University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Changing the landscape of institutional assessment on transfer: the impact of action research methods on community college faculty and counselors

(USC Thesis Other)

Changing the landscape of institutional assessment on transfer: the impact of action research methods on community college faculty and counselors

PDF

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content

CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE OF INSTITUTIONAL ASSESSMENT ON
TRANSFER: THE IMPACT OF ACTION RESEARCH METHODS ON
COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY AND COUNSELORS

by

Kimberly Raina James

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2008

Copyright 2008 Kimberly Raina James

ii
Dedication

This study is dedicated to my parents, Raymond and Patricia James, for believing in
me even when I did not believe in myself, and to my students who constantly inspire
me to strive to be the best teacher possible.

iii

Acknowledgements

Undertaking a doctoral degree and completing a dissertation is not a journey
that is taken alone. I could not have accomplished this milestone without the support
of friends and family. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize everyone
who helped me achieve my goals. I have a lot of people to thank and the easiest way
to do it is in chronological order.
First and foremost I must thank my parents, Raymond and Patricia James. It
seems strange to say, but I have to thank you for all the times you grounded me when
I brought home those terrible report cards in high school. Thank you for continually
pushing me to do well in school. Though my mom passed away in 1997, I could feel
her cheering me on during those stressful times when I wanted to quit. I have also
had the privilege of having a second mom, Sandra Bernard-James, who has always
supported me and helped me through difficult times. I love you all.
I also have to thank my extended family for the support and understanding
throughout my life and especially during these last three years. I know that there
were times when I did not return phone calls and emails right away and I appreciate
that you didn’t complain.
I may not have always been the best student, but along my educational
journey there were some key people who inspired me to reach for whatever I wanted,
and I would be remiss if I did not recognize them here. I was blessed to have Mr.
Rounds as my third grade teacher. I can’t tell you what he did; all I know is that I

iv
always left his room feeling good about myself. His dedication to the achievement of
all students is astounding. I am happy to report that he is still teaching at my former
elementary school with the same passion he had almost thirty years ago. Although
Mr. Rounds provided a good foundation, in high school I strayed off the path; barely
graduating with a C average. It is here that I must thank Mr. Watson, my high school
counselor. With hundreds of students to counsel, Mr. Watson always had time for me
and was instrumental in helping me select, apply for, eventually get accepted into a
four-year university – on probation. His efforts paid off, I graduated from college
with a B+ average.
The next person to enter my life that I must thank is Wendy Lyon. When we
met in Boston we became instant friends; then we became family. We have been
through a lot together. For your friendship I am eternally grateful. I also have to
thank her family for taking me in and treating me as one of their own.
None of this would have been possibly without my husband, Jeffrey Rohwer.
I do not think that I would have applied to the Ed.D. program without his
encouragement and reassurance that I was capable of completing a doctorate. His
support over the three years was invaluable. He picked me up when I felt
discouraged and his computer expertise always came in handy when I felt like
throwing the computer across the room. Thank you for…everything. I love you! I
must also thank Jeff’s family for all of their support; especially my mother-in-law,
Betsy Cushman.

v
Aside from the degree, the best part of attending USC was my new Trojan
family. I must thank all of the members of the Class of 2008 Ed.D. Tuesday Cohort
and my dissertation group. What a journey it has been. I am honored to have had the
privilege to work with such an outstanding group of people.
Finally, I must express my gratitude to everyone who works at the Center of
Urban Education and my committee; Dr. Estela Bensimon, Dr. Alicia Dowd, and Dr.
Edlyn Peña for their continual guidance and support throughout the writing process.
Thank you for helping me become a better researcher, writer, and teacher.

vi
Table of Contents

Dedication ii

Acknowledgements iii

List of Tables ix

List of Figures x

Abstract xi

Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Statement of the Problem 4
Community College Missions 5
Problem 12
Purpose of the Study 13
Overview of the Study 13
Oceanside Transfer Project 14
Research Questions 16
Significance of the Study 16
Organization of the Dissertation 17

Chapter 2: Review of the Literature 18
Overview 20
Participatory Action Research 21
Inquiry Based 25
Dialogue and Reflection 28
Espoused Theory vs. Theory-in-use 30
Reflective Cycle 32
Receptivity 34
Learning 35
Single-loop and Double-Loop Learning 37
Behavior 39
Efficacy 39
Agency 40
An Action Research Study 42
Action Research, Learning, and Behavior 44
Description of the Oceanside Transfer Project 45
Oceanside College 45
Oceanside Transfer Project 45

Chapter 3: Methods 51
Purpose 52

vii
Chapter Overview 54
Participants 54
Methods 56
Interviews 56
Participant Observation 58
Pre and Post Questionnaire 59
Ethical Concerns 60
Analysis of the Data 61
Kirkpatrick 63

Chapter 4: Analysis and Findings 64
Results of Program Evaluation 65
Introduction to the Ten Participants 66
Evaluation Criteria-Kirkpatrick 69
Evaluation Findings 71
Reaction 71
To the Data 71
Project Dynamics 74
Project Organization 76
Tools 77
Report 83
Learning 86
College Structures 86
Transfer Fairs 88
Website and Class Schedule 90
Instruction 91
Behavior 95
Efficacy 95
The Role of Faculty and Counselors 101
Conclusion 113

Chapter 5: Case Studies 116
Introduction 117
Michael 118
Michael’s Background 118
Oceanside Transfer Project 123
Julia 130
Julia’s Background 130
Oceanside Transfer Project 132

Chapter 6: Discussion 139
Goals and Purpose 142
Significant Findings 143
Implications for Practice 154

viii
Professional Development 154
Accountability 156
Limitations of the Oceanside Transfer Project 158
Limitations of the Study 161
Future Research 162
Conclusion 163

References Cited 166

Appendixes
A. Self-Assessment Inventory Index 174
B. Letter of Invitation 177
C. First Interview Protocol 180
D. Second Interview Protocol 182
E. Pre-questionnaire 184
F. Post-questionnaire 185
G. Consent Form 186
H. Transfer Data Disaggregated by Race 187
I. Transfer Fair Questionnaire 188
J. Transfer Barriers and Solutions 189

ix
List of Tables

Table 1: Oceanside College Fast-track Transfer-eligible Students (1999-2002) by
Transfer Status and Race and Ethnicity 46

Table 2: List of Research Activities 48

Table 3: Oceanside Transfer Project Timeline 50

Table 4: On Campus Assessment Team 55

Table 5: Data Chart 69

Table 6: Reaction to Data 73

Table 7: Self-Assessment Inventory Assignments 78

Table 8: Participant Changes in Practice During the Project 104

x

List of Figures

Figure 1: California Community College Missions 6

Figure 2: The Latina/o California Community College Pipeline 8

Figure 3: Outline of the Roles of the Participants and the Researcher 16

Figure 4: The Inquiry Paradigm 27

xi

Abstract

This study explores the experiences of ten faculty members and counselors
involved in a collaborative inquiry project at an urban community college.
Participants in the study investigated the “transfer-gap” – the gap between the
number of students who are eligible to transfer and the number who actually transfer
to a four-year college. The purpose of the project under study was to increase
knowledge about factors that inhibit and promote equitable transfer to four-year
institutions. This new knowledge had the potential to motivate faculty members and
counselors to take responsibility for addressing unequal outcomes of students of
color. Participants were observed in collaborative inquiry meetings and interviewed
over five months to trace changes in their knowledge about transfer and in their
educational practices related to transfer. Analysis of participants’ reactions, learning,
and behavior was conducted using the Kirkpatrick (2006) framework on program
evaluation

1
Chapter 1
Introduction

I have worked as a part-time basic skills reading instructor at a local
community college for several semesters. I teach the lowest level of reading that the
students can place into. The majority of the students that I have taught are minority
1
,
traditional-age students coming right out of high school. Most are not happy about
their placement in my reading course. They do not understand why they placed so
low when they have graduated from high school; many with A’s and B’s. In addition
to remedial reading, they must make their way through the remedial writing courses,
and for many of them, remedial mathematics.
Although they are starting their college experience “at the bottom”, the
majority of the students state that transferring to a four year college is their goal.
Many of the students say that they want to earn a master’s degree. From
conversations with students, I find that most students do not have a real
understanding of what it means to transfer and/or what steps they need to take in
order to accomplish the goal. In the course of my teaching over the past year and a
half, I have only come across one student who had already met with counselors and
mapped out a plan. She knew that she had to make it to English 1, the first transfer-
level English course, in order to join the Scholars Program. The scholars program is
a highly selective program that admits students who have a 3.0 or higher high school
or college GPA and have taken or are eligible to take English 1. Students who are
admitted and maintain their status in the program take special classes, are given extra

1
For the purposes of this paper, minority and people of color will be used interchangeably to describe
African-American and Latina/o students.

2
academic and personal support, and are guaranteed priority admission to selective
universities. This student was unique; most students are not able to articulate to me
the path that they need to take in order to transfer.
Although I have worked at the college for several semesters, I had never
heard of the Scholars Program. In fact, I did not know anything about how a student
goes about transferring to a four-year university. When my students said that their
goal was to transfer, I said, “great, go for it” While I was supportive of their
endeavors, I was not able to provide any useful information that could help them. I
knew there was a transfer center on campus, but I did not know where it was located.
After speaking with the student, I began to think about my own practices and
how I help/hinder students who want to transfer. While some may argue that I am
not a counselor and it is not my responsibility to know about transfer issues, I would
disagree. Based on what counselors and students say, transfer counselors have
limited contact with students, while faculty members have day-to-day contact with
students. Faculty members have a powerful influence with students and they have the
ability to mentor and guide them to higher academic aspirations. Personally I have
had two teachers that have made a lasting impression and pushed me to strive for
more. Both my third grade teacher and my tenth grade biology teacher made me feel
like I could achieve anything I set my mind to. Faculty members are not just subject
matter teachers, they bear a great responsibility to help students push beyond their
borders to a new frontier. While I may never become a transfer expert it is certainly

3
my responsibility to be able to provide my students with some basic knowledge
and/or point them in the right direction.
As I examined my own knowledge of transfer issues I began to wonder how
many other faculty members know about, understand, and/or think about transfer.
What if, like me, other faculty had no understanding of transfer issues and how they
can help students make transfer a part of their future academic lives? I questioned
how one would go about developing a transfer culture throughout the college. If
faculty members are to become “transfer agents” (Dowd & Bensimon, 2007, p. 4),
what is the best way to educate them about the transfer process, transfer issues, and
how they can be involved in increasing the number of students who transfer to four-
year universities?
A transfer agent is a person “who uses all the resources at their disposal to
help students navigate bureaucracies, develop a sense of belonging and efficacy and
college, and overcome barriers to their education progress” (Dowd & Bensimon,
2007, p.4). To help answer these questions, I began working in the Center for Urban
Education as a Research Assistant on the Oceanside Transfer Project which uses
collaborative inquiry to examine transfer issues and how faculty members and
counselors can become transfer agents.

4
Statement of the Problem
I began this study with my story to illustrate a need for faculty members to
develop an understanding and a sense of responsibility for enabling community
college students to transfer.
Moore (2006) reports that nearly 75 percent of the students enrolled in public
higher education institutions in California are enrolled in community colleges. This
is 25 percent higher than the national average of 50 percent. California has an open
access policy at the community college level. This means that the colleges are open
to anyone who wishes to apply; high school diplomas and/or test scores are not a
condition for acceptance.
Access to college does not equal degree attainment. Nationwide fewer than
25 percent of Latinos and African-Americans who enter higher education earn a
bachelor’s degree and nearly 75 percent do not complete a postsecondary credential
(“As America Becomes,” 2005; Fry, 2004). Degree attainment not only benefits the
individual but has important implications for the larger society. “Educational
attainment is linked to both personal prosperity and state economic competitiveness”
(Moore & Shulock, 2006, p. 23). In the state of California almost half of the 18 year-
old population is African-American
2
or Latino. However, only one-fourth of
African-American or Latinos earn undergraduate certificates and/or
Associates/Bachelor degrees within six years from initial enrollment (Moore &
Schulock, 2006; Shulock & Moore, 2007).

2
For the purposes of this study the terms African-American and black will be used interchangeably

5
While there has been a focus on the gap between the high school completion
rates of whites and Latinos, less attention has been placed on the gap in bachelor
degree attainment, which is the largest attainment gap facing Latino youth (Fry,
2004). Nationwide, among adults ages 25 and older, only 22 percent of African-
Americans and 10 percent of Latinos have at least a bachelor’s degree. This is
compared to 46 percent of Asians and 38 percent of whites in the same age bracket
(Fry, 2004). In the state of California the Latino population is the least educated and
increasing in numbers. By the year 2020, Latinos will account for over 50 percent of
the state’s working-age population (Moore & Shulock, 2006).

Community College Missions
The varying missions of community colleges complicate the process of
accountability and assessment. With the different services being offered, for what
should community colleges be held accountable and how is it going to be measured?
Like most institutions of higher learning, the mission of community colleges
varies depending on the historical foundation of the college, leadership, and
geographical location. However, community colleges are in unique positions because
of the types of students that they serve. Since community colleges in California have
open-door policies, they must meet the needs of students with various goals for their
future and levels of preparation for college level course work. The community
college must provide a range of services that provide for the different populations of
students that they serve. These services include but are not limited to:

6
remedial/developmental education, ESL, non-credit education, support for low-
income and/or first-generation students, vocational education, community service,
and transfer education (Dougherty, 2001; Grubb & Badway, 2005; McGrath &
Spear, 1991).
The graph below outlines the multiple college missions. Although
community colleges provide a multitude of services, 60 percent of community
college students in California list transferring to a four-year university as their goal
(Shulock & Moore, 2007).
Figure 1. California Community College Missions
Source: Shulock and Moore: 2007

Community college students enter college with a variety of goals that range
from taking courses for pleasure, earning an associates degree, and transferring to a
four-year university. Though there are a number of reasons students attend
community college, the majority of students state that their goal is to transfer to a
four-year university (Hoachlander & Sikora, 2003; “Promoting Access,” 2006).
Research shows that students who attend full-time for the majority of the terms that
CCC Multiple Missions
4-Year
Degree
Seekers
60%
Basic Skills
4%
Job Skills
20%
Personal
Enrichment
16%
4-Year Degree
Seekers
Job Skills
Basic Skills
Personal
Enrichment

7
they are enrolled are more likely to complete college. In this case, completion is
defined as earning a certificate, transfer to a four-year college, or a combination of
the two within six years of enrolling (Shulock & Moore, 2007). In a study conducted
by Shulock and Moore (2007) that looked at a cohort of 520,407 community college
students that they tracked over a six-year period they found that students who were
enrolled full-time for majority of terms were four times more likely to persist to
completion.
Community colleges play an important role in the educational attainment of
minority students. African-American and Latino students in California are more
likely to begin their educational careers at a community college. In 2000, the share of
enrollment in California community colleges was, 8 percent African-American, 28
percent Latino, and 45 percent white, of those, only 5 percent, 21 percent, and 47
percent respectively, end up transferring to a four-year institutions (Wassmer,
Moore, & Shulock, 2003). This suggests that African-American and Latino students
are underrepresented in the number of transfers to a four-year university. The share
of enrollment for African-American and Latino students at community colleges is
significantly higher than their share at four-year universities (Wassmer, Moore, &
Shulock, 2003). This trend continues to persist. In the 2005-2006 academic year the
African-American and Latino share of enrollment in community college was stable
at 8 percent and 28 percent respectively (California Community Colleges, 2007).
Community colleges have the ability to provide a large pool of minority
candidates for transfer to four-year universities. The Master Plan for the State of

8
California outlines the importance of transfer stating that the “transfer function is an
essential component of the commitment to access” (Master Plan, 1960, p. 2). A
contributing factor to the low number of bachelor’s degrees amongst minorities is the
inequitable rates of transfer. Community colleges have not been able to fulfill the
Master Plan’s promise of providing gateways to four-year universities.
The figure below shows that on average, for every one-hundred Latina/o
freshman in California, seventy-five will begin their educational career at a
community college. Of those seventy-five only seven will transfer to a four-year
university; one attending a UC and six going to a CSU.
Figure 2. The Latina/o California Community College Pipeline, 2002-03
Source: California Postsecondary Education Commission (2004) in Huber et al. 2006

100
Latina/o First Time
Freshman
8
University of
California
75
California Community
College
17
California
State
University
7
Transfer
6
California
State
University
1
University of
California

9
Navigating through the educational system can be daunting for any student,
but students who begin their careers at community colleges face extra challenges.
The first obstacle is matriculating through the community college. Many students
dropout during their time at community colleges. According to the National Center
for Education Statistics (2006) of the students nationwide that enrolled in a two-year
college between September 1, 2001 and August 31, 2002 only 33 percent had
graduated by August 31, 2004. One possible reason for low graduation rates may be
that community colleges lack some of the attributes that contribute to student
success. Research shows that students who reside on campus, interact with faculty,
and participate in extracurricular activities are more likely to persist to graduation
(Astin, 1999). Community college students rarely live on-campus; partly because
most community colleges do not offer housing, students typically enroll part-time,
and often work off-campus (Astin, 1999). In addition, students who attend
community colleges receive less financial aid and are not as integrated into campus
life since they do not reside on campus. Second, students that become transfer
eligible must then navigate the application process and finally, they must move to a
different campus. Unlike students who began their educational career at a four-year
institution and seamlessly begin upper level coursework, community college students
must start over at a new campus where they are not acclimated with the academic
environment. They must also integrate with students who have already established
solid social networks. In the face of these challenges, many talented community

10
college students are at a higher risk of dropping out compared to students who began
their educational careers at four-year institutions (Dougherty, 2001).
While research has been done on both the African-American and Latino
populations as a whole and separately in regards to why they may not be as
successful as White and Asian students; due to the increasing population of Latino
students in the state of California, a greater focus has been placed on the academic
achievement of Latinos.
Some may attribute this gap of degree attainment to the fact that Latino youth
are not prepared for college coursework (Fry, 2004). Yet, according to a study
conducted by the Department of Education that measured the academic
qualifications of students for four-year college work, 53 percent of Latinos that
graduated from high school in 1992 were “at least minimally qualified to do four-
year college work” (Fry, 2004, p.4). In addition, the U.S. Department of Education
conducted National Educational Longitudinal Survey (NELS) that tracked
individuals that were enrolled in eighth grade during 1988 until 2000. In order to
assess academic preparedness of students the Department of Education created a
composite measure of what constituted academic qualification for four-year college
work. They used high school grade-point average (GPA), senior class rank,
Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) and American College Test (ACT) scores,
academic coursework, and aptitude scores to create the measure (Fry, 2004). When
these data were analyzed using the composite of academic qualification measure,
Department of Education researchers found that 57 percent of the Latino youths who

11
entered postsecondary education were at least minimally qualified (Fry, 2004). This
research shows that low bachelor degree attainment of Latinos can not be solely
attributed to the fact that Latino students enter college less prepared.
The low educational attainment of African-American and Latinos will have a
direct effect on the state’s economic health. By the year 2020, about half of
California’s workforce will be Latino and African-American and by the year 2022 an
estimated 34 percent of jobs will require an associate’s, bachelor’s or higher degree
(“California’s Edge”, n.d.). The gaps in educational attainment for students of color
must be reduced in order to prevent the decline of the state’s economic and social
systems (“California’s Edge”, n.d; Moore, 2006; Shulock & Moore, 2007).
According to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems report
(2005) “If Hispanics/Latinos, African-Americans, and Native Americans achieved
the same levels of education as Whites by 2020, California’s personal income would
increase by $101.6 Billion” (p. 6).
The gap in transfer and degree attainment is not new and colleges have
attempted to fix the problem with a limited number of strategies. Primarily
community colleges have focused on creating articulation agreements with four-year
institutions. These agreements are a way of standardizing coursework across
institutions allowing for an easier move between two and four-year institutions (Lee,
2001; Townsend & Wilson, 2006; Zamani, 2001). In addition colleges have
implemented honors programs which can help students improve their chances of
being accepted at selective universities (Lee, 2001; Townsend & Wilson, 2006;

12
Zamani, 2001). While beneficial, these strategies have not led to a major increase in
the number of minority students that transfer to four-year universities.

Problem
The problem that this study will address is the below average transfer rate
among transfer ready African-American and Latino students at Oceanside College
3

to four-year universities. Researchers from the Center for Urban Education (CUE)
and Oceanside College have identified a “transfer gap” and engaged in research to
examine the causes of the gap. For the purposes of this study a transfer gap is defined
as “the difference between the number of students meeting California eligibility
criteria for transfer (either to University of California (UC) or California State
University (CSU) campuses) and the number who actually transfer” (Bensimon &
Dowd, 2006). In examining measures of “Transfer Readiness
4
” for a cohort of
27,422 first-time students who entered Oceanside College during the Fall semesters
of 1999-2002, the institution discovered that of the 27,422 students only 520 were
qualified as being transfer-ready within three years of first enrolling at Oceanside
College (Oceanside College Data). Of the 520 students, 20 percent of the “transfer-
ready” students had not transferred with African-Americans and Latinos comprising
5 percent of the non-transfer students. To address this problem, this study focused on
the impact of a participatory action research project on the participants.

3
A pseudonym was given to the participating college.
4
The Equity Scorecard consists of four perspectives: Academic Pathways, Retention, Excellence, and
Transfer Ready. The Oceanside Transfer Project came about as a result of the data examined in the
development of indicators for the Transfer Ready scorecard perspective.

13
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Oceanside
Transfer Project by examining the impact that an inquiry process has on participating
faculty members and to understand if their participation in the project led to a change
in their beliefs and/or behaviors regarding transfer issues. Can this intervention help
faculty members, such as myself, become transfer agents? The Oceanside Transfer
Project is described in detail in the following sections.
Oceanside College approached the transfer gap problem in a novel way.
Rather than jumping to solutions, they instead decided to understand the problem
contextually. They did this by taking a comprehensive look at how “transfer” is done
at Oceanside College. This study is an evaluation of the project.

