimates them to transfer. It takes a lot of that fear factor out of it.”
In January, the Tennessee General Assembly passed sweeping legislation that reforms higher education and requires more transfers from community colleges to universities.
The new law elevates the role of two-year community colleges and directs officials to develop and implement agreements outlining what course requirements are transferable between two-year and four-year schools.
Ms. Carroll said the social work program could be a model for other programs.
“If everyone at the Tennessee Board of Regents and UT systems were as cooperative as this program, our students would be served more effectively,” she said.
Between 10 and 12 students enter the Bridge Program every year intending to move to the UTC program as juniors, said Patti Childers, a UTC senior majoring in social work who mentors Chattanooga State student through the program.
In their first two years, Bridge students participate in two conferences on leadership and social justice issues with UTC students. They get to know the UTC professors and students who have already made the transition, Ms. Childers said.
“It is a really wonderful collaborative experience between students,” she said.
Working with both UTC and Chattanooga State officials, students learn what classes they should take for credit and are clear about UTC’s requirements. And all Bridge students must meet grade requirements and successfully interview to be admitted into UTC, she said.
Once there, they are coached by upper-level students on how to make the transition to university life, said Ms. Childers.
“Not only do I provide them with support, I provide mentoring to a lot of nontraditional students,” she said.
Sandon Bull, 23, a Chattanooga State sophomore in social work, said the Bridge Program helped him learn the ropes at UTC before he even entered the door.
“I got acquainted with teachers and students I will be working with,” he said. “It has been a seamless transition because of the program.”