Overview of the Study
The Oceanside Transfer Project emerged from the Equity Scorecard project
that was conducted by the Center for Urban Education (CUE) at the University of
Southern California (USC). The Equity Scorecard is a diagnostic process that has
participants at a local setting examine inequities in student outcomes by race and
ethnicity. Inquiry teams study student outcome data, such as persistence and transfer
rates, that have been disaggregated by race and ethnicity (Dowd & Tong, 2007). The
goals of the Equity for All project were “(1) to increase campus members’ awareness
of differences in educational outcomes across racial and ethnic groups, and (2) to
encourage “equity-mindedness” in ways campus members make sense of unequal

14
educational outcomes and the role they play in eliminating them” (Peña, Colyar, &
Bensimon, 2006, p. 48). Developing “equity-mindedness” through the process of
inquiry puts the focus on the practitioner, both faculty and administrators, where they
are viewed as the “solution to the students’ learning problems” (Peña et al., 2006,
p.48). The Equity Scorecard project “provides ‘assisted performance’ to the inquiry
team members by structuring the inquiry process and providing instructions to team
members in the dynamics of productive group process and social learning” (Dowd &
Tong, 2007, p. 89, as cited in Bauman, 2005; Rueda, 2006).
Through the Equity Scorecard the researchers at CUE and the participants at
Oceanside College identified a gap in the number of transfer ready students that went
on to transfer and a gap in the number of students who could have transferred to a
UC but instead chose to transfer to a CSU. They labeled this the “transfer gap”.
The participants at Oceanside College were interested in researching the
causes of the transfer gap so a partnership between CUE and Oceanside College was
formed to develop inquiry activities designed to examine the unequal transfer
outcomes. Funding for the project was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation.

Oceanside Transfer Project
Oceanside College offers three matriculation plans. For the purposes of this
study, students that were enrolled at Oceanside College for the first time between
1999 and 2002 who followed “Plans B and C” were studied. Plan A is for students

15
who are planning to obtain an associates degree. Plan B meets the general education
requirements for students who wish to transfer to the California State University
(CSU) and Plan C meets the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum
(IGETC) requirements for students transferring to either a CSU or the University of
California (UC) (Oceanside College website)
5
. In addition the students were broken
down even further to students who were considered to be “fast track”. According to
Oceanside College, students who are transfer ready in 3 years or less are considered
to be on the fast track. To be considered transfer ready the students must have
completed transfer English, transfer math, communication, analytical thinking, and at
least 56+ units by 3 years from the first semester of attendance with at least a 2.0
GPA. These students were full-time students for a majority of the terms.
Instructional faculty and counselors formed the On Campus Assessment
Team (OCAT). The participants of the team conducted the following inquiry
activities: observations, interviews, and document analysis. Through their research,
participants may gain a greater understanding of transfer issues. In addition, it is
expected that participants will learn what they can do to contribute to better transfer
outcomes which may lead to a change in behavior.
It is important to distinguish between the two layers of the Oceanside
Transfer Project. Members of OCAT participated in an action research project, while
this dissertation focuses on the reaction, learning, and behavior of the members of
OCAT. The following diagram illustrates the roles of the participants and my
research.

5
In order to protect the anonymity of the college, the website will not appear in the references.

16
Figure 3. Outline of the roles of the participants and the researcher.

Research Questions
Using Kirkpatrick (2006) as a guide, in this study I seek to answer three
research questions. First, how did the participants react to participating in the inquiry
process? Second, what did participants learn from conducting inquiry/assessment
activities? Third, in what ways did participants experience self-changes in practices?

Significance of the Study
I am conducting a study of ten instructional faculty members and counselors
who volunteered to participate in activities to inquire into transfer issues. This study
is significant because it aims to understand the impact that practitioner inquiry –
Participants conducted action
research by collecting data using
inquiry activities
Observations
Counseling Services
Transfer Fairs
Document Analysis
Website, course
catalogs, flyers,
brochures
Interviews
with colleagues
My research involved collecting data on
the reaction, learning, and behaviors of
the participants through observations and
interviews of the participants

17
involving practitioners in the process of inquiry to empower them and help them
construct their own knowledge (Reason & Bradbury, 2001), has in improving the
transfer outcomes of minority community college students. It can contribute to the
growing body of knowledge about the significance of participant inquiry. Action
research is rarely used in the higher education settings (Kember & Gow, 1992),
therefore, this study will provide new information about the ways in which faculty
and institutions can bring about change on their campus. The evaluation of this
project as an approach to creating individual and cultural change can contribute to
the refinement of the process and improve its effectiveness. While this is a study of
the impact of an action research project at one institution, the results could inform
the uses of inquiry methods and their adoption by other colleges.

Organization of the Dissertation
This dissertation is organized into six chapters. The first chapter introduced
the topic and gave an overview of the research problems and the purposes of the
study. The second chapter gives a detailed literature review while the third chapter
outlines the methods of data collection and the sources of data. The fourth chapter is
an analysis of the collected data. The fifth chapter presents two case studies that
provide detailed information about two of the participants. Finally, the sixth chapter
summarizes the conclusions, discusses implications for practice, and the use of
inquiry as action research.

18
Chapter 2
Review of the Literature

As I stated in chapter 1, I work as a part-time basic skills reading instructor at
a local community college. At the beginning of the semester I opened my mailbox
and discovered a packet that was filled with a brochure for the counseling center, a
brochure about transfer, and a six minute DVD about the counseling services that are
offered at the college. The counseling center had given the packet to all English and
math professors with the hope of saturating the campus with information about the
variety of counseling services that are available on campus.
At the time I was deeply immersed in research for my dissertation so I was
very familiar with the issues surrounding transfer. I was happy to see the information
coming from the counseling office and I was eager to share it with my students. I
went to class and not only passed out the brochures but had a discussion about
transfer. We talked for five to ten minutes about the importance of going to see a
counselor early and I answered questions raised by the students. Now five to ten
minutes may not seem like a lot of time to most people but any instructor will tell
you that these are precious minutes taken out of an already too short class period.
Since I do not have a DVD player in my room I could not show the DVD
immediately, I had to wait until I could reserve a media cart from the media center.
The following week I showed the DVD and we had another brief discussion about
transferring.
To put this story in context I want to rewind to a year ago. Had I received the
brochures and DVD prior to my involvement in this project on transfer outcomes I

19
would be telling a different story. I certainly would have passed out the brochures
but I would not have had a discussion about them. Why? Not because I did not think
that transfer was important but because I did not see my role as a transfer agent
(Dowd & Bensimon, 2007). I did not know anything about transfer. I did not know
where the transfer center was. As for the DVD, I would not have shown it because it
takes considerable effort to get the necessary equipment. Media carts are in high
demand and the media center is halfway across the campus from my classroom. No
one delivers the cart, the faculty member has to pick it up and roll it across campus;
which is no easy feat. You have to roll the heavy cart up and down inclines, over
speed bumps, and between crowds of students. Previously I would not have gone
through the trouble. However, working on the Oceanside Transfer Project has
changed the way that I see myself. I now believe that each person who works at the
college has a role to play in helping students get information, raising aspirations, and
helping students persist to the next level.
I was curious to know how many of the English and math professors had
discussions about the counseling services and/or showed the DVD. I informally
asked a few people and they said they passed out the brochures, a couple had
discussions but no one I spoke with showed the DVD; some cited the difficulties of
getting a media cart. I do believe that if the rooms were equipped with the necessary
technology, more professors would have shown the DVD.
A few weeks later I was thrilled to see that my effort to encourage students to
transfer was bearing fruit. I walked passed a student who had a folder open on his

20
desk. Inside I could see that he had some forms from the transfer center. I asked him
about the forms and he said that he had indeed gone to visit the transfer center as a
result of our class discussion. This was a student who on the first day told me “I’m
only here because my parents want me to be in school. I want to work construction.”
I was glad to see that he is looking into a wider range of options. He has a long way
to go but I hope that this little push helps him expand his educational borders.

Overview
The purpose of my dissertation is to examine how faculty members, through
their participation in this project, perceive the transfer process, how they view
themselves as institutional agents of transfer, and if they acquire the characteristics
of a transfer agent – using the resources available to help students navigate the
educational systems. This chapter focuses on the literature in the areas of action
research and learning. I use this literature to set the stage for the evaluation of the
transfer gap study.
Through the work at CUE, researchers have developed a tool to help
institutions examine the policies, structures, and practices that have an effect on
student achievement. The assessment tool created by CUE and outlined in my
dissertation takes a different approach from typical assessment strategies. It is my
belief that through the use of the assessment tool there will be a change in the ways
the participants perceive transfer students and the transfer process. This change can

21
lead to a shift in the way educational practitioners see themselves as institutional
agents of transfer.
The purpose is to have practitioners act as researchers who are involved in
inquiry based action research activities in order to bring about a change in their
thinking and behaviors. The theory of action guiding the Oceanside Transfer Project
makes the following assumptions: (1) situated learning helps practitioners increase
their knowledge about transfer issues, (2) this increase in knowledge may lead to
sense of agency, (3) which in turn, could lead to a change in behavior that may lead
to better transfer outcomes for minority students. Although the backdrop for this
paper is transfer issues, my intent is not to examine the complexities of the transfer
process for students, but to understand what the faculty learned as a result of
participating in the inquiry based project, and to what extent, if any, did their
learning change their beliefs and/or behavior.
In this chapter, I will conduct a review of the literature on action research and
its inherent components, to understand the processes and how these are expected to
bring about change.

Participatory Action Research
Action research calls on participants in a local setting to define a problem,
research the causes of the problem and identify potential solutions (Stringer, 1999).
Throughout this process, participants are engaged in a dialectical and reflective
process that has the potential to increase their learning and agency in regards to the
identified problem (Bruner, 1994; Stringer, 1999).

22
Traditional research projects rely on an outside researcher or agency to enter
the field, collect data, and write a report that is presented to the key players in the
institution. The information may also be used for publication in academic journals.
In traditional research the participants have little, if any, involvement in the
collection and analysis of data (Bensimon, Polkinghorne, Bauman, & Vallejo, 2004;
Stringer, 1999).
Participatory action research, the method employed in this study, engages the
participants as researchers to help them collect data, analyze the data and find
solutions to the problems that they are experiencing in their communities. In action
research, the participants engage in the same data gathering methods of the inquiry
process as outside researchers would. They acquire information using a variety of
data collection methods, analyze and reflect on the information they collected,
develop theories and transform their understanding of the problem, apply their new
understanding to create solutions that are implemented and finally they evaluate the
effectiveness of the solutions (Bensimon et al., 2004; Stringer, 1999).
Action research may take on different forms but each method shares several
characteristics. First, it bridges the divide between the pure research and practice.
The findings of the research are directly linked to practice with the hopes of
initiating change. In this sense it is highly pragmatic and is grounded in the culture of
the context. Second, the members of the study are both researchers and participants.
Finally, action research may raise some ethical questions. Since the participants are

23
conducting research into their own practice, their fellow coworkers, and their
institutions, issues of confidentiality and authority could arise (Somekh, 1995).
Although action research can have academic outcomes, such as publication in
journals, as a feature, the main purpose is to provide a way for practitioners to solve
problems in the local context.
Action research focuses first on problem-solving, and more
secondarily on the knowledge generated from the process. The
emphasis of the process is not knowledge for knowledge sake, but
knowledge which will lead to improvement, usually, for the action
researcher, taken to mean in terms of organizational improvement or
for the solution of practical problems (Reason & Bradbury, 2001, p.
75).

A key component of action research is that the purpose of the research is to not only
learn about the issue that is being researched but also for the participants to gain a
better understanding of their own beliefs and behaviors. “Practical action researchers
aim just as much at understanding and changing themselves as the subjects of a
practice (as practitioners) as changing the outcomes of their practice” (Kemmis,
2001, p. 92; emphasis in original).
Typically action research is a collaborative effort between researchers and
local participants where researchers provide assistance to help practitioners identify
and resolve problems (Somekh, 1995; Stringer, 1999). While some forms of action
research have a different understanding of where the power lies, in general the
researcher acts as a facilitator of the inquiry process as opposed to an expert entering
the field with all of the power (Reason & Bradbury, 2001). This is the manner in

24
which the Oceanside Transfer Project is situated. Overall, action research can be
defined as,
a participatory, democratic process concerned with developing
practical knowledge in the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes,
grounded in a participatory worldview which we believe is emerging
at this historical moment. It seeks to bring together action and
reflection, theory and practice, in participation with others in the
pursuit of practical solutions to issues of pressing concern to people,
and more generally the flourishing of individual persons and their
communities (Reason & Bradbury, 2004, p. 1).

In participatory action research the stakeholder is expected to be involved in
the research process. The role of the external researcher is to facilitate the process
and to provide the necessary resources. The researcher does not conduct the research
but becomes a resource for the participants. “He or she becomes the facilitator or
consultant who acts as a catalyst to assist stakeholders in defining their problems
clearly and to support them as they work toward effective solutions to the issues that
concern them” (Stringer, 1999, p. 25).
The premise behind using the practitioners-as-researchers approach is
grounded in the thought that education practitioners do not respond well to
traditional research methods when outsiders enter their community and tell them
what to do. “When the imposition of outside authority has an impact on their lives,
even with the best of intentions, they often respond with: aggression, apathy, and/or
avoidance” (Somekh, 1995, p. 343). The purpose of having practitioners involved is
to empower them and help them construct their own knowledge through the process
of inquiry as action and reflection (Reason & Bradbury, 2001). Participatory action
research is set apart because of the important role that ‘non-experts’ hold. The

25
participants decide on the problem and are the ones who conduct the inquiry
activities (Heron & Reason, 2001; Park, 2001).
Becoming practitioners-as-researchers is beneficial because as the
participants work together to examine data, reflect on their new knowledge, and
formulate solutions; they begin to reexamine their beliefs and misconceptions to then
form new and more productive mindsets and solutions. They begin to create
solutions that have an impact on their community (Bensimon et al., 2004; Somekh,
1995; Stringer, 1999). In the practitioner-as-researcher model “the role of the
researched and researcher are reversed to some extent. That is, practitioners take the
role of researchers, and researchers assume the roles of facilitators and consultants”
(Bensimon et al., 2004, p. 108).

Inquiry Based
Action research is an inquiry process that is designed to help people in a local
context who come together to reflect on issues that affect their community and to
make intelligent decisions about the solutions that can bring about a positive impact
(Putnam, 1999). Polkinghorne (2004) notes that theories of practice indicate that
practitioners in fields like education learn through intelligent inquiry. Intelligent
inquiry is a four step method for defining and solving a problem. The steps in the
process are: “(a) experiencing an indeterminate situation; (b) identifying the
problem; (c) determining a solution; and (d) carrying out the determined solution”
(Polkinghorne, 2004, p. 123).

26
As a form of action research, evaluative inquiry, as defined by Preskill and
Torres (1999), shares some of the same characteristics as intelligent inquiry. First, it
is conducted by insiders instead of outside consultants. It addresses issues and
concerns that have been identified within the local context. Finally, evaluative
inquiry contributes to the larger inquiry culture of the organization (Preskill &
Torres, 1999).
Inquiry is an ongoing democratic process that is used by participants to look
at beliefs and values through conversation and reflection. The conversation is
important because, done correctly; it provides the opportunity for participants to
discuss ‘undisscussable’ issues, such as power and race, openly and honestly. It also
helps participants identify errors in their thinking that may lead to flawed
conclusions and their subsequent behavior. “Initiating change requires breaking the
self-sealing cycle of defensive beliefs and protective behavior. Two steps are critical
to change. The first is to make previously undiscussable problems discussable”
(Argyris, 1994, p. 349). Participants must be open to data and be able to reflect on
the information. Meaning that problems that would not normally be highlighted be
brought out in the open. For example, transfer data is not normally disaggregated by
race and ethnicity. Examining data that has been disaggregated by race and ethnicity
helps facilitate the discussion between participants around problems that may
normally be ignored. The second step “is that embarrassment and threat are not
bypassed” (Argyris, 1994, p. 349). Meaning that, inquiry groups work through the

27
uncomfortable situations that may occur as a result of looking at data that may
normally be ignored.
In order to bring about learning from participants in the educational setting
the inquiry model provides space for participants to rethink their understanding and
behaviors about a given problem. “Adult learners and experienced practitioners
possess established knowledge of their educational contexts and students and this
knowledge must be challenged or disrupted in some ways before new professional
practices will be adopted” (Dowd & Tong, 2007, p.80). Figure 4 illustrates how
knowledge is challenged through the inquiry process before new practices are
established. It also shows the cyclical nature of the process and how the creation of
solutions leads to evaluation and a new phase of inquiry.
Figure 4. The Inquiry Paradigm
Source: Proposal submitted by the Center for Urban Education to the Hewlett
Foundation
Equity Scorecard Project
USC
Copyright 2006 University of Southern California.
All Rights Reserved.
The Inquiry Paradigm
Transfer
Readiness
Data
Minority students
who are UC-
transfer ready
transfer to less
selective
institutions
Faculty and staff use
Various tools to inquire
Into reasons for
transfer-gap:
•Student Interviews
• Cultural Audit
•Self Assessment
•Inventory of
• Institutional transfer
Practices
Solution
addresses
the identified
Causes for
Transfer gap
Evaluation of
Implemented
Solution
Data Transfer-
Gaps
Inquiry Solution Evaluation

Research has shown that a change in practitioners’ beliefs is brought about
through collaboration and inclusion in the research process (Bensimon et al., 2004;

28
Dowd & Tong, 2007). To this end, if the goal is to increase the educational outcomes
for students, practitioners should be collaboratively involved in assessment activities
that can cause them to gain new knowledge, challenge their assumptions, and
increase their awareness of their practices and the impact of their behavior
(Bensimon et al., 2004; Dowd & Tong, 2007).

Dialogue and reflection
Two key elements of intelligent and evaluative inquiry are dialogue and
reflection. Not only is it important for the participants to conduct the research, they
must also have the space to discuss their findings openly and honestly without the
fear of reprisal. Park (2001) notes that dialogue is central to the process of inquiry.
Dialogue allows for the creation of a space where participants can share their
findings and experiences and then proceed to form common language and meanings
which help in the creation of concerted action. A key factor in the process is the fact
that the participants’ knowledge is “deepened through a dialectical process of people
acting with others, upon reality in order to change and understand it” (Reason &
Bradbury, 2001, p. 75).
As a part of the intelligent evaluative inquiry process, the dialectical process
should be cyclical. Information gathering leads to dialogue, which in turn, leads to
reflection and action, then begins again with information gathering. When solutions
are identified it is important to continue the cycle in order to determine if the actions
are producing the desired outcomes (Reason & Bradbury, 2001).

29
This cycle leads us to the next step, reflection, which is a critical component
at the heart of action research. Reflection is needed to gain a deeper understanding of
one’s own beliefs and the complexities of the data that is collected during the
research process (Somekh, 1995). Reflection is a key component of the learning
process. Preskill and Torres (1999) define reflection as “a process that allows
individuals and groups to review their ideas, understandings and experiences” (p.
46). Bruner (1994) asserts that reflection is a private and public dialogue in which
people question their assumptions and reconcile them with their experiences.
Inquiry allows individuals to work together and reflect on each other’s beliefs
and the actions that result from their beliefs. The process of engaging in collective
reflection enables the participants to hear other thoughts and helps them gain
additional information. Park (2001) states that “concerted engagement in change-
producing activity requires conscious reflection on the part of the actors involved”
(p. 86). In addition, collective reflection provides each individual with a broader
picture of how their behavior has an effect on and is affected by others and the
organization as a whole (Preskill & Torres, 1999). Most importantly, the process of
reflection can bring about change in self-efficacy, how one perceives others, and a
change in behavior (original Canning, 1991, in Preskill & Torres, 1999, p. 46;
Putnam, 1999). In real life, this may be seen as a space where people feel they are
not being judged.
Preskill and Torres (1999) and Rodgers (2002) highlight the importance of
reflection by identifying what Preskill and Torres refer to as four values and Rodgers

30
refers to as goals that are inherent in reflection. First, the process of reflection allows
for deeper deliberation among team members. This deeper reflection leads to a
greater understanding of oneself and more meaningful learning. Reflection allows
the participants to think critically. Second, reflection connects decision making to a
process of affective and experiential learning. Third, it provides the space and
challenges participants to be open about what they say and what they do. They begin
to think about their espoused theory (what they say they do) and their theory-in-use
(what they actually do) (Argyris, 1976). Finally, reflection is a safeguard against
impulsive decision-making. It provides the time to consider the implications of past
and future behavior. Participants are more likely to take intelligent action based on
their collective learning. Once these actions have been carried out, the outcome
becomes the basis for the beginning of a new reflection.

Espoused theory vs. Theory-in-use
When looking at the reflective process, it is important to distinguish between
what people say they do and their actual behaviors. For learning to have truly
occurred there not only needs to be a change in one’s thinking but also a change in
values and the behaviors that follow.
The process of inquiry based research and reflection is to help participants
identify the difference between their espoused theory and their theory-in-use.
Espoused theory is what people say they do. These are the things that they tell others
about their beliefs or what is desirable or ideal. Theory-in-use is what people actually

31
do; their behavior. In general, people are rarely aware of how much their behavior is
inconsistent with their espoused theories. Their theories-in-use are so imbedded in
one’s beliefs that they are difficult to discern without a conscious effort on the part of
the participant (Argyris, 1994; Putnam, 1999).
Theories-in-use are learned through a lifetime of socialization (Putnam,
1999). Our espoused theories are often in conflict with our theories-in-use and do not
reflect our actual behavior. The problem lies in our ability to recognize the
incongruity in ourselves and to take action to align one’s behavior with one’s
espoused theories. In addition, while we may recognize the disconnect between
espoused and in-use theories in others we are socially programmed to not confront
others about their inconsistencies in beliefs and behavior so that we do not produce
negative feelings and upset people (Argyris, 1976a). Avoidance of issues that may
cause discomfort hinders an organization’s ability to change because the underlying
assumptions and policies that may be at the root of the problem are never challenged
(Argyris, 1980; Argyris, 1976a).
Through the process of inquiry participants are asked to examine their
espoused versus theories-in-use with the intent of creating new espoused theories
and/or aligning the two.
Espoused theories can be tested by (1) asking practitioners to
articulate what they intend to do in particular situations in order to
achieve their desired outcomes, (2) asking them to ‘produce’ their
theories by actually taking action either in real situation or through
role plays or simulation, and (3) observing what behaviour they
produce and what outcomes result. An espoused theory is
‘disconfirmed’ when actors produce unintended behaviours or
unintended outcomes (Friedman, 2001, p. 161).

32

Giving participants of the Oceanside Transfer Project the space to speak
freely about their beliefs, behaviors and observations, the project is designed to bring
about the kind of change described above. As Park (2001) states, “reflective
knowledge creates collective autonomy and responsibility” (Park, p. 86). While
reflection is difficult to see and measure, there can be a basic assumption that
reflection has occurred if there is a change in outcomes (E. Hollins, lecture May 30,
2007).

Reflective Cycle
The process of reflection can occur ‘in action’, during the experience, and/or
‘on action’, after the experience (Rodgers, 2002; Schon, 1983). Meaning that the
person can reflect while the experience is occurring; which may lead to a change in
the outcome, and/or reflect on the experience after it has concluded; evaluating the
outcome and thinking about its success or failure and what additional changes may
need to be made.
Whether looking at reflection-in-action or reflection-on-action they both
follow a reflective cycle. This cyclical process is embedded in the stages of
intelligent inquiry. This cycle begins with the ability to attend to a given situation.
Reflection cannot occur unless one is open to what is happening around them. The
next phase is to observe and describe what is being observed from different
perspectives.

33
Reflective thinking involving doubt and hesitation –pitting one thing
against something else in order to examine it more closely as Dewey
suggests, implies a state of renewal, because it requires seeing
something in a new light. But before there can be renewal there needs
to be a kind of unraveling that involves close examination, not,
perhaps, a complete “break” but rather a “shift in scenery [that] takes
as our starting point something else (Bruner, 1994, p. 33).

After considering different perspectives the next phase is to critically analyze the
experience and create a theory about what happened and what can be done
differently to produce a better outcome. Finally, take an action that is based on one’s
reflection and intelligent decision-making. Like the values and goals outlined by
Preskill and Torres (1999) and Rodgers (2002), the end of the cycle becomes the
basis for a new reflective cycle. As Rahman (1991) notes “thus in action research,
knowledge must be embedded in cycles of action-reflection-action over time” (as
cited in Reason & Bradbury, 2001, p. 76).
The power of reflection and the reflective cycle is that it makes the
participants slow down and consciously think about what is happening rather than
jumping to conclusions. The reflective cycle seems to have the “ability first to slow
down teachers’ thinking so that they can attend to what is rather than what they wish
were so, and then to shift the weight of that thinking from their own teaching to their
students’ learning” (Rodgers, 2002, p. 231). In addition, reflection is dependent upon
the ability to ask hard questions that make participants begin to think critically.
Reflection should “begin with a self-critical, self-conscious awareness and then
extend to wider political contexts that include always questions about knowledge,

34
power, voice, and position” (Bruner, 1994, p. 48). In the end, reflection helps the
participant frame new questions and outcomes (Schon, 1983).
The purpose of the inquiry process, with its inherent reflection is to bring
about learning and a change in behavior. In the next section I will discuss the
literature related to the three levels of evaluation from Kirkpatrick’s (2006)
framework, which are the focus of my study: reaction, learning, and behavior.

Receptivity
The reaction to and/or motivation to participate in the participatory action
based project is a very important factor to consider. Generally, a positive reaction is
important for gaining favorable outcomes (Kirkpatrick, 2006). Positive reactions do
not imply that learning has occurred; it simply means that participants are motivated
to continue to put forth effort to complete the project. In addition, participants that
react positively are more likely to speak highly of the program to their colleagues,
thus increasing the chance that the program will continue and that others will be
interested (Clark & Estes, 2002; Kirkpatrick, 2006).
Measuring reaction is very important and can be done at different points in
time and in various ways. Questions about the program can be asked before, during,
or after the program has ended; each with its own purposes. Asking questions before
a program allows one to determine the expectations of the participants and/or to gain
an understanding of the levels of performance prior to program intervention. Asking
questions during the program is important so that one can assess how the program is

35
going and if any changes need to be made. Asking questions at the end of the
program gives a summary judgment and can allow a measuring of performance gain
if the pre and post data is compared (Clark & Estes, 2002).
Measurement can take the form of open ended questions or Likert type
reaction sheets; the most effective forms of measurement entail a combination of
both. In general, it is important to get honest responses from 100 percent of the
participants (Kirkpatrick, 2006). This can be facilitated by asking for feedback
immediately following the program asking participants to complete it right away and
by making the forms anonymous.

Learning
Participation in inquiry based research with its inherent dialogue and
reflection may lead to learning by the participants who act as researchers. For the
purposes of this project learning involves (1) thinking about how and why things are
done, (2) challenging the beliefs of individuals, (3) reconsidering the policies and
conditions of the institution, and (4) developing new frameworks in which to view
and solve the problem (Kim, 1993). In this section I will discuss the processes by
which individuals and organizations learn.
Wenger (1998) suggests that meaningful learning does not occur by
happenstance; groups meet all the time without learning taking place. Wenger
(1998), a social learning theorist, outlines four necessary components that need to be
in place in order to consider social participation as a process of learning.

36
1. Meaning: a way of talking about our (changing) ability –
individually and collectively – to experience our life and the world as
meaningful.
2. Practice: a way of talking about the shared historical and social
resources, frameworks, and perspectives that can sustain mutual
engagement in action.
3. Community: a way of talking about the social configurations in
which our enterprises are defined as worth pursuing and our
participation is recognizable as competence.
4. Identity: a way of talking about how learning changes who we are
and creates personal histories of becoming in the context of our
communities (p. 5).

These four components are embedded in the inquiry project at Oceanside
College. The participation of the group members is more than a social activity, it is a
learning process. The inquiry project allows participants to create a community
where they are able to openly discuss the meaning of their experiences, their
institutional practices, and their personal identity as it relates to the institution. These
components can be seen in the organization of the inquiry groups and the
conversations that they have within and outside of the group.
Learning takes place by individuals and the organization as a whole. For
individuals, learning is a matter of engaging in and contributing to the practices of
the organization. For organizations, learning is about connecting the different
communities within the organization in order to become and remain an effective
organization. Communities of practice develop when participants pursue a shared
experience over time that enhances their ability to learn and grow as individuals and
as an organization (Wenger, 1998).
While communities can take many forms, a community of practice has three
dimensions: mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and a shared repertoire (Wenger,

37
1998). Mutual engagement and joint enterprise refer to the actions members of a
community engage in which are negotiated by the participants. These actions lead to
a shared repertoire or routines that become a common part of its practice (Wenger,
1998). These communities of practice are important because the mutual engagement
may lead to not only individual and group learning, but the sharing of the language
with the larger community.

Single-loop and Double-loop learning
Argyris (1976b) identified what he calls single-loop and double-loop
learning. Most people operate within the single-loop learning process. Single-loop
learning is the acquisition of new knowledge without changing the underlying belief
system (Argyris, 1976a; Putnam, 1999). For example, a teacher may change their
belief that minority students are unmotivated and lazy to a belief that the family
background of minority students causes poor educational outcomes. While there has
been a change in beliefs the teacher is still operating under the theory that there is a
deficit in the student that is causing the poor educational outcomes. With double-
loop learning, people reexamine their values and beliefs to bring about a shift in their
thinking processes and change in the overarching framework in which they operate
(Argyris, 1976a; Putnam, 1999). In this instance, a teacher that originally believed
that deficits within students were the cause of poor education outcomes begins to
think about factors within the organizational structure that may inhibit learning for
minority students. “Double-loop learning is important because without it individuals

38
are not able to reexamine their values and assumptions in order to design and
implement a quality of life not constrained by the status quo” (Argyris, 1976a, p.
638). The Oceanside Transfer Project aims for participants to see that there may be
institutional structures that inhibit transfer instead of placing the blame on students.
The process of double-loop learning helps people align their espoused and in-
use theories by connecting their knowledge to their actions; not only do participants
develop new skills; they also develop and internalize new value systems (Friedman,
2001). Unlike single-loop-learning, double-loop learning pushes participants to
reframe problems to bring out drastically different potential solutions (Kim, 1993).
Most people operate within a single-loop learning framework. Double-loop
learning requires the acquisition of complex reasoning skills and behavior. These
skills do not develop overnight. The acquisition of double-loop learning skills
requires time and commitment on the part of the participants, skillful instruction and
conditions that promote such learning (Friedman, 2001). These attributes rarely exist
in academic settings; typically the environment needs to be manipulated in order to
provide the conditions needed for double-loop learning to occur (Friedman, 2001).
Action researchers, “consciously attempt to induce doubt as a stimulus for change by
making people aware of gaps, contradictions and errors in their reasoning and
behaviour. It is intended to bring into awareness gaps and contradictions that may
lead them to experience doubt and, as a result, engage, in inquiry” (Friedman, 2001,
p. 163).

39
Behavior
The process of learning through inquiry may lead to a positive change in
behavior. A change in practitioners’ beliefs is important because it can lead to a
change in the behavior of practitioners which can lead to better educational outcomes
for students. However, Clark and Estes (2002) note that many training
programs/professional development activities have poor transfer from learning to
behavior; many people do not apply what they have learned. Helping people to feel
more efficacious may lead to a change in behavior.

Efficacy
Self-efficacy is “not a measure of the skills one has but a belief about what
one can do under different sets of conditions with what skills one possesses”
(Bandura 1997, p. 37). A person that is efficacious believes that they have the ability
to accomplish a certain task. However, a person that feels they do not have the
control or power necessary to produce results will put forth little effort to make
changes (Bandura, 1997). Their feelings of efficacy may change from task to task
and/or situation to situation. Efficacy is important because people who are highly
efficacious in regards to their ability to work with students will work harder and put
forth more effort to complete their tasks. In addition, efficacy beliefs may have an
effect on how long one persists, their resilience in difficult situations, and the
management of stress that results from dealing with adversity (Bandura, 1997;
Bandura, 2002).

40
Self-efficacy beliefs are developed from four principal sources of
information: enactive mastery experiences; vicarious experiences; verbal persuasion;
and physiological and affective states (Bandura, 1997). Mastery experiences involve
the successful completion of a task by an individual. These experiences are the most
influential source of efficacy. However, successful experiences should not come too
easily. Efficacy is built when a person overcomes a difficult situation. The second
source of self-efficacy is vicarious experience. These experiences are not lived by the
individual rather one sees other individuals performing an activity and then gains a
sense that they also have the ability to complete the task. Efficacy is raised by
watching others perform and believing that they can do it too. Verbal persuasion, the
third source of self-efficacy, is when others express a belief in one’s capabilities to
perform a task. Finally, physiological and affective states refer to the stress and
emotions one feels when performing a task. Reducing stress and negative emotions
can increase a person’s efficacy (Bandura, 1997).

Agency
Efficacy is important because it leads to a sense of agency. Bandura (2001)
identifies three types of human agency found in social cognitive theory; personal,
proxy, and collective. Personal agency is the belief that one has the ability to produce
desired results. Proxy agency is when people feel that others have the resources
necessary to achieve the desired results so they try to gain access to the resources of
others who can act on their behalf. Finally, collective agency is one’s belief in the

41
collective power of a group to achieve the desired outcomes. (Bandura, 2001). The
Oceanside Transfer Project builds on the levels of agency. On the personal level, the
project helps participants feel that they can help students; second, participants gain
proxy agency by learning about the resources that are available to help students
transfer; finally, participants gain collective agency by working together as an
organization to improve transfer outcomes.
The process of reflection is key to increasing one’s sense of agency. “The
metacognitive capability to reflect upon oneself and the adequacy of one’s thoughts
and actions is another distinctly core human feature of agency” (Bandura, 2001, p.
10; emphasis mine). While humans may be capable of metacognitive reflection, it is
not an action that is necessarily automatic or instinctual; reflection can be taught or
promoted.
Whether personal, proxy or collective, an agent is a person that plans,
motivates, and self-regulates their beliefs and actions. They do not sit back and wait
for things to appear; rather they take the appropriate action to achieve the desired
outcomes. “Agency thus involves not only the deliberative ability to make choices
and action plans, but the ability to give shape to appropriate courses of action and to
motivate and regulate their execution” (Bandura, 2001, p. 8). Agency is important
because people that are not agentic, i.e. do not believe that their behavior can affect
desired outcomes, have little incentive to persist when faced with challenges
(Bandura, 2001). As Bandura (2001) notes, agentic action also helps individuals
“figure out ways to circumvent physical and environmental constraints, redesign and

42
construct environments of their liking, create styles of behavior that enable them to
realize desired outcomes, and pass on the effective ones to others by social modeling
and other experiential modes of influence” (p. 22).
Agency is not an inherent trait; it can be developed in individuals through the
learning process. Action researchers attempt to create climates that are conducive to
the development of agency. Bruner (1994) notes that it is impossible to guarantee the
development of agency, “the most we can do is create a climate in which such
tendencies might have the chance to flourish—create a space for such freedom where
restrictive systems of thought and behavior can be questioned” (p. 51).

An Action Research Study
Linking the concepts of learning and behavior, a study by Peña (2007)
evaluated an action research project that was conducted at a four-year university. The
purpose of the project was to engage faculty members in looking at unequal
educational outcomes for African-American and Latino students. For the purposes of
the study, five participants were studied. The participants in the study conducted
inquiry activities over a 20 month period. Through her study, Peña (2007) attempted
to answer four questions:
1) What do faculty members learn about students’ lived classroom
and campus experiences by participating in student interviews and
collaborative inquiry focusing on equitable educational outcomes
for African American and Latino students?
2) In what ways do faculty participants learn about and
reconceptualize their practices of teaching and advising as a
consequence of their new knowledge and reflection about the

43
experiences of underrepresented students within their own
campus?
3) In what ways did faculty participants change their practices and
approaches toward students?
4) In what ways did faculty participants institutionalize the inquiry
methods they experienced in the project?

The findings of the study show that action research can have an impact on
learning and behavior. Participants of the study reported learning about how students
experienced school and institutional contexts that impeded student success. In
addition, participants reported reflecting on their teaching and changing instructional
practices. “Faculty members reflected on strategies from engaging students in
conversation to simply inquiring further into pedagogical practices that could
improve one’s approaches to teaching students” (Peña, 2007, p. 108).
This study shows how action research can contribute to the learning of
participants and that the learning can lead to changes in practice. Peña (2007) found
that faculty members reported learning and rethinking their practices in three ways.
First they examined how issues of privilege impacted their practices. Second, they
reexamined their teaching practices when working with students of color. Finally,
they began to think differently about how they advised students. While the study
could not attest to a long-term improvement in student outcomes, the participants did
advocate for a continuation of the project by other members at the university. The
participants in the study, “believed that all faculty members and departments could
improve upon their ways of educating students by systematically listening to
students’ experiences and meeting as a collaborative inquiry group” (Peña, 2007, p.
109).

44

Action Research, Learning and Behavior
In the preceding pages I outlined the important role that action research plays
in the learning and behavior of practitioners-as-researchers. In general, academic
institutions rarely provide opportunities for faculty members to engage in action
research projects (Kember & Gow, 1992). The Oceanside Transfer Project was
developed in order to engage faculty and counselors in the inquiry based approach
that I outlined in this chapter. The inquiry process may help participants recognize
their espoused theories vs. their theories-in-use, develop double-loop learning, and
change their behavior around transfer practices. In regards to transfer, an example of
single-loop learning would mean that the learner has a new found knowledge of the
transfer services that are available yet they continue to believe that the reason for the
transfer gap is that the students do not access the available services. The learner has
not changed their basic assumption about the reason for the gap. Double-loop
learning would involve a shift from focusing on the student to examining the
organizational structures that may act as a barrier to accessing transfer services. As
an outcome of learning, the participants will recognize and modify behaviors in order
to improve the transfer outcomes of their students. The following section describes
Oceanside College and the project itself.

45
Description of the Oceanside Transfer Project
Oceanside College
Oceanside College is a major metropolitan community college that enrolls
over 25,000 students on two campuses. Founded in 1927, Oceanside College has a
long tradition of providing educational opportunities to the local community. The
college serves students with various racial/ethnic backgrounds, ages and educational
goals. Oceanside College is identified as a Hispanic Serving Institute (HSI), which is
a federal designation under Title V. To be considered an HSI and institution must:
(1) be accredited; (2) have a Hispanic enrollment of at least 25 percent; (3) at least
50 percent of the Hispanic students receive needs based assistance (Ed. Gov., n.d).
The college’s mission reflects the diverse needs of the college’s students by
providing
open and affordable access to quality associate degree and certificate
programs, workforce preparation, and opportunities for personal
development and enrichment. The college develops students’ college-
level skills and expands their general knowledge, enables their
transfer to four-year institutions, prepares them for successful careers
or to advance in their current careers, and fosters their personal
commitment to lifelong learning. Based upon a commitment to
excellence, college programs foster and support the intellectual,
cultural, economic and civic development of our diverse community.
(Oceanside College, website
6
)

Oceanside Transfer Project
The Oceanside Transfer Project originated in response to findings of the
Equity for All project that was conducted at Oceanside College in collaboration with
researchers at the Center for Urban Education (CUE). Through Equity for All the

6
To protect the anonymity of the school site, the website will not be included in the reference section

46
inquiry team discovered a number of students who had the qualifications to attend a
UC school yet they choose instead, to attend a less selective institution and another
group of students who were transfer ready, i.e. eligible to transfer, but did not
transfer to a four-year university. The table below refers the number of fast-track
Oceanside College students who were transfer-eligible broken down by race and
ethnicity.
Table 1. Oceanside College Fast-track transfer-eligible students (1999-2002) by
transfer status and race and ethnicity
Source: (Oceanside College Data
7
).
UC-Eligible Asian/PI African
American/
Black
Hispanic/
Latina/o
White Other Total
Transferred to
UC
6
(15%)
6
(15%)
11
(28%)
9
(23%)
8
(20%)
40
(100%)
Transferred to
CSU
20
(19%)
9
(9%)
27
(26%)
35
(33%)
14
(13%)
105
(100%)
Transferred
elsewhere
2
(13%)
1
(6%)
3
(19%)
7
(44%)
3
(19%)
16
(100%)
Transferred
nowhere
6
(16%)
1
(3%)
7
(19%)
17
(46%)
6
(16%)
37
(100%)
Unduplicated
* UC-eligible
Total
34
(17%)
17
(9%)
48
(24%)
68
(34%)
31
(16%)
198
(100%)

7
In order to maintain anonymity, citations for data related to Oceanside College will not be cited in
the paper or in the references and will be simply referred to as Oceanside College Data.

47
Table 1. Continued, Oceanside College Fast-track transfer-eligible students (1999-
2002) by transfer status and race and ethnicity
CSU-Eligible Asian/PI African
American/
Black
Hispanic/
Latina/o
White Other Total
Transferred to
CSU
47
(22%)
16
(7%)
61
(29%)
63
(29%)
27
(13%)
214
(100%)
Transferred
elsewhere
9
(27%)
3
(10%)
9
(27%)
7
(21%)
5
(15%)
33
(100%)
Transferred
nowhere
17
(23%)
2
(3%)
18
(24%)
25
(33%)
13
(17%)
75
(100%)
Unduplicated
* CSU-
eligible
Total
73
(23%)
21
(7%)
88
(27%)
95
(30%)
45
(14%)
322
(100%)
*Though CSU-eligible, UC-eligible students are counted only once.

The researchers at CUE coined the term “transfer gap” to describe the “student’s
failure to transfer despite having the educational preparation to do so” (Oceanside
College Data). After discovering this gap the inquiry team at Oceanside College
went a step further and broke down the data by race and ethnicity. The Transfer Gap
refers to the total number of students that were transfer-ready but did not transfer to a
four-year institution.
Once the problem was defined, a team was convened to investigate the
transfer gap. Twenty-three counselors and faculty members volunteered to
participate in the five-month long inquiry process. The participants were divided into
two teams. One team was named the student interview team (SIT) and the other team
was named the on-campus assessment team (OCAT).
As a research assistant at the Center for Urban Education I worked as a
member of the research team that helped guide the inquiry process. I worked closely
with the faculty and counselors on OCAT, therefore, for the purposes of this paper I

48
am going to focus on the inquiry activities of OCAT. Please note that the members
of SIT were conducting parallel research of the students in the gap. The members of
OCAT had an initial meeting where they were given inquiry assignments. Each
member was assigned a specific task and was given one and a half months to gather
information. They gathered data using three methods: interviews, observation, and
document analysis. Five out of the ten members were asked to interview a variety of
stakeholders. These included but were not limited to, faculty members, counselors,
board members and alumni. Four OCAT members were asked to analyze printed
documents such as course catalogs, brochures, and articulation agreements while
also looking at documents that were found on the Oceanside College website.
Finally, four members were asked to conduct observations of the transfer/counseling
center, transfer fairs and the financial aid office. The numbers do not add up to ten
because some participants conducted more than one type of inquiry activity and were
assigned to different sections of the Self Assessment Inventory (SAI) (Appendix A)
which is described below. Discussion on the rationale for choosing the methods
described above can be found in chapter 3.
Table 2. List of Research Activities Conducted by Participants
Research Activities
1. Interviews of key transfer stakeholders
2. Observations of the transfer center, transfer fairs, financial
aid office, counseling center
3. Document analysis of the website, course catalogue, class
schedule, fliers, and other transfer related documents

Participants of OCAT used the SAI to help guide their research. The SAI is a
tool that was developed in collaboration at the Center for Urban Education, at the

49
University of Southern California and the New England Resource Center for Higher
Education (NERCHE), at the University of Massachusetts, Boston (Dowd,
Bensimon, & Gabbard, 2006). The tool is a series of questions about transfer that is
divided into four sections: transfer counseling services for students; financial support
for students seeking to transfer to four-year institutions; institutional transfer policies
and practices; and partnerships and collaboration. Completion of the SAI gives a
comprehensive, 360 degree view of the organizational structure of transfer at
Oceanside College (Dowd et al., 2006). Participants wrote field notes and entered
their data into Survey Monkey, an internet-based survey system, or sent their notes
directly to me. For better readability, I compiled their notes into one document.
In the beginning of March 2007 the participants met to discuss their findings.
As an action research team, the purpose of the meeting was to provide a space for
dialogue and reflection on the process of data collection, the evidence they
discovered and what they had learned. Through the discussion the group noted some
missing pieces of data and agreed to continue collecting data. The group held a total
of four meetings over the course of five months. Below is a timeline that outlines the
group’s activities.

50
Table 3. Oceanside Transfer Project Timeline
Timeline of Oceanside Transfer Project Events
Time Description of Activity
January 2007 • Instructional faculty members and
counselors were asked to volunteer to
be participants in the project by the
Chair of the Academic Senate
February 2007 • Organization and convening of the
volunteers who agreed to participate in
the Oceanside College Transfer-Gap
Inquiry Group
• The group was divided into two
teams: Student Interview Team (SIT)
and the On-Campus Assessment Team
(OCAT)
• Orientation to interview methods,
interview assignments and logistics
February/March 2007 • Collection of data by the OCAT Team
• The OCAT team met to discuss their
data, experiences and what was
learned from the data collection
• The OCAT team continued to collect
data and began to write evaluations of
the data and recommendations for next
steps
April • OCAT team meets to begin to use the
data to write a report to the
superintendent with suggested courses
of action
May • OCAT team meets to finalize the
report to the superintendent
8

In the next chapter I will discuss the methods that were employed to examine
the reaction, experiences and learning of the faculty members involved in the on-
campus assessment team.

8
The superintendent is the president of the college

51
Chapter 3
Methods

Prior to working at a community college I worked as a Resource Specialist
teaching English and math at a local high school. I was assigned an instructional aide
that worked with me most of the day. Debra was a very intelligent, middle-aged
woman who worked well with the students. At this time she had worked for the
school district for thirteen years and she was making about $15.00 an hour. Her pay
was so low that she and her eight year old daughter had to live with her parents.
Debra loved being in the schools and had dreams of becoming a teacher.
After high school she enrolled in a community college where she struggled. Her
intent had been to transfer to a four-year university and to earn a degree in education.
However, she only managed to earn enough credits to work as an instructional aide
before dropping out.
Years later as she struggled to pay her bills I talked to her about going back
to school. She had the skills to be a wonderful teacher and she needed to be
adequately compensated for all the work that she was doing with the children. While
we looked into ways to pay for a university program, she went back to the
community college to finish her Associate degree. This time she was much more
successful; she finished her Associate degree with straight A’s. She was accepted
into a CSU and paid for tuition through a state loan forgiveness program for teachers.
She would have to take out loans to pay tuition but they would be forgiven if she

52
teaches in designated schools that are considered low performing or are in certain
geographic areas for five years.
With the support of her family, she took a leave of absence from her
instructional aide position and enrolled at the university full-time. During her first
year, Debra was invited to join Tau Sigma which is an honor society for the top 20
percent of transferring students with a minimum of a 3.5 GPA. She has one year left
in school before she fulfills her long-delayed dream of becoming a math teacher.
I highlight this story because it shows how difficult it is to account for the
number of students that transfer from a community college to a four-year university.
Typically, only students that transfer within six years of their original enrollment are
counted. She was out of school for ten years before she returned to finish her
associate degree. Debra is a transfer success story, yet she will not be counted in the
data as a part of her original class.

Purpose
To review, my study and methods of data collection and analysis are guided
by the following research questions.
• How did the participants react to participating in the inquiry process?
• What did participants learn from conducting inquiry/assessment activities?
• In what ways did participants experience self-changes in practices?

There are many ways to evaluate the effectiveness of a program. Some
examples are: outcomes evaluation, process studies and implementation evaluation
(Patton, 2002). For the purposes of this paper I will conduct a summative evaluation

53
using the framework developed by Kirkpatrick (2006). Summative evaluations are
intended to judge or ascertain the effectiveness of a program (Patton, 2002). There
are three purposes for performing evaluations: to justify expense and to show how
the program contributes to the organization; to determine if the program should be
continued; and to gather information in order to improve the program (Kirkpatrick,
2006). In this study I am focusing on the third reason; I want to learn from the
participants so that the program can be improved upon.
I will use Kirkpatrick’s four levels of program evaluation (2006) to guide my
evaluation of the faculty who participated in the Transfer Gap inquiry project. I
chose Kirkpatrick’s model because it is designed to assess the attributes I am
interested in studying. Kirkpatrick (2006) outlines four levels of program evaluation:
reaction (level 1), learning (level 2), behavior (level 3), and results (level 4). While
each level is important, for the purposes of this study I will focus on levels 1, 2, and
3: reaction, learning and behavior. Reaction is evaluated by measuring how the
participants felt about the inquiry process and learning is measured by how much a
change in attitude, or an increase in knowledge and/or skill level is a direct result of
participation in the project. Behavior is evaluated by looking for a change in
behavior on the part of the participants after they have participated in the project. A
change in behavior may occur immediately or at some point in the future
(Kirkpatrick, 2006).

54
Chapter Overview
In this chapter I will outline the methods that will be used to collect the data.
As a research assistant on the Oceanside Transfer Project, I worked as a member of a
larger team. The data used comes from participant observation, interviews and
surveys that were collected by the team. In this chapter I will describe the action
research project by first describing the participants involved in the study. Next I will
discuss in detail how data will be collected through participant observation,
interviews, surveys and written responses. I will end the chapter with a discussion of
ethical concerns and how I will analyze the data.

Participants
The Oceanside Transfer Project consisted of two teams of participant
researchers from Oceanside College. Participants in this study volunteered to be a
part of the project. The chair of the Academic Senate sent an email invitation to the
faculty members and counselors at Oceanside College. These initial volunteers were
invited to attend an information session where they were given more information
about the project and the roles they would play (Appendix B). While it is important
to have voluntary participation, there are some drawbacks to this approach. One
drawback is that by relying on volunteers it is difficult to ensure that the members of
the groups will come from diverse backgrounds. Bray, Lee, Smith, and Yorks (2000)
note that “the inclusion of differing views is not just an asset to the collaborative
process but a necessity” (p. 59). A second drawback is the number of participants. In

55
order to have effective teams it is important to limit the size of the group; generally
groups should have between five and twelve members (Bray et al., 2000). Twenty-
three faculty members and counselors attended the orientation and everyone who
volunteered was accepted.
A researcher from USC assigned participants
9
to either the student interview
team or the on-campus assessment team. Participants were allowed to change their
original placement. Both teams used qualitative research methods to collect data. The
Student Interview Team (SIT) interviewed students that either failed to transfer or
that transferred to a CSU when they were eligible to attend a UC. The On Campus
Assessment Team (OCAT) conducted research around organizational issues related
to transfer. For the purposes of this paper I am going to focus on OCAT, which was
an action research team. The following table describes the members of OCAT.
Table 4. On Campus Assessment Team
Name Gender Ethnicity Title
Juan Male Latino Professor
Beth Female Caucasian Professor
Michael Male Caucasian Professor
Heidi Female Caucasian Professor
Stacey Female Caucasian Professor
Richard Male African-American Counselor
Wendy Female Caucasian Professor
Miguel Male Latino Student Support Services
Administrator
Paula Female African-American Counselor
Julia Female Caucasian Professor

9
Pseudonyms were given to each participant to protect their identity

56
Methods
Data were collected from interviews, observations, and surveys over a five
month period as part of the project funded by The William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation. In this dissertation I will use these sources of data to conduct an
evaluation of the project. First I will outline the interview process. Next I will
discuss the data collected from participant observation. Finally I will discuss the data
collected from the pre-survey and final written responses.

Interviews
As a member of the research team, I conducted interviews of the on-campus
assessment team twice over a five month period. Each interview lasted between
thirty and forty-five minutes. The first interview (Appendix C) was conducted in
March after the participants completed their interview or document analysis and one
collaborative inquiry meeting. The purpose of the inquiry meetings was to share
data, discuss the findings, and to consider the implications of the findings. The
purpose of the first interview was to assess how the participants felt about acting as
researchers and what they had learned through their research and in the inquiry
meeting. The interview protocol was made up of eight primary questions with
several follow-up questions designed to elicit more in-depth responses. The second
interview (Appendix D) was conducted in May at the completion of the project. The
second interview was designed to gain an understanding of how the participants
experienced the project. The purpose of the thirteen questions was to evaluate

57
participants’ reaction to the action research project, to determine if learning had
occurred, and to assess any changes in behavior.
Due to the project time line, my focus is on the on-campus assessment team
so I did not conduct interviews with the members of the student interview team.
Interviews of this team were conducted by another researcher on the project. For
information about the student interview team see the dissertation titled Practitioner
led Action Research: Reframing Community College Transfer by Salvador Rivas.
The purpose of interviews is to gather information that cannot be obtained
through observations and to explore instances of learning that I observe in the
inquiry meetings. Interviews “allow us to enter into the other person’s perspective”
(Patton, 2002, p. 341). Patton (2002) outlines three interview approaches: informal
conversational interview, general interview guide approach, and the standardized
open-ended interview.
For the purpose of this study I conducted person-to-person interviews using a
combination of the standardized open-ended interview approach and the informal
conversational approach. The combination of approaches was chosen for several
reasons. First, since I only had the opportunity to interview the participants twice and
each interview had a set time period, I wanted to make sure that each participant is
asked the same questions. Standardized open-ended interviews allow the researcher
to establish priorities when interviews are limited to a short, limited time frame
(Patton, 2002). Second, the interview protocol ensures “consistency across
interviewers” (Patton, 2002, p.346). Finally, standardized open-ended interviews

58
facilitate easier analysis of the data. Although the questions are open-ended each
participant is asked to respond to the same set of questions. This makes it easier to
identify themes or patterns that may emerge. The use of informal conversational
components will allow me to veer from the protocol and follow up on the
participants’ answers. This is important because it allows me to gain a deeper insight
into the thoughts behind their answers.
The combination of the two approaches compensates for the weaknesses of
each approach thereby strengthening my research. Merriam (1998) calls the mixing
of these two types of approaches semistructured interviews. This semistructured
approach allows for flexibility that is not found in the standardized open-ended
approach letting the researcher respond to emerging situations and/or new ideas
(Merriam, 1998; Patton, 2002).

Participant Observation
The on-campus assessment team held collaborative inquiry meetings four
times over the course of five months. At each of these meetings I acted as a
participant observer. Field observation allows for a firsthand description of the
people and activities that take place in a particular setting (Merriam, 1998; Patton,
2002). As a participant observer I held multiple responsibilities. I was responsible for
co-facilitating the meetings while gathering information about the process.
According to Patton (2002) “the participant observer employs multiple and
overlapping data collection strategies: being fully engaged in experiencing the

59
setting (participation) while at the same time observing and talking with other
participants about whatever is happening” (p. 265-266).
Patton (2002) outlines six advantages of participant observation. First,
through this type of direct observation the researcher can gain a better understanding
of the context, which second, allows them to be more open to discovery without
relying on prior conceptions from secondary sources. Third, since the observer is
new to the setting they may see things that would escape participants who are
regulars in the setting. Fourth, as an observer the researcher has an opportunity to
learn things from the setting that may not come out in an interview. Participants may
be more willing to open up about sensitive topics in a familiar group setting as
opposed to during a one-on-one interview. Fifth, the setting allows for unrehearsed
talk which is not as constrained as it would be in an interview. The final advantage is
that the researcher has personal experience can be drawn upon during data analysis.

Pre and Post questionnaire
A pre-questionnaire (Appendix E) was given to the participants at the
introductory meeting. The pre-questionnaire consisted of nine short answer questions
where participants were invited to write as little or as much as they liked. The
purpose of the questionnaire was to gain an understanding of the participants’
thoughts on equity at Oceanside College and their feelings of efficacy in regards to
helping minority students successfully transfer.

60
In addition, a post-questionnaire (Appendix F) was given immediately at the
end of the project but before the second interview. The questionnaire was designed
to elicit further written information regarding their reaction, learning, and behavioral
changes. The survey contained two open-ended questions designed to gauge the
reaction of participants, a checklist of nine behaviors, and a Likert scale designed to
assess changes in practice. Participants were asked to include their name on the
surveys. The purpose of including names is so that I am able to ask follow-up
questions during the interviews.
These documents act as supporting material for the interviews and
observations (Merriam, 1998). Analyzing the responses to the questionnaire is useful
for triangulation, highlighting discrepancies and/or confirming information that was
gathered through observation and interviews, and suggesting additional questions
(Merriam, 1998; Stage & Manning, 2003). Stage and Manning (2003) note that the
exclusion of documents would “be leaving a gap in the ability to fully understand the
issue or question at hand” (p. 83-84). The documents were generated for this study
in order gain a broader understanding of the participants. They afforded me with the
opportunity to access information that I was not able to get through observation and
interviews.

Ethical Concerns
Of course researchers must always be aware of ethical concerns. In order to
make sure that the rights and privacy of the individuals involved in this project were

61
protected I will take several precautions. Each participant read a consent form
(Appendix G) and gave verbal consent that they agreed to participate in the project.
Following standard research practice, the consent form outlined the purpose of the
study: what the information would be used for, what types of questions would be
asked during the interview, how their answers would remain confidential and finally
possible risks and/or benefits of participating in the study (Patton, 2002).
To maintain the privacy of the participants and the institution each were
assigned a pseudonym. Overall, I followed the guidelines for working with human
subjects.

Analysis of the Data
In this study data was collected through observation, interviews, and
documents. Each method required different types of analysis. I will use Kirkpatrick
as a model to analyze the data.
Interviews were audio-recorded and professionally transcribed. In addition to
recording, I took notes during the interviews. Within twenty-four hours after the
interview I recorded additional notes that expanded on the notes taken during the
interview. The field notes are important for noting any nonverbal communication
and/or interpretations that cannot be picked up on a recording and act as a back up if
the recording fails (Stage & Manning, 2003). After the recordings were transcribed I
read each interview several times. After an initial reading I began to code the data
into the three themes: reaction, learning, and behavior. Coding involves assigning a

62
designation to certain pieces of data so that they can be easily organized and
retrieved (Merriam, 1998). After the transcripts were coded I organized important
ideas, quotations, and passages so that these data could be triangulated. Triangulation
involves comparing the information from the interviews with the information
obtained from the observations and documents, such as questionnaires (Patton,
2002).
The field notes from the observations were another important source of data.
After each meeting notes from the observation were organized and typed. I read my
notes from the observations and coded them for important themes. Information from
the written responses was gathered in the same manner. I read through all of the
responses several times looking for data that matches or is incongruent with the
information that I had gathered from the interviews and observations. I read the pre-
surveys before the initial interviews. I used the information in the pre-surveys to
identify and develop specific questions for each participant. In addition, data
collected through the initial interview and observations was used to guide the
development of the interview protocol for the final interview and the post-
questionnaire.
I used the data from the three sources to evaluate how the participants reacted
to the project, what they learned, and if the project had an impact on their practice.

63
Kirkpatrick
Kirkpatrick (2006) has identified four levels of program evaluation. The
levels are in sequence and it is important to evaluate at every level. The levels are:
reaction, learning, behavior, and results. At the reaction level you are evaluating how
the participants reacted to the program. You want the participants to react positively
not simply because you want them to like the program but because a positive
reaction will improve the chance that the participants will be motivated to learn. The
second level, learning, is “defined as the extent to which participants change
attitudes, improve knowledge, and/or increase skill as a result of attending the
program” (Kirkpatrick, 2006, p. 22). Behavior refers to any change in a person’s
actions that occur as a result of the program. A change in behavior may be seen in
the amount of time faculty members spend talking to their students in class about
transfer or if faculty members promote transfer in other areas of their work life.
Finally, the results are the products that occur in the setting that are a result of the
program. For example, results could be better transfer visibility across the campus,
increased transfer rate, or a change in transfer policy. For the purposes of this paper I
am only going to look at the first three levels, reaction, learning and behavior.
Instances of behavior will be self-reported as I will not have the opportunity to
conduct observations of the participants.
In Chapter 4 I will present and discuss the findings from the observations,
interviews, and questionnaires.

64
Chapter Four
Analysis and Findings

One day on the campus where I teach I was waiting for the elevator when a
young lady approached me shouting, “It’s my last semester! I’m transferring!” I
stood there with a dazed look on my face. I was trying to figure out if I knew this
student. Was she a former student that I could not remember? I came to the
conclusion that I did not know her and I was wondering why she had decided to
share her news with a complete stranger. Was it because we were both African-
American females with dreadlocks? Did something about me scream that I was
working on a study about the transfer inequities of minority students? Whatever the
reason, she proceeded to tell me that she was very excited because this was her last
semester at the community college. In the fall she would be transferring to St.
Mary’s College in Northern California.
Luckily the elevator in the English building is very slow; it is only a three
story building but the speed of the elevator makes it seem as if there are 100 stories.
This gave me the opportunity to learn more about this young woman’s, whom I will
call Sharon, transfer story. Sharon said that she started community college directly
after high school and had completed her transfer requirements in two years. With the
help of the counselors in the transfer center, she had selected a college in Northern
California. From our brief conversation, I learned that she felt that the transfer center
was very helpful. She was very excited about getting out of Los Angeles. She has
never lived anywhere else and was looking forward to the experiences a new city

65
would provide. She was not going alone. A friend of hers was also transferring to a
school in Northern California so they were going to get an apartment together.
As the elevator dropped us off at our respective floors, I wished her the best
of luck with her studies. I was left with many questions. How did she come to hear
about and select a small, Catholic, liberal arts college in Northern California? How
exactly was the transfer center helpful? I wanted to know more. While the members
of OCAT did not interview students, perhaps what they learned through their inquiry
will help more students like this young lady.

Results of Program Evaluation
This chapter will present the findings of the study conducted to evaluate the
Oceanside Transfer Project. Using Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation I sought to
uncover how participants reacted to the project, what they learned through their
participation, and if there were any changes in their behavior. First, I will provide
brief backgrounds of the ten participants. Second, I will describe the criteria I used
for evaluating the data. Next, I will report on the findings in the three areas of:
reaction, learning, and behavior. Finally, I will conclude with a summary of the
findings.

66
Introduction to the ten participants
10

Stacey, a white female, is a professor and has taught at Oceanside College for
a total of four and a half years; three of which were part-time. She also teaches at a
local four-year university. Prior to the Oceanside Transfer Project, Stacey had no
formal research experience. She stated that she was interested in joining the project
in order to find out why students are not transferring and what instructors can do to
help.
Beth, a white female, is a professor who has taught at Oceanside College for
nine years. During Beth’s tenure she has led student organizations and continues to
be involved in campus committees. She teaches many transfer level courses, and like
Stacey, she joined the project because she would like to see more students transfer
and wanted to know what role faculty members could play in helping students.
Juan has worked as a professor at Oceanside College for five years, however,
the year he participated in the project was his first year as a full-time instructor. Juan,
a Hispanic male, was very interested in equity issues related to minority students. He
was on several committees related to student equity and success and his Masters
thesis was on educational expectations and college access. In addition to his Masters
thesis, he has worked as a research assistant on other research projects at a local
university. His dedication to student equity led him to join the project.
Another recent full-time hire, Julia, a white female, is a professor. She
worked part-time at Oceanside College seven years before being hired as a full-time

10
Specific details about participants’ roles and responsibilities have been left out in order to maintain
confidentiality.

67
instructor; a position which she has held for a year-and-a-half. Julia has first hand
experience about transfer; she attended Oceanside College before transferring to a
local university. Currently she is working on a Ph.D. in her specialty. As a transfer
student she was shocked to see how few students transfer and she was interested in
learning the reasons why students do not move on to a four-year university.
Having taught at Oceanside College for twenty-seven years, Michael was the
team member with the longest tenure at the college. Michael, a Latino male, brought
a wealth of enthusiasm to the team. He was involved in several campus committees
related to student outcomes. Michael has been interested in transfer for the past six or
seven years because he noticed that the emphasis on transfer has decreased since the
late nineties and he would like to know why students are failing to transfer.
Heidi, a white female, has worked as professor for the past five-and-a-half
years. The students she works with do not generally transfer because only a
certificate or an associate degree is required to work with young children. However,
Heidi was interested in the project because she wanted to learn about the goals and
motivations of students and for her own professional development. In addition, her
field is changing and her students may soon be required to have a bachelor’s degree.
She felt that she needed to be prepared for this possible change.
Paula, an African-American female, has worked as a counselor for ten years.
Prior to her tenure at Oceanside, Paula worked at another community college and she
has always felt that Oceanside College lacked a transfer culture. Throughout her

68
career, transfer has been her focus. She feels that the community college is an
important vehicle for the education of students; especially minority students.
Wendy, a white female, has been a professor at Oceanside College for
eighteen years. She also leads a student club and study abroad programs. After
seeing the data, as an instructor of transfer level courses she was interested in why
many of her UC eligible students decide to transfer to the CSU system.
Richard has worked as a counselor for eleven years. Working in student
support services, Richard has a strong background in transfer. He was interested in
joining the project in order to be a part of a campus wide dialog around the issue. He
felt that members outside of the transfer area would be able to provide a different
perspective on transfer. In addition, as an African-American male, he was interested
in increasing the transfer rates of minority students.
As a student support services administrator, Miguel also has a strong
background and interest in transfer. Miguel, a Hispanic male, has served in this
position for five years. Like Richard, he wanted to be a part of campus-wide dialog
about transfer. He felt that the project might help shed some light on issues
surrounding transfer and hoped that this focus would lead to not only increased
awareness but also increased funding and support from the administration.
Of the ten participants, five stated that they joined the project because they
were interested in increasing the transfer rates of minority students. The five
participants who felt the need to address this issue were either African-American or

69
Latino. Perhaps their racial identity led them to feel a stronger affinity for the issues
affecting minority students.
Each of the ten participants were asked to complete a pre and post
questionnaire, attend four collaborative inquiry meetings, and meet with me for two
interviews; this resulted in a total of eight possible sources of data. As shown in the
table below, only one participant successfully completed all eight data collection
activities (DCA). Stacey has the fewest DCA as she disappeared from the project
after the second meeting. While other members with few DCA kept in contact and
informed me of reasons for their limited participation, Stacey simply stopped coming
to meetings and did not respond to any attempts to contact her.
Table 5. Data Chart
Name Survey Interviews Meetings
Pre Post 1 2 2/9 3/9 3/30 5/4
Data Collection
Activities
Juan X X X X 4
Beth X X X X X X X X 8
Michael X X X X X 5
Heidi X X X X X X X 7
Stacey X X X 3
Richard X X X X X 5
Wendy X X X X* X X X 7(6)*
Miguel X X X X 4
Paula X X X X X X 6
Julia X X X X X X X 7
*The audio file for interview #2 was not downloaded. The data was lost.

Evaluation Criteria-Kirkpatrick
The purpose of this evaluative study is to see how participants experienced
and reacted to the collaborative inquiry project, what they learned as a result of the
project, and if there was a change in their practices. The first level, reactions or

70
experiences, refers to how participants felt about the project and what they
experienced by participating in the project. Through my analysis of the data I found
several layers of reaction which I coded as reaction to: the data, project, mediational
tools, and the final report. The project code encompasses reaction to the purpose of
the project and reaction to USC researchers as facilitators.
The second level, learning, can be thought of as the extent to which
participation in the project led to an increase in knowledge, skills and/or a change in
attitude. In my analysis of the data, the following sub themes emerged under
learning; showing that participants learned about: transfer/the college, and
self/instructional practices. I also attempted to determine if the learning had an effect
on participants’ feelings and efficacy.
The final level that will be evaluated, behavior or practices, can be defined as
a change in the practices of the participants or of the organization that are a result of
participation in the project. For the purpose of the paper, the terms behavior and
practices will be used interchangeably. I broke behavior into three categories: self,
others, and one’s role in transfer; breaking these categories down further into
practices that the participant had done before the project, what changes occurred
during the project, and what practices they reported that they would do in the future.
Since I did not conduct observations of the participants, all behaviors were self-
reported.

71
Evaluation Findings
In the beginning of the project the participants were introduced to data about
the number of students who transferred that was disaggregated by race (Appendix
H). Participants were assigned to complete certain sections of the Self-Assessment
Inventory (SAI) by gathering information through a variety of methods and then
inputting their findings into Survey Monkey. Finally, after the data was collected and
compiled the participants were asked to help write a final report that was to be given
to the college administrators and to the college community.

Reaction
The question addressed in this section is how participants reacted to the
project. As stated in chapter two, Kirkpatrick (2006) believes that a positive reaction
is more likely to lead to positive outcomes. For the purposes of the project, I
analyzed participants’ reaction to the concepts (data and equity issues), the
mediational tools for learning (SAI, Survey Monkey), and the format of the project.

To the Data
The majority of the participants were surprised by the data they were given
regarding the number of “fast-track” students that transferred. Fast-track students are
students that became eligible for transfer within three years of their original
enrollment date. The seven faculty members did not realize how few students

72
transferred while the three counselors were not surprised by the numbers, but they
did not seem to be aware at how low the numbers were.
When asked about the data, Julia, a professor, said that she was surprised.
“You know, I thought that we had much more transfers, and very interesting data.”
Beth, a professor, felt that this information was disheartening.
I thought it was awfully depressing, that it’s just a small number that
do transfer. So we in this department we teach, you know, all of our
courses are pretty much transfer courses, and so I’m always thinking
in terms of “Well, of course my students transfer, that’s my
expectation.” And then to see that so few actually do is really
disappointing. And so a community college, no not everybody is
going to be transfer bound, and nor do they need to be, but it seems to
be that the numbers could be a lot higher than what they are.

In contrast, Paula, a counselor, said that she “wasn’t too surprised” but she
had thought that there were more students transferring; noting that she was “most
amazed at the number of transfer students, because over a three-year period I thought
we would have produced a larger quantity.” While Richard, a counselor, was not
surprised by the data, he felt that he could use the data to support his desire to create
new programs for African-American students. “I mean, looking at it, that I thought
this was going to be really good data to use to start an African-American program.”
In general, faculty members seemed to be more surprised by the data than the
participants that worked in the counseling department. The table below is a summary
of seven of the ten participants’ reaction to the data.

73
Table 6. Reactions to the Data
Name: Position Reaction to Data
Juan Faculty “But I was pretty surprised that, you know, so
few students transferred. And that there was this
group of students who had met, you know, certain
requirements and who did not transfer for
whatever reason.” (First interview)
Beth Faculty “I thought it was awfully depressing, that it’s just
a small number that do transfer.” (First interview)
Michael Faculty “I teach transfer courses and I am dismayed by
the low rates of students who do not transfer.”
(Orientation Meeting)
Richard Counselor “I mean, looking at it, that I thought this was
going to be really good data to use to start an
African-American program. That was what I
thought of originally because the number of
African-American students, there’s going to be
one transfer to those who actually did.” (First
Interview)
Wendy Faculty “I was very surprised, and in the meantime I
talked to some people in the Transfer Center who
seemed to doubt the true, I mean, the numbers
that came out. And they think the numbers are
somehow a little bit skewed. It’s not a realistic
number. But nevertheless they agree it’s a very
low number.” (First Interview)
Paula Counselor “I wasn’t too surprised.” (First Interview)
Julia Faculty “Surprised.” (First Interview)

There was consensus that the data could be helpful in demonstrating to the
administration the need for more funding and special programs to help minority
students. Many participants felt that the data was a source of power that could be
used to influence resource allocation.

74
Project Dynamics
The reaction to the project as a whole was very favorable. The group was
comprised of a range of faculty members and counselors from across disciplines.
Participants noted that they enjoyed working with people from outside of their
disciplinary areas. They felt that this provided the group with different perspectives.
Julia said “Well I found all the information very interesting and it seemed, you
know, everybody had their little piece of the puzzle, so it was interesting to gather all
this information and see the big picture.” Miguel, a student support services
administrator, also felt that having multiple perspectives helped him reframe his
thinking.
I think for myself, is just looking or thinking differently, thinking out
of the box, really looking at what are the issues at hand, how can we
review what's going to evaluate our current practices and what kind of
solutions can we implement. So it really has, for me, just really
opened up a different way of thinking. Like I said, it's a breath of
fresh air. So I like that. It stimulates, you have new information and
now you can go with it.

These statements show that one reason participants liked the project was because
they enjoyed getting together with colleagues from a variety of different
departments. They felt that they generally lacked the organizational structures or
forums to come together across disciplines.
From the counselor’s perspective if was “refreshing” to have faculty
members think about issues related to counseling. Richard wanted faculty members
to look at transfer in a novel way,
Well this one [OCAT] gives the instructional faculty the opportunity
to see, with different eyes now, because before he was, like, I go to

75
my classroom, I go to my car, I get my coffee, I’m going home. We
get a chance for them to see and do something interesting.

Although participants welcomed working with a diverse group of people,
there was some concern about not pointing fingers and hurting other’s feelings. In
the initial meeting, Stacey said that she hoped that she could “be honest”. Her
concerns arose again during the second meeting when there was a discussion about
how difficult the transfer center was to find. She expressed that she did not make
note of the difficulty she had locating the center, “See I didn’t write that down either.
Maybe I don’t want to appear to be too negative.” Richard was not at the second
meeting where participants presented their findings; however, he did hear that some
participants had concerns about reporting their findings. Richard also welcomed
honest feedback from the faculty members regarding what they learned through their
assessment activities.
I wasn’t there [at the second meeting] but I heard that a lot of people
were like “Well, I tried to be gentle. I didn’t want to be too harsh on
the Center.” Be as harsh as you want on Transfer, because my
thinking is okay, if this is what it looks like with the broad brush, as
painful as it may be for me to look at it, which is exactly what it will
be, but just look at this. What do we do with it now that we know
this? You know, I’m like, “Get into the gutter. Be nasty.” Like,
“Well, there’s no signs,” or “There’s none of this.” All right, or
whatever. Or they [transfer center] don’t do enough.
The comments by Stacey and Richard highlight two important characteristics
of inquiry groups. First, participants must feel that they can be honest when
presenting their findings. Though they must be careful to not personally
attack any one individual, they must be able to express their discoveries and
feelings openly. Second, participants must be receptive to perspectives and

76
ideas that participants bring to the table. In order to effect change,
participants must be able to express themselves openly and to listen carefully
to one another.
Project Organization
Participants felt that the project was well organized and that the
structure helped to facilitate a productive project. Beth expressed her
excitement in her second interview.
I was excited that USC was willing to come here and help us
out to do a project so that we could see, maybe get some new
perspective on transfers and why transfers right are right now
transfer is at a better level, and to be able to be a part of maybe
making a difference, you know, or at least in covering some of
the reasons why so that we can see what the next steps would
be to hopefully address the issues that come up.
Heidi also commented on the leadership of the researchers. “The leadership
and guidance of the study’s authors. The project was so well organized and
supported it was very easy and motivating to participate.” Heidi’s comments in her
second interview sum up what many people felt about the project.
It’s been really, really cool. It’s interesting to me, because it’s
really great to work with people who are so interested in doing
something and the outcome of it [the report], and seeing that [the
report] while we’re experiencing that. It’s been fascinating.
Beth and Heidi’s comments reflect the positive reaction to the USC team.
While the participants conducted the research activities, the USC researchers were
able to provide the organization and support to facilitate a successful collaboration.
Commenting on if the project has made a difference about how he thinks
about transfer outcomes, Juan said, “Definitely, it has. It's opened up an eye, it's a

77
breath of fresh air. It's always a breath of fresh air, and I appreciate the USC team
coming in on board.” He also said,
My initial impressions of the [Oceanside Transfer Project] was an
impression that we're trying to find out what's going on with the
students. Why are students transferring, identify why some of the
issues that our students are having to transfer.

In addition, Richard felt that the project was successful in “getting instructional
faculty to take on active listening and active roll in transfer.” These comments reflect
upon the values of the project; participants learned about the issues that are hindering
transfer.

Tools
While the participants reacted favorably to the project overall there were
some glitches that caused a negative reaction. Some participants had concerns about
the length of the project, their particular assignment, and inputting data into Survey
Monkey.
Each participant was given a section of the self-assessment inventory to
complete. Depending on the assigned section, they would have to either: conduct
observations, interviews, document analysis, or some combination of the methods.
They were given a month to complete their data collection. The table below outlines
the sections of the SAI that were assigned to the participants and the inquiry methods
that each participant used.

78
Table 7. Self-Assessment Inventory Assignments
Name SAI Section Inquiry Method
Juan 1.12-1.17
4.1-4.8
Document Analysis
Observations
Beth 1.4-1.11 Observations
Michael 1.3 Document Analysis
Heidi 2.1-2.5 Observations
Interviews
Document Analysis
Stacey Assigned to observe and fill in the
sections she felt was relevant to
what was observed.
Observations
Richard 1.2-1.17
4.1-4.8
Interviews
Wendy 1.4-1.11 Interviews
Miguel 3.1-3.7 Document Analysis
Paula 3.8-3.13 Interviews
Julia 1.1-1.2 Document Analysis
Observations

Although most of the participants did not have much background in research,
they did not express apprehension about conducting their research assignments.
Stacey was excited to walk around the campus to observe many different areas. In
the beginning she was very excited and noted that she had “already noticed many
things.” She made a comment that she did not want much background knowledge
before conducting her observations because she wanted to go into the field as a
“naïve person.” Juan stated, “No I wasn’t apprehensive about conducting the
observations.” Though Juan was not apprehensive, his work schedule prevented him
from committing much time to the project. “I just in the last two or three weeks my
time has been extremely limited and so regrettably, unfortunately I haven’t been able
to dedicate as much time as I would have liked to the project and observations.”

79
Since they only had one month to complete their assignments, time was an
issue for many of the participants; those who had to conduct interviews seemed to
have the most difficulty. Time constraints on the part of interviewees seemed to be a
barrier to Paula’s interviews. She had been asked to interview, board members,
alumni, and someone in the transfer center. She found it difficult to get in touch with
the alumni director and board members. This held up her data collection efforts.
I haven’t been able to contact people to interview. I have sent out
emails to board members but they didn’t respond so I realized that
I needed to contact other people. One of my contacts will be
returning from China next week so I hope to speak to him. So I
haven’t entered any data yet.

Although her assignment was challenging, Paula was not easily deterred. After much
persistence, Paula was able to speak with the Alumni Director when she returned
from China.
The last section was about Alumni involvement and again it was
kind of tricky getting a hold of a person. I finally got the name of
the person who is the new alumni director, she was in China for a
few weeks.

After finally speaking with the alumni director, Paula learned that the alumni
association “does not have anything to do with transfer” though they are hoping to
create a forum for transfer students to come back and talk to students about their
experience at a university. Through her persistence, she was also able to get in touch
with two board members.
And so with my assessment it was a little bit challenging. I wasn’t
able to speak with the board members. I did finally convince them to
respond to me via email. Two of the board members did respond to
me via email and when I urged, you know, pushed for more
elaboration one of the board members called me and left a message

80
for me to call him but he would be off the next day and then he would
be leaving the state for a week, so please call he wants to talk. And we
did have a discussion and that helped a lot because there’s nothing
like that one on one, you know.

In addition, participants were not given an interview protocol to help guide
their interviews. Beth interviewed transfer counselors and she found it difficult to
conduct interviews without a structured interview protocol.
I was not sure what specific questions to ask. I used the [model]
interview protocol for one interview but found that it did not get at
my indicators. I would have found it helpful to have an idea of
what kind of questions to ask.

Beth, felt strongly about this issue. In an interview she reiterated what she had said in
one of the meetings.
I think I mentioned this at the meeting, it might be helpful to have
some guidelines when we’re interviewing, what types of questions to
ask. I know you had that one sample questionnaire, but it didn’t deal
with the specific criteria that I was dealing with, so a little bit more
guidance I think would be helpful in terms of what types of
questions to ask. Although I can see you wanting to give a certain
amount of latitude, but it would be nice to have a few guidelines at
the same time as to what kinds of things to be looking for.
The previous comments demonstrate that while the participants brought
enthusiasm to the project, it was tempered by the difficulties in completing their
tasks in such a short time frame. After receiving their assignments, participants were
given one month to complete their tasks. Due to busy schedules and their reliance on
people outside of the project, some participants had difficulty completing their
assignments. In addition, participants who were conducting interviews could have
benefited from an interview protocol.

81
After collecting data, the participants were asked to enter them into Survey
Monkey. This tool that was supposed to make data collection easier caused many
problems. Participants had trouble entering the data. Wendy noted, “I had trouble
with Survey Monkey. I entered all the data. I clicked on something and it asked for a
password.” Although a password was not necessary, Wendy could not get Survey
Monkey to work so she ended up emailing the data directly to project staff. Paula
also expressed frustration with Survey Monkey. She entered data but they were not
received by the researchers. When asked if she could enter the information again,
Paula responded, “It’s a little bit awkward. It’s tricky to remember what you did. It is
difficult to go back and put it in. The first time is the best because you are excited
and you have the energy. When you go back and do it again there is a change of
energy.”
Another issue with Survey Monkey was that participants could not view each
others’ data. Each person input their data into Survey Monkey but they were not able
to see what other participants had contributed. I collected the data that had been
submitted to Survey Monkey and then compiled it into a document which I emailed
to each participant a few days before both the second and third meetings. Although
participants were supposed to submit their data by a certain date, often, participants
submitted their data after I had complied the information. This became a continual
problem of how to provide each participant with the most up-to-date data.
In the second meeting Heidi expressed concern about what to do with
additional data. Since the next step in the process was evaluating the data and

82
beginning to formulate recommendations, she wanted to include additional data but
felt that it should be available for everyone to see in a timely manner.
So I’m wondering if what we are supposed to do is look at that
evaluative piece if Survey Monkey is not the place what should we
do? Is there a listserv. I interviewed [name removed] yesterday and
that was the last piece of my interview and it added a whole other
dimension to what I saw. I have more information that I would like to
include how to I get that information out for everyone to see? Should
I send it as an email to everyone?
Stacey also expressed some concern over how to come up with an overall evaluation
since people were going to continue to input data into Survey Monkey. Any new data
would not be able to be seen by all participants. “So just to clarify, we are supposed
to read the data and come up with an evaluation. Each one of us is supposed to enter
data for each section? With Survey Monkey we couldn’t see other data.”
The difficulties with Survey Monkey continued throughout the project. At the
third meeting we discovered that many people had trouble entering data and that
some data had been lost. The following is an excerpt from the meeting transcript.
CUE: Yes. Last time we were here we talked about your getting into
Survey Monkey. This document is a complete stack [of data] to date.

Juan: I didn’t see mine in there.

Beth: Yeah, mine either.

Juan: I entered data into Survey Monkey and I noticed that as I
entered data it would disappear as I went to the next page. Did I miss
the print deadline?

KJ: No I checked recently. I know there has been some issue with
Survey Monkey.

CUE: Did you enter it directly?

83
Juan: Yes, but I did notice that as I was switching from one screen to
another my entries would disappear and I would reenter them.

Some of the participants had saved their research notes and were able to reenter their
data while others did not have their notes or did not have the time to reenter data so
some data were lost.
The above comments are very important for several reasons. First, the
comments reflect the frustration that the participants felt about Survey Monkey.
They did not feel properly trained to use the tool and there was a lot of confusion
about how it worked. Second, there is no way to tell how much data was lost by
using Survey Monkey. Some participants who felt that their data was missing did not
go back and reenter the data, while others who did reenter data but felt that their
second entry was lacking. Finally, the inability for each participant to view all of the
data led to questions about how to accurately analyze the data and develop potential
solutions. Overall, the participants did not react well to the tool; the loss of data and
the inability to view all data were very negative aspects that lead to frustration
amongst the group.

Report
Finally, the group was charged with creating a final report that included
recommendations to be presented to the Superintendent and to the Oceanside College
community. As an action research project, the researchers at CUE felt that the
writing of the report should mainly fall on the participants. This proved to be a
difficult task; how do you get a group of people to create one document? Also,

84
spring break was approaching and many people said that they did not have time to
work on the report. Paula volunteered to write a draft of the report which she would
then pass to others so they could edit the document. In the end, Paula did the bulk of
the work and the researchers at CUE spent a lot of time finalizing the report.
While the report was not complete, the final meeting was spent looking over
the draft in order to determine if the participants agreed with the recommendations
and the tone of the paper. Some participants felt that the report placed too much
responsibility on the faculty. Beth said, “This sounds like we [instructors] are being
set up, to say well if they fail then it’s our fault.” Heidi agreed stating, “I think
definitely we [instructors] are part of a multi-faceted team of people who assist with
transfer but certainly not the linchpin.” She further went on to say,
My only question I guess is the term…I’m concerned with the text on
page 8 connection with faculty as a transfer coach/mentor. Potential
maybe… I see myself as the roles listed above but I don’t see myself
as a transfer coach/mentor… I feel kind of uncomfortable with that
role. I think that we are clearly realizing that as faculty we aren’t
really, that we need much more information before we can even be
totally helpful. You see what I mean?
While Heidi felt that she had a role to play in transfer, she did not feel that she had
the expertise needed to be a “transfer coach/mentor.” She felt that in order to play
this role she needed to be versed in transfer processes and procedures. Heidi felt that
the report needed to emphasize the fact that everyone is responsible for the
successful transfer of students.
That the role of ensuring transfer success belongs on everybody from
the clerk at the financial aid office, to the head of the transfer center,
to all of the faculty in between that everybody kind of needs to…
We’ve done this [project] to say you know, where we’re doing well
and what we are not doing well and the next part kind of is, so what

85
do we do to ensure that all of it is doing well. So what are those steps?
Defining responsibility would be part of it.

After much discussion, the faculty members on the team agreed that
they did not feel comfortable calling themselves transfer mentors. A more in-
depth discussion on roles can be found in the behavior section of this chapter.
It was decided that while the tone of the report needed adjusting the overall
recommendations and structure were appropriate.
In summary, the overall reaction to the project was very positive.
While there were some concerns regarding the length of the project and
technological issues, participants that completed the project enjoyed the
experience and felt that it was time well spent. Participants felt that although
they are not experts, they learned how to guide students to resources on
campus. Wendy summarized the participants’ feelings when she said,
The Oceanside Transfer Project opened our minds and eyes to
transfer issues and problems at Oceanside College. It was
good to focus on transfer and find out what the problems were
that prevented students from transferring. The committee
gained a great awareness about how faculty can help students
seek transfer counseling. It was good to communicate across
campus and find out where we stand on transfer.

In the next section I will talk about what the participants learned as a
result of participating in the Oceanside Transfer Project.

86
Learning
As stated earlier, one purpose of this study was to determine what the team
members learned regarding the transfer processes that students face and what they
learned about themselves as faculty members.

College Structures
As instructional faculty outside of the counseling department, many of the
participants had very little knowledge about what went on in the transfer center and
how students go about the process of transferring. Julia, who is a former Oceanside
College student, had trouble locating the transfer center, “finding the transfer center.
Just finding the location was…I mean I kind of knew…but I didn’t see.” In her first
interview she elaborated and said,
Actually, I didn’t know where the Transfer Center was, and I figured
out it must be next to the counseling center, so I did it as if I was a
new student on campus, and I walked into the counseling, you know,
main entrance where the students wait, didn’t see anything. So I
walked into the hallway, and actually by chance I found it.

Although she had been a student on the campus she said that she had never visited
the transfer center.
Well I didn't deal with the Transfer Center when I was a student
here. I did it on my own and applied to universities. Because I
knew what my goals were and where I wanted to go, so I just
skipped [the transfer center] because I didn't even know they
existed.

87
Through the project Julia learned something about the campus that she had not
learned about during her time as a student or in the eight years that she had been on
campus as a faculty member.
Julia was not the only person to comment on how difficult the transfer center
was to find. Stacey also noted how difficult it was to find.
The very first time I tried to find the transfer center I had to ask at
three different offices before I could even find it and then I just
kind of wandered into the counseling center and down the hall and
I finally found it. I mean it really was a hassle to find.

To that end, Michael expressed how he learned that students would need to be
persistent in order to get the information they were seeking.
The transfer center is really hard to find at [Oceanside College].
It’s in a location with no foot traffic. It’s one of those things again
where if you want information, if you are motivated and you
looking and if you spend time to find it, you will find it. But most
students, you know… If you sort of think about it, it should be in a
main thorough fare.

From their observations, participants learned about the difficulties that
students face when seeking campus resources. All of the comments highlight the lack
of visibility that the transfer center has on the Oceanside College campus. Michael
makes an important note that students who are persistent will find the information
but he expresses concern about students who are less persistent. Eight out of the ten
participants felt that the campus lacked a “transfer culture.” The lack of visibility
may be seen as a sign of a weak transfer culture. Conducting observations allowed
the participants to see how students are confronted with barriers to transfer

88
information and to realize how these barriers could have an impact on student
success.

Transfer Fairs
In addition to visiting the transfer center, some participants attended transfer
fairs. Transfer fairs typically involve representatives from four-year universities
sitting at tables during a specific time period in order to answer questions students
may have. These fairs are open to all students.
Beth and Juan conducted observations of two transfer fairs. Beth made note
of the fact that only schools from the CSU (California State University) system were
represented at the fair. She later found out the schools in the UC (University of
California) system do not attend fairs and that students must make appointments to
meet with representatives from the UC campuses. She questioned whether one
possible reason that fewer students transfer to UC schools was because of limited
access to information.
I was noticing that for the UC’s why aren’t more people transferring
to the UC’s? Well I was noticing that for the UC campuses, none of
them have open transfer fairs. Every single one of their visits has to
be by appointment so I was thinking that they are set up in a more
elitist way. So I don’t know if there is a way that they can open up
and be more welcoming on their end.

The previous comment shows an awareness of possible inequities that may occur as
a result of UC’s requiring students make appointments to speak to a representative.
Beth felt that her observation helped her gain knowledge about the transfer
center and transfer fairs and that she can share this information with her students.

89
I think I’m suddenly more aware of transfer than what I was in the
past just through the time I’ve taken and the people that I’ve
interviewed. And I know a few people, individuals I didn’t know
before so I can point students to some specific individuals, and I know
more about what goes on over at the transfer center, so I can tell them.
And in terms of financial aid and how they’re willing to help people
actually fill out the forms to do that type of thing. And with some of
the transfer fairs I now know more about what kinds of efforts some
of the schools are making to meet students at their level on their
particular school. So, I have learned a lot myself and so of course,
that will help me in terms of informing my students.

Juan also conducted observations of transfer fairs. While he felt that the
information was there waiting for the students, he thought that poor advertising led
to a small student turnout. “Maybe more advertising. Making signs more visible in
terms of advertising the event. The resources were there, the reps were there, the
material was there but the volume of students was pretty low.” Through his
observations of the fair, Juan learned that it is not only important to provide the
resources but it is also important to make sure that students are aware of the
resources that are available.
While Beth and Juan commented on the low turnout of students at the
transfer fairs, neither one noted the racial makeup of the students who did attend the
fair. Juan made the only comment regarding race of one student noting that “I
followed students as they navigated the fair. I followed a male Latino student. He
ended up going to a few tables. He asked about summer class. I asked him a few
questions.” He found that this student had already been accepted to a four-year
university and was attending the fair to ask the representative some specific

90
questions. It is uncertain whether Beth and Juan noticed the student’s race and did
not include their observation in their notes or if race went unnoticed.

Website and Class schedule
Michael was charged with analyzing the college website and the schedule of
classes. Through his analysis he felt that the website was designed well for students
that had computer skills, however, he believes that students with poor computer
skills would have trouble locating information on transfer.
The disconcerting thing about the website is that transfer is not
given a prominent place. It’s there but it’s not highlighted. You
have to have computer skills to find the website. If you don’t have
computer skills you are not going to be able to find the transfer
center at this website.

After looking at the website Michael looked at the printed schedule to see if it
was easier to find transfer in print. He learned that transfer is only mentioned once in
the schedule and that it only refers to logistical information such as office location
and a phone number. He found this to be in contrast to the four-page, bright, colorful
insert that the financial aid department has in the schedule. While he acknowledged
the need for such an insert he questioned why the transfer department did not have
the same prominence.
Overall, the participants learned that the college has many established
transfer practices. Again, these comments reflect the lack of visibility of transfer on
the Oceanside College campus. Many felt that these practices needed to be

91
uncovered and brought into the light for students and faculty. Paula summed it up by
saying,
I learned that they [transfer practices] are sound and they are in
place, even though they're not prevalent. That they are in place and
that people believe in them and that there just needs to be more
exposure given to it – to transfer.

These comments show that the services exist but are underutilized and invisible for
students who do not know what they do not know and/or do not know what questions
to ask. This lack of knowledge makes it more difficult for students to navigate the
systems that are in place.

Instruction
In addition to learning about transfer practices, participants reported things
that they learned about themselves and their instructional practices. During the
inquiry meetings Julia and Beth spoke about how it might be important to share their
experiences as a student with their classes. As a former transfer student, Julia
commented on the fact that by sharing her experience she could be a role model to
students who want to transfer. Beth also learned that it is important to share her
background with students. She felt that she could share by putting the names of the
schools she attended on her syllabus. That way, students could see where she
attended school.
On my opening day of class I have my students share their
backgrounds and their course of study…I’m asking about them,
maybe they want to know about me since I am the course
instructor. On the syllabi, a list of all the places that I went to
college.

92

These comments reflect the need to become more open about one’s educational
experiences. While not providing specific information about transfer, this could be
one way to fulfill the role of transfer mentor.
Michael and Heidi became conscious of the need to think beyond their
classrooms to the college as a whole. Heidi stated,
I guess maybe that would be the biggest thing for me of this whole
project is kind of thinking, “Yeah, I do need to take more
responsibility and everybody needs to look at this, and it isn’t just
something sitting over there.”

Michael echoed that statement by saying,
Well, I think that what I became aware of is that I'm really focused on
my classroom work, really focused on the classes that I teach. And I
tend, you know, not to be focused on other operations of the college
as much as I probably should be based on this experience. You know,
we all tend to get compartmentalized in what we do on a daily basis.
But it's pretty clear that all of us need to focus more on global or
college-wide issues.

These quotes are important because they show the collaborative inquiry
meetings prompted a growing awareness of the need to look outside of their own
classrooms in order to focus on the ultimate goals for students.
While thinking about the college as a whole is important, participants also
felt that it is also important to open up to ideas from others. Not so jokingly, Richard
said that he learned “That I can shut up and listen.” He appreciated working with
people from outside of his department to gain a fresh perspective. He also felt that it
was important to remember that he does not have all the answers and that he had a
lot to learn from others.

93
Because sometimes you’re like, you know, I’ll think I’ve got the
answer, I’ve got the answer. So, it’s like, hey listen to people and let
them say what they want to say …I’m not the dictionary here, I’m
not the encyclopedia.

On a similar note, Miguel felt that the project helped him think about things
differently and that the learning that took place during the project stimulated new
thinking.
I think for myself, is just looking or thinking differently, thinking out
of the box, really looking at what are the issues at hand, how can we
review what's going to evaluate our current practices and what kind of
solutions can we implement. So it really has, for me, just really
opened up a different way of thinking. Like I said, it's a breath of
fresh air. So I like that. It stimulates, you have new information and
now you can go with it.
In the beginning of this chapter, the participants spoke about how they enjoyed
working on a cross-discipline team. The comments by Richard and Miguel echo the
previous statements and support the benefits of learning that come from working
with a variety of participants.
Finally, Paula, who had continually complained that her former place of
employment had a much stronger transfer culture, learned that she was being a little
harsh on Oceanside College.
Maybe that I'm too critical of the institution and that this institution is
built on a tradition of transfer practices. And maybe because it's not as
prevalent as it is in other areas, other institutions that I've worked
with, that I shouldn't be so critical. I think that people have a sincere
desire to help our students succeed. I think it was very helpful in
bringing me to that point, and I think that was important because I
think I was pretty critical of the institution.

Although Paula did not feel that Oceanside College had a strong transfer culture, her
participation in the project allowed her to see some of the positive activities that

94
were occurring and to see that there was a growing interest in transfer on campus.
Her statement shows that she has an understanding that there are others who would
like to help create a transfer culture.
By participating in the Oceanside Transfer Project, participants learned
important lessons about themselves, their practices, and their relationship to student
success. The project opened up new ways of thinking and provided an opportunity
for participants to reflect on their practices. However, it is uncertain whether these
new insights will help minority students. While all of the participants felt that they
could help “students” in a general sense, only five of them felt that what they learned
could have an impact on minority students. These five participants all came from
either and African-American or Latino background. Perhaps their racial background
provided them with a race consciousness that had a bearing on their thoughts and
behaviors.
In general, participants felt they had greater knowledge but questioned their
ability to motivate students and to help students overcome barriers. Participants felt
that they could guide students; i.e., let them know about transfer services, but they
were unsure if they had the skills that could lead to greater numbers of students who
transfer. In the next section I will explore whether participants’ learning had an
effect on the efficacy and behaviors of the participants.

95
Behavior
The third level, behavior, refers to changes in behavior, or practices, on the
part of the participant or in others that have occurred as a result of participating in
the Oceanside Transfer Project. While participants were able to speak about their
behaviors before the project, any changes that occurred during the project, and
changes that they would make in the future. I did not make observations of their
behavior so there is no way of verifying their self-reported statements.

Efficacy
Bandura (1997) defines self-efficacy as the “belief about what one can do
under different sets of conditions with what skills one possesses” (p. 37). While it
was important for the participants to gain new knowledge and perspectives, it was
the hope of the project that the newfound knowledge could lead to the participants
having a greater sense of efficacy, i.e., feeling that they could have an impact on the
lives of students and equity.
From the data, it appears that while the participants reacted positively,
learned on different levels, and reported changes in their behavior; the majority did
not feel that they could personally have an impact on increasing transfer rates. Their
biggest concern was that while they may possibly be able to affect a few students,
they did not feel that what they did could have an impact on a large number of
students. Julia said “I’m not an expert on transfer.” She felt that because of her lack
of expertise there was only so much that she could do to reach students. She also felt

96
that even if everyone who participated in the Oceanside Transfer Project affected
students in their classrooms that it would not be enough to make a difference.
Well the thing is again there's only so much I can do. And the
transfer culture is not going to come from the few people who are
involved with this project. It's going to have to be coming from all of
us, because I only have 50, maybe 60 students per semester. So what
about the 24,940 left? So it's kind of idealistic to think that we can
make a difference when we only can reach a very small percentage of
the student population.

Julia’s comments are interesting because she does not see how what
she has learned can reach the students. Her first comment about her “lack of
expertise” shows that she does not have the technical knowledge nor the
sense of agency to help students with transfer. Her second comment about not
being able to make a difference because she only has fifty to sixty students
per semester shows that she does not realize what an impact it would make if
she could help even a fraction of her students transfer.
Beth was in agreement with Julia. She did not feel that she had the
ability to affect final outcomes. She felt that it was her responsibility to help
motivate and inform students, but in the end, the final outcome was up to the
student.
I don’t know about final outcomes, I think that’s up to the student at
the end if they want to do it or not, but I think we owe it to them to
make it more visible as to what is available, what they can do, and
then hopefully in terms of motivating, yeah, that has to come from
different factors.

Beth did not elaborate on what she meant by “motivating.” However, in
contrast, Beth later said that having more knowledge about transfer has the

97
potential to improve outcomes for students, “Anytime you have more
knowledge of something that increases the potential to be able to pass that on
to somebody else and to have them do better as a result.”
Some participants spoke about being motivating factors in students
lives. While this speaks to the role they could play, it also speaks to efficacy
in that the participants felt that they could to motivate students to overcome
obstacles. For example, Beth felt that she could be a motivating factor but did
not know if she could help students see beyond their current situations.
Obviously a faculty member can be a motivating factor, but there’s
also the realities of this person is already working, or if they’re
already married, if they’re currently with a child, and I know those are
real concerns too, and they can make it double or triple tough to be
able to move on, although there are people that do, but it’s not easy.
But I think we can definitely be a motivating factor, yeah.

Heidi echoed the statement by questioning,
Really, how do we help students to want to do this? The whole
motivational piece. How do we help students understand their
responsibility in it? I think a lot of times we end up with like the
clueless students. There are more and more of them constantly.

In spite of her question, Heidi did hold a strong belief that it was important for
faculty members to have the belief that all students can succeed.
I’m just always thinking about the fact that they can all do it, if they
want to. It’s something people realize that they’re making a choice,
and not to let events get to them. Nobody’s ever going to see
themselves as more, if we don’t see them that way. And it’s hard.
It’s challenging. There are certain people that you meet and they’re
just like come on, but I have to have that belief for them, as well.

While Heidi felt that it was important for her to have belief in all of her
students, she still questioned her ability to do so. In the beginning of this comment,

98
Heidi assigns the responsibility to the students by stating “they can all do it, if they
want to”, however, she goes on to state that in order to help students, faculty
members must see the potential in students and help students recognize their own
potential. In this passage one can feel her struggle, and we can see her potential to
become a transfer agent. Although the potential is there, neither Julia, Beth, nor
Heidi spoke like they were transfer agents; meaning, they did not speak about
incorporating behaviors that would help students overcome the barriers and restraints
that were limiting their transfer success.
Some participants also questioned their abilities when they were
asked during the second interview, “what do you think you can do
specifically to support African American and Latino students?”
Julia felt that she could not do much beyond providing them with
information and that ultimately it was up to the student.
There's nothing I can do. It's really up to them; the decision is
really up to them. I can only provide the information and
forward the information to all of my students and hopefully the
Latinos and African-Americans will proceed and move
forward.

Julia does not see herself reaching out to African-American and Latino
students. She notes that her responsibility does not go beyond providing
students with information.
Beth’s response to the question focused on helping minority students change
their thinking.
Yeah, so we have a fair number of those [African-American and
Latino] especially in Spanish class certainly the Latinos, so I think

99
just from the opening day of school get students thinking in terms
of transfer and get them thinking in terms of that that’s a normal to
want to think about, not something that’s pie in the sky that only a
few could ever achieve. So, partly it’s just, I think, changing the
thinking and to try to find ways to motivate them to want to be
good learners and want to go beyond where they’re at.

In response the question, Heidi spoke about providing her students with
positive role models.
Well probably the biggest thing that I can do, that I try to do, is
when I have guest speakers in the class and when I have films in
the class, and all those kinds of things, show images of highly
educated African Americans, Latinos that are out there in the field.

While Julia, Beth, and Heidi felt that there was little that they
could do beyond providing information and positive role models, thinking
back to personal experiences, Miguel felt that it was important to back
campus-wide programs such as Puente, which is a program that is
designed to increase the number educationally underserved students who
enroll in four-year universities. “I support special programs, support
diversity. That's one of the big things that we're having on this campus.
For me, the Puente Program was instrumental. I had a mentor, I could
relate to somebody.” Since he is not in the classroom, he felt that this is
where he could make the biggest impact.
Like Miguel, Paula had a strong sense that she could have an impact on
transfer outcomes. In collaboration with Richard, who said, “I’m in the process of
creating an African American program,” and other members of the Oceanside
College community, Paula was creating a new program aimed at helping African-

100
American students succeed. While the program was in the beginning stages and was
yet to be named, Paula felt that the program and her participation in it would be a
benefit to African-American students. She stated,
With a program like the program that's being proposed, African
American-- I'm not sure what the name of the program is right now--
but I think if that program were in place that I could be a key person
in helping transfer students.

I am not sure if Paula and Richard’s resolve to start a new program can be attributed
to their participation in the Oceanside Transfer Project. Prior to their involvement in
the project, Paula and Richard had worked to increase awareness of transfer. In
addition, they had been working on organizing the African-American student group
for some time. Although their efficacy may not have increased, the data empowered
them and helped them demonstrate the urgent need for programs to support African-
American students.
It is important to point out that Miguel is Latino, and both Paula and Richard
are African-American while Julia, Heidi and Beth are Caucasian because it is
important to consider the impact the race of the participant had on their sense of
efficacy to help minority students. How did the participants’ prior learning and life
experiences affect what they took from the project? Miguel and Paula spoke about
mentors and counselors who helped them through their educational career, while
Julia and Beth both spoke of how they went through school without seeking help
from others; they just did it by themselves. Julia and Beth seem to have a difficult
time understanding that students may need a little hand holding.

101
The Role of Faculty and Counselors
Throughout the project there was a lot of discussion about the role that
faculty members could play in regards to transfer. The way that participants viewed
their role was inextricably linked to their self-efficacy. Many faculty members did
not feel that they had the expertise to help students through the transfer process
“Well I can discuss transfer only to a certain extent because I’m not an expert on
transfer” (Julia). In addition, participants were concerned about giving erroneous
information,
I don’t see myself as a transfer coach/mentor… I feel kind of
uncomfortable with that role. I think that we are clearly realizing
that as faculty we aren’t really, that we need much more
information before we can even be totally helpful (Heidi).

These comments reflect a lack of confidence in their technical expertise regarding
transfer and a lack of a sense of empowerment and a lack of knowledge about
students’ needs for guidance, access to help, and the need for someone to hold their
hand. Participants viewed transfer as a technical matter rather than relational.
In the end, participants agreed that it is a collaborative effort and that
academic faculty and counselors each had a role to play in increasing transfer
outcomes. As Heidi noted, “I clearly want to inspire people and then let experts take
over …What we want is for students to go and get the expert information that’s
available. We want to lead them to the experts.” Richard, a counselor, agreed with
this assessment. Although he works in transfer, he felt that he cannot do it alone, that
it takes a team of people to impact student outcomes. “I don’t mind collaborating

102
with someone else to help improve the image of Transfer of the view of Transfer, but
is not something we, I’m just a piece of the puzzle.”
In accordance with this thinking, Beth noted that the, “Faculty are the first
line because they are the ones in front of the students everyday.” In order to provide
students with correct information she felt that “getting practical materials, whether
it’s DVDs or handouts to faculty that they can present to students would be a good
starting point.” Julia felt that while she does have a role to play, it would be helpful if
someone from the counseling department could come to her classes to conduct a
presentation.
You know, it’s as I said, I think that if somebody from the Transfer
Center comes and does a ten minute presentation, it’s going to have
much more weight on the students then us discussing transfer,
because the students can ask questions, or concerns. So it would be
much more productive to have somebody come for ten minutes, and
just give a short presentation on transfer, definitely.

Continuing along this line, Juan felt that the project “really forced me to
really think about what my role is as a faculty member in pushing for transfer and
again getting the information to the students as well.” He came to the following
conclusion,
I think that is an important I think beginning point maybe to just link
up students to the information that is available here at the college.
And so I think that would be an important first step or one of the first
steps in trying to link students to information, which is vital, you
know, it’s just vital for students to make good decisions.

Paula felt that it was important to not only provide information but to also
present students with options.

103
Well personally I think it’s my responsibility to let a student know
all of their options. As a counselor when students come in to
discuss their academic objectives with me, I start out by saying
these are your options not this is the answer to your question.

In addition to providing information, participants felt that part of their responsibility
was to be a role model and to mentor students. They felt that they did not need to
have expertise about transfer in order to play this role. Both Beth and Julia felt that
they could share their experiences as students: “I would say potential. You could be a
mentor for a specific student who had an interest in your area. We could point to a
direction and maybe say this is where you need to go, what you need to do” (Beth) “I
would say that my role as maybe a role model, and by sharing my experience as a
student, what I did” (Julia). Touching on an earlier issue, Heidi felt that it was her
role to be inspirational but had concerns about giving incorrect information. “It’s
almost like our role is inspirational. I can see my role as to inspire people to want to
transfer. I don’t want to be in the position of giving people bad information.”
At the end of the project the participants were asked to complete a post-
questionnaire (Appendix F); five out of the ten participants completed the
questionnaire. Of the five respondents, one was a counselor and four were academic
faculty members. Participants were presented with a list of behaviors related to
transfer and they were asked to identify any of the behaviors that they had engaged
in during the project. The table below shows the results of the post-questionnaire.

104
Table 8. Participant Changes in Practice During the Project
Behavior
5 Spoke to your class(es) about transfer
3 Had an individual conversation with a student(s) about transfer
4 Disseminated information to your class about a transfer fair
1 Attended a transfer fair (not as a part of data collection for the project)
4 Printed out an email you received from the transfer center and
presented the information to your class
4 Spoke with a colleague about transfer issues
3 Shared information about transfer with other committees
0 Invited a speaker to present information about transfer to your class

0 Attended a conference on transfer such as Ensuring Transfer Success
conference
0 Other: Please Describe

When asked to report on a scale of one to ten; one being “frequently” and ten “not at
all”, the extent that they had participated in these behaviors prior to their
involvement in the project: three participants circled 4; one participant circled 10;
and one participant circled 1. The member that said they participated in these
behaviors frequently worked in counseling so it would be expected that the behaviors
listed would be a part of their job responsibilities.
In addition to the survey, participants spoke about their behavior in meetings
and in interviews. In relation to themselves, participants spoke about how what they
have learned has led to changes in the way they think, instruct, and the way they
interact with students.
Beth spoke about becoming more proactive with her students, especially now
that she has more information about how transfer works.
I think I would want to be a little more proactive in asking people
‘Are you planning on transferring?’ and letting them know. I know
more myself now, more about what’s available in the Transfer

105
Center, and what goes on at the transfer fairs. So I think I can be
more proactive that way in encouraging them to go and check it
out.

During her interviews Beth made several statements that reinforced the idea of being
proactive, saying,
So, I know more in order to able to be a little bit more specific in
helping students if they have questions, and for my part I know I
want to be more proactive in terms of talking about transfer to get
them thinking more about it from the first day” and “Yeah, I might
be a little more direct right from the beginning, asking, ‘How many
of you plan to transfer?’

As mentioned earlier, she also thought that she could include information about
herself on her syllabus as a way of promoting discussion about colleges.
Beth’s comments show a change in her language and a more direct approach
with students. Instead of waiting for students to approach her, she has found ways to
be more direct with her students.
Juan agreed with Beth and talked about how he could incorporate transfer
information from the very first day of class.
There is usually a lot of dead time on the first day. Give students
some information about the transfer center about transfer in general.
And I would bring it at the first day of class. And I think and that’s
actually something I have thought about as well because not just here
at [Oceanside College] but at many colleges and universities, that first
day is, you know, sort of a give away, [unintelligible] right and, you
know, sort of a review of the syllabus. And I think taking an extra 10
or 15 minutes or maybe 20 minutes to discuss the transfer center,
transferring, maybe do an informal survey of students in terms of their
aspirations or expectations at that time. Their own expectations with
regard to their transfer goals, etcetera. I think it would be useful and
maybe if the instructor has access to the internet or the website also
introducing them to the transfer center website. I think that would
also be very useful as well.

106
As a professor, Juan spoke about transfer in his classes before participating in this
project, however; he did note a change in his language and a feeling that he could do
more.
I’ve been thinking about it more this semester. And I think I have
been, I do encourage my students for example, in many of my classes
just in terms of the wording that I use and I say “When you transfer”,
you know, to a four year college or a university in terms of the
expectations in terms of writing, etcetera. So I try to be encouraging
and motivating, etcetera and like I said I do bring up the issue of
transfer in my classes. But I think I could do a lot more especially in
terms of connecting students to the information available.

Like Beth, Juan’s comments also exhibit more proactive behaviors. Juan
speaks about introducing transfer on the very first day of class, helping students
identify their goals and aspirations, and changing the wording that he uses in class.
Simply using the words “when you transfer” sets up different expectations and
classroom dynamics.
On this same note of being proactive, Paula, a counselor, said,
I find myself introducing new students to the idea of transfer right
away. I used to ask a student, you know, what are their plans, but now
I – you know, even if they say it's just an Associate Degree or a
Vocational Certificate, I also say, ‘You know, well there's always the
option of transfer. Let me show you the B and C plan and, you know,
know that this is available, it's a viable option. If you someday choose
to take this route, be careful that you're choosing classes that will
apply in all areas.’ And so I find myself engaging in transfer
discussion right away with students rather than waiting for them to
come to me and ask for transfer information.

This change was interesting to note because originally Paula felt that she had
not made any changes in her behavior. She felt that as a counselor she had always

107
been engaged in the transfer process. When I first asked about changes in behavior
she said,
No. I don’t know because I think I was already the type of educator
who was thinking transfer when I started this project…And so I don’t
know if anything has changed in the relationship that I have with
students because I think now I’m always now who I was.

However, Paula also later reported changes in the way that she interacts with other
colleagues. “I find myself engaging in discussions about transfer practices with
faculty and colleagues on campus and encouraging – I find myself encouraging them
to promote transfer.”
The previous comments demonstrate that the project led to the creation of a
new discourse in the classrooms of the faculty that participated and their students.
The participants reported initiating conversations with their students about transfer
more than they had previously and speaking more knowledgeably about transfer.
Another theme that emerged was that participants now felt that they had the
ability to help lead students to transfer information. Beth felt that knowing specific
individuals that she could refer students to was beneficial. “And I know a few
people, individuals I didn’t know before so I can point students to some specific
individuals, and I know more about what goes on over at the transfer center, so I can
tell them [students].” Although Beth does not feel that she personally has the ability
to provide students with information about transfer, through the project Beth gained
a sense of proxy agency – the ability to access resources that can act on the student’s
behalf. She now knows of the resources that are available to students and is able to
lead them there.

108
Although Wendy did not consider herself an expert she felt that it was
important to be able to connect students with people who did have transfer expertise.
Prior to the project she sought out information about transfer and helped link her
students up with information.
Well, you know, I don’t consider myself an expert, but I’ve been here
long enough, and as I’ve said, I have students who want to transfer, so
early on I got the information that I needed, and I had the people that I
knew in the counseling center and the Transfer Center, at one time I
knew the head of the transfer very well, and she would come to our
classes and promote transfer.

How to get information to students was a theme that continually emerged.
Currently, Oceanside College does not send information directly to students.
Information about transfer fairs and workshops is sent to faculty members via email
and they are asked to relay that information to the students. Many faculty members
felt that this was an inefficient way to communicate with students. Julia repeatedly
said, “I don’t believe in three-way communication. If you want to get hold of the
students, you send them emails.” One of the issues faculty members had with the
emails is that they were not in hard copy format and so therefore it was difficult to
remember to tell their students.
As a counselor, Richard was able to address this issue. He agreed that it
would be better to send the information directly to students but said that currently the
college does not maintain a student email database. In regards to printing the
information, Richard spoke about the budgetary and time constraints. He felt that if
faculty members needed a hard-copy then they should print out the email.

109
I see the feasibility in that but I also, you know, kind of go back and,
like, you can print your e-mail out. I mean, if you really want
something tangible to have in your hand and take with you to class, I
mean, you can always print that. One of the things that we find is
from a budget standpoint, because we don’t really have one, is that if
everyone would print their own in their own office or their own
location, well that kind of cuts down on things and then they can take
it to all their sectional classes.
He stated that emailing faculty members was currently the most effective means of
communication because they did not have the resources to print fliers and in
addition, sending the information through campus mail would take one to three days.
In his comments, Richard is referring to several structural barriers that act as a
hindrance to transfer success. As a counselor on the team, Richard was able to help
faculty members appreciate the difficulties that the counselors face.
Having an understanding of the constraints of the transfer department led
people to behave differently in regards to printing out the emails. Heidi reported a
change in her response to the emails,
Well I think probably the number one thing is that when I do get those
e-mails, and those announcements about things and sometimes it's
easier to just not wait for my printer to print them out, but I've been
saying, "No, I need to do that." I make sure that they have the
information and I make sure it gets posted and all that kind of stuff, so
that I really am that link, and so that piece of it, so making sure to
make those announcements is probably the biggest thing.

In her post-questionnaire, Julia reported printing out emails and taking them to her
classes. She stated that she had never done this prior to participating in the project.
Touching again on the importance of a diverse team, the comments from both Heidi
and Julia demonstrate how they were able to learn from the counseling department.

110
They were able to gain an understanding of why information about transfer is passed
via email and as a result they adjusted their behavior.
In regards to emails coming from the transfer center, participants noted that
over the course of the project that there has been an increase in the number of emails
sent. While there had been some concern about passing information to students via
email, participants were happy to see the information. Beth noted,
I don’t know if it’s a change, if it’s actually change or just that I’m
noticing it more but when [name removed] sends out things regarding
transfer now, I don’t know if they’re more in the semester or just that
I’m noticing them more than I did in the past. But it seems to be a lot
more visible now, I guess because that’s my focus more so.

Julia also noted an increase in the number of emails. “We received a higher number
of emails since we started this project from the Transfer Center but I don't know if
this project prompted this--because before we didn't. And I hope it's going to
continue.” Although she reported printing out the emails, she felt that the transfer
center needed to organize the emails “but again they need to get organized”, and
perhaps instead of sending out several in one week, condensing them into one email.
Heidi noticed an increase in emails and questioned if they had always been there but
now she had a greater awareness. “Or, you know, and maybe the thing is, is that it's
been made more aware to me and so I've noticed them when they're coming, which I
don't think so, but that doesn't necessarily mean it might not be the case.”
Although it was beyond the scope of this study to confirm self-reported
behavior, most of the participants noted that they had begun to receive more emails
during the course of the project. Most believed that the increase in emails was a

111
direct result of the project. In this instance we can see that the project had an impact
on the behavior of the transfer center – sending out more information, and the faculty
members who passed the information on to their students.
In one of the meetings participants were told that a community college in the
area has a ten minute DVD presentation on the counseling services that are offered
that they ask all of the English and math instructors to show in their classes.
Participants were asked if they would be willing to show a DVD in their classes. All
participants responded that they would show a DVD if they were given one. Julia,
Heidi, and Juan respectively said, “Yeah, I would love that. I would love that”; “I
really like the thing about DVD. I think that there isn’t any faculty member who
wouldn’t show it”, and “I would show it. I would show it in my class.”
However, there were some caveats. Julia felt that with the resources that are
available on campus that a videotape would be better or at least providing the
information in both a DVD and videotape format. Beth felt that it would be
important to just send copies to everyone and not requiring people to order copies.
She also felt that ten minutes was a good length and that anything longer would
interfere with class time which might inhibit instructors from showing the DVD.
One concern about the project noted earlier was that participants that work in
the transfer department would be offended by the critique of transfer. Heidi was
impressed by how positively the transfer center had reacted to the project.
You just don't know. I mean the thing is, is that, you know, honestly
what I loved about that is that… but I love the idea that they just kind
of started hearing that this needed to happen and then just started
doing it and didn't wait for recommendations, and didn't get all like,

112
"Well no we already do that, and you just didn't hear it." But I feel
like that they've responded really appropriately, and happily, and all
that kind of stuff, which is really, really hopeful.

The change in behavior on the part of the participants could lead to greater
awareness of the larger community as a whole. Participants reported sharing
information with people outside of the project at Oceanside College and beyond.
Juan is on several committees and he plans to share what he has learned
during his meetings. “So the next time we meet I’m definitely going to bring some of
this information to that access committee.” Heidi believed that the people involved in
the Oceanside Transfer Project had connections to other committees on campus and
that would be beneficial for making change.
And there's enough people on the committee that are like academic
summit people, and people who really are interested in the
bureaucratic side of our college that, you know, do things and
make changes. That just the fact that there's enough people,
enough people were involved to build awareness.

In addition, Heidi, who works in a discipline that typically only requires an
associate degree, noted that her field is changing and that she has had several
conversations about transfer with people at other colleges, “Well because everybody
is talking about it. This is like a big thing for our field, so.” She spoke about her
friends at other colleges. “I have friends who are Community College instructors, I
mean basically doing the same thing I do, and all over the place, Santa Ana,
Coastline, Cerritos, you know, down at Orange County.”
While participants in this project have reported changes in their own
behavior, they also noted a change in the behaviors of people outside of the group.

113
Paula summed up the feeling nicely in an interview. “It's [transfer] becoming the
topic. It's the buzz around campus right now. You can hear a mild roar; everyone's
jumping on the bandwagon-- and that's a really good thing.”
These comments show that this type of inquiry project has the potential to
reach beyond the participants in the inquiry group. Both Juan and Paula noted that
the discourse was continuing outside of the group and Heidi also noted conversations
about transfer with colleagues at other colleges. This is important because it goes
back to Julia’s question about one person being able to make a difference when they
only reach a small percentage of the population. The comments by the participants
on the sharing of information across campus committees demonstrate that the inquiry
group not only has the ability to affect the participants but also the community at
large.
In summary, participants reported a change in their thinking and current
behaviors as well as ways to make changes in the future. The increase in emails from
the transfer center was confirmed by several members of the group. While other
behaviors cannot be verified the self-reported data shows a positive change in
behavior.

Conclusion
This chapter summarized the findings from the Oceanside Transfer Project.
Overall, the project was very successful. Participants reacted very positively to the
structure of the project, their research assignments, and the USC researchers.

114
Participants also reported learning about transfer issues and practices. Finally,
participants self-reported changes in the way they speak with students about transfer
and classroom practices.
Many important findings arose from the data presented in this chapter. One
finding was that interdepartmental collaboration is an often overlooked but valuable
tool for impacting change in an educational organization. The participants
appreciated the opportunity to work with colleagues outside of their departmental
areas and felt that they were able to learn more through this type of interaction. They
also reported having a better understanding of how different departments function
and how they could better support one another.
Another finding showed that although learning occurred, it did not have an
effect on the efficacy or behavior of several participants. In general, participants felt
that they could make a difference in their classroom on one or two students, but did
not feel that they could make a difference on a large scale. Looking at the thousands
of students enrolled Oceanside College; participants felt that the effort of a few
would not have an impact on the many. However, this was disputed by the
conversations and information that was being shared with members outside of the
project.
In addition, some participants did not feel that they had the ability to affect
the transfer outcomes of African-American and Latino students. Again, they saw
themselves being able to influence a few people in their classrooms but not transfer
rates as a whole. However, this sense of efficacy was split along racial lines. The

115
Latino and African-American participants held a higher sense of efficacy and spoke
about starting and supporting programs for minority students. They believed that
they could have an impact beyond their classrooms. These differences will be
highlighted in the two case studies.
Although the project may be considered a success, it is important to analyze
some aspects further. Chapter five presents two case studies that expand on the
findings. Chapter six will review the goals of the project and analyze if the goals
have been met. I will also discuss other important findings and their implications for
practice. Chapter six will conclude with ideas for future research.

116
Chapter Five
Case Studies

Over the course of four months, I spent many days on the Oceanside College
campus participating in meetings, conducting interviews, and walking around simply
observing. I had the opportunity to view the campus at different times on several
days of the week. The main campus is built in an almost circular fashion with a large
grassy area in the middle. With the exception of this grassy area, there was very little
vegetation. There were a few trees and bushes but none of the flowers or blossoming
trees that indicated spring was approaching.
Each structure was no more than two stories tall and they were in various
states of disrepair. The design of the campus made me feel that I had stepped back
into the seventies. Inside the buildings the desks and tables showed signs of wear and
tear. The front on the faces of the clocks looked old and the plastic covering was
clouded over. The clock unit also included a speaker that suggested that there was a
P.A. system. The bathrooms, although clean, were very small. The sinks and toilets
were low to the ground as if they had been built for smaller people. The look and the
condition of the building made me feel that I was in an old high school.
The common areas of the campus also had similar characteristics of a high
school. Walking around the library I found very few computers yet there was row
upon row of old encyclopedias. In addition, there was a room for microfiche and
microfilm. The cafeteria had a large seating area and offered the usual array of
cafeteria foods. Often, there was a television in the corner that was blaring morning
news shows or daytime soaps. The cafeteria was never crowded; at any time of the

117
day you would find no more than two or three people in line and there were always
plenty of free seats.
At the beginning of the project I was only on-campus on Fridays. Since there
are not many classes held on Fridays, I figured that the day of the week accounted
for the few students that I saw walking around campus on in the buildings. However,
as the project moved on, I was on campus many different days of the week at
different times in the day. When I was conducting interviews I was often there for
hours at a time. The campus was generally rather empty. Small groups of students
would gather around the student center and on a few benches, but as I walked
around, I never had to work my way through a crowd or search for a place to sit.

Introduction
This chapter presents case studies for two of the ten participants. I chose to
highlight these participants because although they both began their educational
careers at a community college, they contrast each other in several ways. First,
Michael has worked at Oceanside College much longer than Julia. Second, Michael
is Latino and Julia is Caucasian so this gives a contrasting racial perspective. Third,
Michael had an interest in transfer prior to the Oceanside Transfer Project, while
Julia did not have a background in transfer. Finally, they each left the project with
different feelings about what they could do to impact transfer outcomes.

118

Michael
Michael’s Background
Michael has worked as a full-time faculty member at Oceanside College for
twenty-seven years. All of the classes that he teaches are transfer level courses. They
are generally large survey classes with forty to fifty students per class. While he does
meet with students during office hours, most of his interaction with students occurs
in the classroom. At first glance, Michael appears to be Caucasian but during his
second interview I learned that he comes from a Latino background. Michael notes
that he has,
a strong affinity for Latin American culture and I have a lot of
Latin American students in my classes. They [Latino students] take
this [class] and often, all of these kids are taking my classes and
getting good grades and not transferring that really angers me,
because I want to see these kids move on. I just assumed they were
moving on, but I wasn’t paying attention either, I guess, so
whatever we can do to help them move on, that’ll be high priority.

In this statement Michael shows that he learned that his assumptions about
students moving on were false. Although prior to the project he was
concerned with student success, he was unaware of the extent of the problem.
His involvement in the Oceanside Transfer Project led to a greater awareness
of the problem and helped him reflect upon what he can do to help achieve
equitable outcomes for Latino students.
Michael has noticed that in the last twenty years, the demographics of the
community have changed in [the city], going from a majority of whites to a majority

119
of minorities, and he said that the college needs to respond to that demographic
change.
In addition to his classroom responsibilities, Michael serves on a number of
department and college-wide committees; particularly in the areas of curriculum
development and student learning outcomes. He is also the advisor of a student club.
Michael felt that Oceanside College was “unfocused on the goal of transferring”
saying,
I guess what I think is, my sense here, is that we simply, as an
institution, assume that students will find their way through the
transfer process by themselves. And I don't think that's the case. I
don't think it's probably ever been the case.

However, he noted that the school has new leadership, including a new Vice-
President of Academic Affairs, whom he felt would, “be a key player in improving
transfer rates.”
Michael had reflected on transfer and at the beginning of the project he
thought that students do not transfer because of “fear of the unknown, lack of
resources, and lack of self-confidence.” He felt that in his experience, students said
they wanted to transfer but “have no idea what it means to transfer, they have no idea
of the requirements of transfer, they have no idea what a major is.” He felt that
students were disconnected from the transfer process and that this was a part of the
problem.
To me this is the major problem of the transfer process. This is a
really bland type of language. We have all these students who run
around and say they want to transfer and then have never been to a
counselor.

120
Michael felt that because students were “disconnected from the transfer process,”
they had trouble articulating their goals. He felt that students used “bland language”
like ‘I want to transfer,’ without really understanding what that means. In order to
improve transfer outcomes, it would be important to connect students with
counselors so that the students can develop a “transfer language.”
Michael also teaches at the local state university. He spoke about running into
Oceanside College students at the university and the sense of accomplishment that
they felt after they had transferred. He felt that there needed to be a way to share this
feeling with the students at Oceanside College.
One of the things that often happens to me because I teach at [the
university], I often I run into [Oceanside] college students I’ve had
and they love the feeling that they came from [Oceanside], that they
moved from [Oceanside] to [Oceanside State]. What of feeling of
success they have. If somehow we can communicate that it is possible
that it can change their life.

Currently Michael speaks about transfer in all of his classes. In the nineties
counselors would come to the classrooms to speak about transfer. Due to budget
cutbacks the class presentations no longer exist. This prompted Michael to take on
the responsibility of speaking to his classes about transfer.
Well every class I teach now, every semester, I start with, ‘who has an
educational plan, what is an educational plan, who wants to go to a
four-year college, do you realize what you have to do to go to a four-
year college.’ We spend maybe 20 minutes in the first class session
talking about that. And then I’ll repeat that off and on, probably two,
or three or four times in the first half of the semester.

He has become very proactive with his students in regards to transfer, pushing
students to visit a counselor and making an education plan. He tells them, “you’ve

121
got to get a counseling appointment and then get an educational plan going.” He
noted that he has only done this in the last six or seven years. “I never did that
before. Now I do it every single semester, every class.” Michael does not stop at just
talking to students about transfer, “I’ll often walk students over to the counseling
department and say, ‘This is the counseling department. This is the desk where you
make an appointment.’ I’ve done that any number of times.” In this regard, Michael
is acting as an institutional agent by helping students navigate college procedures.
Outside of the classroom, Michael volunteered to join the Student Learning
Outcomes Committee. “I like to be active in that regard. We’re working on a
college-wide assessment plan to see how effective they [student learning outcomes]
are. And I also started, in my own department, an assessment plan for one of our
transfer courses in history to see how we were doing in that regard.” Again he noted
that his involvement has only been recent, and was a result of the budget cuts to the
counseling department. “This is stuff I never did in the first half of my career here at
[Oceanside College]. Just in the last six, or seven or eight years, I’ve gotten
interested in this stuff.”
Michael started as a community college student and worked his way from the
community college to a Doctorate. His own experiences show him that faculty can
play a huge role in helping students.
Based on my own experience as a student, I mean the reason why I’m
sitting in this chair now, 35 years later, is because faculty members
challenged me to do better, set higher goals, and want to be something
more than what I was setting my goals for when I was a junior college
student. If I had followed my own set of preferences and goals, what I
thought was a good thing; I never would have gone to [State]. I never

122
would have gone to graduate school. I never would have gotten a
Ph.D., any of those things. So my goal always is to encourage
students to aim higher and set higher goals and be as successful as
they possibly can be. Sometimes that falls on deaf ears and
sometimes it doesn’t. You can’t harass students, but on the other
hand, you can say, “Look, no, you can go to a four-year university
and do really well.”

Having been a student that worked during college, Michael understands the
difficulties that working students face, “I understand that, because I worked all the
time when I was an undergraduate. I worked for [Oceanside College] and I worked at
[Oceanside State]. And I worked when I was a grad student.” However, Michael
feels that students today lack a general awareness of what it means to be a student.
I don’t think we have students now that are aware of, or know about, or have a
tradition of going to see counselors, or reading the schedule of classes very carefully.
Sometimes I ask my students, ‘Why are you in this class?’ …And I
say, ‘Well if you don’t know what this course is about, why are
you here? Why did you pick this course?’ Well because it fit in
my schedule, because this is a good time, or a good day, or I have
to work this afternoon, or I have to work on Tuesdays and
Thursdays. I understand all that stuff, but it means that there’s a
lack of awareness.

While Michael felt that, “it’s a student’s obligation to know what’s going on,” he
also felt that it was the college’s responsibility to be aware of and to deal with these
issues. “I think it would be a really good thing if the whole college community could
be more aware of these issues and more focused on these issues than apparently we
are.” Michael’s statements show recognition of not only the responsibilities that
students have, but also the responsibility that the college has to recognize those
responsibilities and to work with the students.

123
Oceanside Transfer Project
Michael was invited to join the Oceanside Transfer Project by the
institutional researcher and decided to get involved in the project because over the
past six or seven years he had become very interested in transfer, “I’ve really become
aware of the fact that our major goal should be transfer, we’re not doing a good job,”
and, “I’d like to know why [Oceanside College] students are failing to transfer.”
Although Michael seemed to have a strong interest in transfer, he was
unaware of how few students actually transferred. His participation in the Oceanside
Transfer Project led to an increased awareness of the problem. One of his first
comments had to do with the data he had been given from the project about the low
number of students that were transferring. Referring to that data he said, “This was
really an eye opener for me. You gave us that number a few weeks ago. That was
really a shocking number.” He also said,
Reading through the binder got me interested. … It should be called
the missing 5000. We really have not done a good job in the last 5 or
7 or 10 years in getting our students prepared to transfer. We just have
not…it’s just remarkable how many people fall through the cracks.
It’s just really disheartening. I don’t know why I didn’t know this but
transfer is not something that I do.

Michael was very excited to participate in the project and he felt that it was
important for faculty members to support the counseling department. “I’m glad we
are doing this project. Any help we can give the counseling department I’m all for.”
Michael’s assignments for the project included analyzing the website, the
schedule of classes, and the course catalog. From his analysis of the Oceanside

124
College website, he felt that the transfer page provided excellent information but that
it did not have high visibility on the college website.
I found [Oceanside] has an excellent website. The disconcerting thing
about the website is that transfer is not given a prominent place. It’s
there but it’s not highlighted. You have to have computer skills to find
the website. If you don’t have computer skills you are not going to be
able to find the transfer center at this website.

He questioned if students with poor computer skills would be able to find the
transfer webpage. Although he is portraying the students as having a deficit,
he does not blame the student or give up on them. He felt it was the school’s
responsibility to provide a website that was easy to navigate.
And it is true, a good student, a motivated, focused student
won’t have much trouble finding this. But you see we don’t
have a lot of those kinds of students. I mean a lot of our
students are not focused. Some of them are not motivated.
Some of them don’t have computer skills. I think it would
really be a good thing if we could make it easier to find this
kind of information.
Next he analyzed the printed version of the schedule and found that
transfer was only mentioned once in the eighty-seven page document and that
even then it only mentioned the transfer office location and phone number.
This was in contrast to the four page color insert for financial aid. “All of our
students use the printed schedule. If we really want to have a major impact
about highlighting transfer then that is where we should put the information.
Like financial aid does.” He was careful not to criticize financial aid for
having the insert just questioning why transfer was not included also. In
addition, Michael wondered how many people were aware of the low

125
visibility that transfer held and he felt that his awareness had increased
through his participation in the project.
And I’m not criticizing. This is fine. This is fine, so how
about one more page right here that says, “If you want to
transfer, do the following things,” and a little thing right here
in the front page, “See page six for transfer information.” And
I will say that I wasn’t aware of that before we started all this.
I didn’t think about this, so maybe we’re not thinking about it.
We should think about it.

In the end Michael did feel that the website and the printed material could be a
barrier to student success.
Well I think what it does is it makes it harder for them to be
successful, and probably unnecessarily so. With just a few changes, I
think we can be more efficient and we would be more user-friendly. I
think it makes it harder for them, unprepared and unmotivated
students to be successful. And I think in the long run, it contributes to
this issue we have of not transferring very many students.

He also felt that faculty members should become more aware of these issues so that
they can better communicate with their students. He thought it would be helpful if
the counseling department could train the faculty members on transfer issues.
Well these kinds of things, like the schedule of classes, like the
webpage, if we started having seminars and meetings led by the
counseling department, or an articulation coordinator. If we have, for
example, department meetings on flex day, where someone could
counsel, would show up and say this is what’s going on. This is what
we’re doing. I realize they’re understaffed. They don’t have enough
people. And I guess it’s our obligation to get them more people then,
so that they can have better communications between the academic
departments that do transfer, and counseling, and articulation, and the
general administrative structure of the college.

Michael did not feel that it was his place to criticize other programs or
offices, and he certainly did not attempt to shy away from his own responsibility to

126
increase transfer rates. He felt that in order to improve student outcomes, everyone at
the college needed to take some responsibility.
I’m not trying to point the finger at anybody-- I guess I found it kind
of interesting or kind of curious that since transfer is one of our two or
three main functions that it’s not highlighted more excessively, shall
we say, on the webpage or the schedule of classes. And again, I’m
just as guilty as anybody else, because I didn’t think about these
things before we started this [Oceanside Transfer Project]. I was
going around saying to people, ‘We’ve got to do this,’ and I mean I
didn’t think about it either. It’s my problem too, since I’m part of the
college community, but it just seems to me we could do a much better
job highlighting transfer. That’s really important.

Over the course of the project Michael gained a greater awareness of
obstacles (e.g. low transfer visibility and difficulty finding information about
transfer) that students face. “The main difference for me has been discovering how
many obstacles we actually have to transfer. That was the big thing. So I guess I'm
more aware now of obstacles.” He also thought about things that he could do on his
end to help students. He said that he would be happy to print out emails from the
transfer center and pass on information to the students. Since he already did
presentations in his class about transfer, he felt that the project helped him confirm
that those presentations were necessary and beneficial. He also said that he would
definitely show a video that highlighted counseling services, if one were made
available. “I would, definitely, sure [show the video]. Something like that where you
do basic kind of information on the first day of class or the second day of the class
for maybe 15 or 20 minutes.” Overall, he said that transfer “will be in a much more
aware place in my daily work environment. I'll have a much stronger focus on the
issues involved in transfer than I had before.”

127
Although Michael was assigned to analyze documents, his learning went
beyond the scope of his assignments. Throughout the course of the project Michael
learned about other transfer issues from his colleagues. When he noted that, “one
problem is that there are no counselors in the counseling center. There are student
aides in the transfer center,” he was able to verify with one of the counselors on the
team that in fact the Transfer center does not actually have counselors and that it is
more of a resource center. If students want to see a counselor then they have to make
an appointment. He felt that this was an important thing to note and felt that the
college needed to invest the resources to provide counselors in the center.
It seems to me that that’s a critical thing to talk about. It seems to me
that for lots of different reasons our transfer centers are not transfer
centers anymore. They are information centers. Hopefully they are
well organized and directed student could go in there and get the
information they need, but not a new student, not a student… Maybe
this is the place to say to the college that we to need address this, we
need to have counselors in there.

As Michael learned about the counseling budget and resources that were
available, he questioned the resources allocated for counselors.
The problem is that if you define that transfer is a major goal of the
institution and then proposition B is that counselors are critical to that
function then therefore it has to follow that you have to have adequate
counseling staff.

In an interview he went on further to say,
[The problem of transfer] really evolves on the counseling
department. They have these problems with research, this lack of
personnel, but that’s not a good excuse. If we have to put pressure on
the college to get more counselors, then that’s what we should do.
That’s an issue. You can’t say we’re failing students because we
don’t have enough resources. Redirect resources then, it seems to me.

128
With the additional resources, Michael felt that the counseling department could be
more proactive in their approach to helping students.
For example the college could send out a letter. As soon as
[students] hit 30 credits you get a letter that says, ‘Time to think
about transfer.’ It would be as easy as that and it would go out to
the general student population.

Although Michael did note the work that needed to be done, he was careful to
convey that the counseling department is doing some wonderful things with the
resources that they have.
One thing the counseling department does do is a really a great thing.
They have these bus trips to universities. They’ll sign up 25 or 30
kids and take them on a 3-day or a 4-day trip to go to four
universities, for example, a great thing. That gets these kids off our
campus, gets them to the big time; USC, UCLA, Berkeley and they
can see how gorgeous campuses those places are and the possibilities.
We transfer people all over the place. It’s just we’re apparently not
doing enough of it.
Overall, Michael felt that his involvement in the project was positive, noting
that “the impression is I think it's a good thing. It's a good thing the college spent
some time and energy to try and find out issues around transfer.” As an instructor,
Michael felt that the project highlighted for him the need to be involved in more
college-wide issues.
Well, I think that what I became aware of is that I'm really focused on
my classroom work, really focused on the classes that I teach. And I
tend, you know, not to be focused on other operations of the college
as much as I probably should be based on this experience. You know,
we all tend to get compartmentalized in what we do on a daily basis.
And so my job is basically to teach content area, and that's what I
focus on. But it's pretty clear that all of us need to focus more on
global or college-wide issues.

129
From the experience he learned many things about himself, students, and the
college.
They’re graduating, but not transferring, so what’s up with that? They are
ready to go but somehow, haven’t made that jump. And I suppose there are 10,000
reasons why, but it seems to me that that’s our job is to overcome those reasons and
iron that out, so these kids can make that jump, especially under-represented kids.
Instead of passing transfer off as a problem for the counseling department,
Michael strongly felt that students, faculty, and counselors needed to take their share
of responsibility.
And you know, it’s not all, there’s a shared responsibility, obviously
if you are a college student then you have to take these matters into
your own hand but I think if it was just a little more visible, if it was
easier to find this information. I don’t want to point any fingers at my
colleagues. That’s actually unhelpful to say it’s your fault, because
we’re all this college community together. All of us have to work
together to fix this. It does no good to fix blame on one area, like
counseling, it’s their fault. I don’t think it is their fault. I think it’s
the fact that we’ve lost track of this as an institution, so we need to
respond as an institution and then do a better job. And if counseling
needs more resources and more help, then it’s our responsibility to get
it to them. That would be my position on that. So I’m real cognizant
of the need not to sort of play the blame game, but assess the problem
and come up with a solution and get on it.
The data in this case study shows that while Michael did have a prior interest in
transfer, his involvement in the project led to an enhanced awareness. The
information that Michael learned by participating in the Oceanside Transfer Project
inspired him to take greater responsibility for understanding the problem and coming
up with a solution that involves shared ownership.

130
In the end, he hoped that the project would spark a new focus on transfer.
While the group was small he felt that the new leadership would help bring transfer
to the forefront. During the final interview he spoke of changes that have already
occurred.
But yeah, we have all noticed for with the last two or three months all
of a sudden a lot more activity letting us know something's going on
with transfer issues. All these programs to take bus trips to UCLA and
Berkeley and wherever else they're going. I never saw those before. I
don't know what that exactly means-- but it's to the good, it's positive.
Because then I've been able to come to my classes and say, "I just got
a message from counseling. Anybody interested in UCLA? Let me
tell you about the--."

Julia
Julia’s Background
Julia was hired as a full-time professor a year and a half ago. Prior to her full-
time appointment she worked for the college as a part-time instructor for seven
years. During those seven years she was known as a “freeway flier”, because she
would drive between different campuses; often she would work part-time at up to
five different community colleges. She is also the advisor for one of the student clubs
on campus; Julia explained that she tries to be involved in the Oceanside College
student community as much as possible. At the time, the Oceanside Transfer Project
was the only campus-wide committee Julia belonged to. In addition to her full-time
job, she was in the process of completing her Ph.D. Julia felt that her status as a
student helped her relate to her students.
You know, I motivate my students as much as-- actually you know,
when one of them decides to minor in [her discipline], or I see them

131
taking more [discipline area] classes, it makes my day. I’m also a
student, so I’m not the person behind the desk, and I tell them when
they want, I’m a student. And I think that I relate to them much more
then somebody who’s just only teaching.

Julia began her educational career as a student at Oceanside College.
Although she has experience being a transfer student from Oceanside College, she
said that she did not know about, nor use, the transfer services provided by the
college.
Well I didn't deal with the Transfer Center when I was a student
here. I did it on my own and applied to universities. Because I knew
what my goals were and where I wanted to go, so I just skipped
because I didn't even know they existed.

She said that she cobbled together information from friends and faculty members.
She did not feel that she was unique amongst her friends, “And I'm sure I'm not the
only one, trust me.”
Julia did not speak about why she felt compelled to join the project. Like the
others, she received an email outlining the project and asking for volunteers. She said
that she thought it would be, “Interesting- it'll be a very interesting project.” Julia
admitted that she did not look over the data that was given to her regarding the
number of students that transfer but had heard about the numbers from other
members of the team. Referring to the data she said that she was, “Surprised. You
know, I thought that we had much more transfers, and very interesting data. But I
have to be honest, I haven’t looked at it.”
When asked about the transfer culture on campus, Julia said that she did not
feel that there was a strong culture amongst students or faculty. “I don't think there's

132
a transfer culture on campus. I never heard about it until now.” In regards to the
students she said,
It's not--. It's too far away in their goals; they don't look at the big
picture but the day to day--right?--and working and going to
school. So it's kind of too far away from what they have to deal
with on a daily basis.

As for herself, Julia felt that there were limitations to what she could do to help bring
about a transfer culture, “again there's only so much I can do. So I do whatever I can
do but I'm not- I can't make up for the transfer philosophy concept.” She also felt that
the small number of people involved in the Oceanside Transfer Project was limiting,
“And the transfer culture is not going to come from the few people who are involved
with this [Oceanside Transfer] Project.”

Oceanside Transfer Project
Julia was asked to conduct observations of the transfer center and other areas
around campus related to transfer. Even though she had worked on the campus for
more than eight years she did not know where the transfer center was and had trouble
locating it.
So my role was to go to the Transfer Center and try to see, you know,
what kind of information they had available for the students. The
brochures, catalogs, advertising and things like that. And I was
surprised to see that there’s only 8½ x 11 poster, you know, indicating
where the Transfer Center is located with the phone number.
Actually, I didn’t know where the Transfer Center was, and I figured
out it must be next to the counseling center, so I did it as if I was a
new student on campus, and I walked into the counseling, you know,
main entrance where the students wait, didn’t see anything. So I
walked into the hallway, and actually by chance I found it.

133
During our first interview, Julia walked me over to the transfer center; which she had
discovered was located in the building right next door to her office. Although the
transfer center was close to her office, she repeatedly emphasized how difficult it
was for her to find.
Finding the transfer center. Just finding the location was…I mean I
kind of knew…but I didn’t see. There are 3 entrances there are two on
the inside of the patio and one…. I entered one entrance and I saw the
flyers. But the entrance where students wait online to meet with
counselors or schedule appointments I did not see a sign about the
transfer or 4 year institutions. I was surprised that there wasn’t more
information around campus.

While in the transfer center, Julia collected flyers and brochures. “Yeah, I
mean, I collected all the flyers that were in that hallway.” She felt that the
information that was presented was helpful.
What I really liked about the transfer are two brochures, one for UC,
and I liked the fact that its Answers for Transfers, so it’s really well
done, I was quite impressed. And then there’s another one for CSU
universities that explains how to register, has an application form
etcetera.

In addition to her observations, Julia learned something else that she found
surprising.
The other thing that is surprising to me was that at other institutions
students are required to get an email address from the institution. As
far as I know we don’t have it. They do not do it at this campus.

She felt that this was a hindrance because it did not allow for direct communication
between the college and the students.
I receive information about transfer through email and I think that
if we really want to reach the students it would be much more
beneficial to have the information sent directly to the students

134
instead of having it come through the faculty. The college should
send out the information via email.

In interviews and meetings she repeatedly spoke about the need for the
college to provide students with college email addresses. Currently students do not
have email addresses and there is no way to contact them via email. Information
about transfer is sent to the faculty members and it is expected that the faculty
members will pass the information to the students. Julia feels that faculty should not
be used as the “middleman” and that emails should be sent directly to students.
I don’t believe in three way communication. I mean for me it doesn’t
work and for most people it doesn’t. So, I think that if you really
want to reach the students the transfer center needs to talk to them
directly.

She believed that the lack of direct communication could be one of the reasons that
students do not get the information. She noted that many instructors work at the
college part-time and they do not read their emails on a regular basis.
I mean, and there are more part time instructors than there are full
time instructors. I was a part time instructor until last year. To be
honest I was not checking my email, it was impossible. The messages
we get from the transfer center are not received by the majority of the
people who are teaching at the college and probably if they are
received then chances are they are not being communicated to the
students. Ideally those messages will be sent directly to the students.

As a result of participating in the project, Julia reported that she had made
some changes in her practices. Prior to the project she stated that she did not pass on
information that she received about transfer to her students. On the post
questionnaire, she said that since the start of the project she had: spoken to her
classes about transfer; had a conversation with an individual student; and printed out

135
an email from the transfer center and presented the information in class. She felt that
the process has made her connect with her students. “Well I've been communicating
with my students about transfer and what their future goals are going to be, where
they want to go--kind of plant the seed.”
Julia also reported that she would be happy to show a short DVD in her
classes and would love to receive flyers from the transfer center and/or a one page
sheet with all the dates for the semester that she could post on her classroom. She
also felt that at transfer fairs it would be helpful for students to have a list of
questions to ask college representatives. “At the transfer fair you could have a big
board with the questions. So they can look at them”
Although she did report changes in her behavior, Julia was unsure of the role
that she could play in increasing transfer rates. She felt that her main responsibility
was to teach. Her statement that follows is interesting because she is toying with the
idea of being a role model but then pulls back on that idea. It appears as if she is
doubtful about the impact she could make. “My role as an instructor is to teach--not
to teach transfer.” In addition to teaching she felt that she could be a role model. By
sharing my experience as a student, what I did. I was a student here. I [could] share
my experience as a transfer student but I don’t know much, I’m not educated about
transfer.”
She did not feel that she had the expertise to speak extensively about transfer.
Well I can discuss transfer only to a certain extent because I’m not
an expert on transfer. So I can always say ‘There’s a Transfer
Center,’ but, you know, I ask my students to do a lot of things, and
they don’t necessarily follow up.

136

Julia clearly felt that she was limited in what she could do to help students and she
questioned if transfer was her responsibility.
Well this is my dilemma--there's only so much I can do. And I can
only provide the students with the information. But the Transfer
Center has to take responsibility and to provide and contact the
students.

Julia expressed frustration about how the transfer center sends out
information. She receives three or four emails a week from the transfer center about
upcoming events and she felt that it would be much easier if they could condense the
information into one email.
I know you schedule all this in advance. Because getting these
emails you know it is time consuming. If we get three emails you
might as well just send us 1 email per week. Ideally just a schedule
even if it’s small print.

She suggested a monthly calendar that she could post or discuss in her class at one
point in time instead of throughout the week.
I think I mentioned that at the meetings every other week they
should send us all the information, or maybe once a month, and
summarize it, so they can provide the information to the students
once a month. They can't expect us to spend five or ten minutes
explaining transfer every time we teach. We have things to do also
in the classroom.

Over the course of the project, Julia came to believe that only a limited
number of students were getting information about transfer. She suggested that more
needed to be done to reach additional students.
It appears to me that we contact the same population of students all
the time such as the students that get financial aid so these people are
getting all the information they need but they don’t represent the
majority of the college students. It appears to me that we provide a lot

137
of information to these people but the rest of the population is kind of
left on their own. The rest of the population is probably the most, the
potential transfer I think we are missing a lot of opportunities to help
students transfer.

When asked what she thought it would take to improve the transfer rate, she
referred back to the need to speak directly to students, “Again communicating
directly with students--getting email addresses, updating them, in transfer, all the
time. That's the only way. … It just doesn't work.” Along the lines of direct
communication, she also felt that it was important for counselors to come to the
classes to speak about transfer “I think that if somebody from the Transfer Center
comes and does a ten minute presentation, it’s going to have much more weight on
the students than us discussing transfer, because the students can ask questions, or
concerns.” She also thought that the college needed to do a better job with signage.
“I think we can do a better job with the facilities, at indicating where the transfer
center is located. Just have a sign with an arrow. Finding the location is hard.”
Overall Julia found the project to be very interesting and she enjoyed
working with people outside of her discipline. “Well I found all the information very
interesting and it seemed, you know, everybody had their little piece of the puzzle, so
it was interesting to gather all this information and see the big picture.” She also
noted that because of the project she felt more involved in the college community, “I
mean, we do have a role, and now that I’m involved with this community I feel more
involved then I’ve ever been.” Like Julia, many of the participants felt that the
project provided a sense of community. Such a community is important because it

138
could lead to the development of a transfer culture and collaboration between faculty
and counselors.
In the end, Julia hoped that the project provided enough information to make
an impact. She did note that she had been receiving a larger number of emails from
the transfer center and although she was not sharing this information with her
students, she felt the need for better organization.
We received a higher number of emails since we started this
project from the Transfer Center but I don't know if this project
prompted this--because before we didn't. And I hope it's going to
continue. But again they need to get organized.

As for the recommendations to the college she said, “Well I hope the findings
are going to be important enough for us to apply them and make changes
accordingly.” Finally, she expressed concern that the small group that was working
on the project was not going to be enough to make a difference.
While Julia learned about transfer procedures and policies, this learning did
not foster a sense of efficacy. She continually spoke about procedures the college
and transfer center could implement but had difficulty identifying what she could do
to increase transfer rates. Julia does not see herself as a change agent to increase
transfer. The following quote shows that she underestimates the potential impact she
has as a faculty member to inspire students to transfer.
It's going to have to be coming from all of us, because I only have 50,
maybe 60 students per semester. So what about the 24,940 left? So it's
kind of idealistic to think that we can make a difference when we only
can reach a very small percentage of the student population.

139
Chapter Six
Discussion

As I have noted throughout the chapters, over the course of the project I also
worked part-time as a Basic Skills Reading instructor at a local community college.
Immediately after the project I was hired by the college as a full-time Basic Skills
Reading instructor. While working on this study I began my tenure as a full-time
reading instructor.
Although I was acting as a facilitator for OCAT, I learned a lot about myself
and my practices through the interactions and learning of the participants of the
Oceanside Transfer Project. As I stated in chapter two, my behavior began to change
from the inception of the project. In my classes, I found myself discussing transfer
with students and being much more proactive in regards to transfer and career
exploration.
The first thing that I did differently during my first full-time semester was to
add two extra credit options to my syllabus that involved visiting a counselor. While
I want to inspire all of my students to transfer, I do understand that some students
have other educational and career goals. I attempt to raise aspirations but I must also
respect the wishes of my students. Because the students in my class come with a
wide range of goals, I simply assigned students to meet with a counselor to map out
an educational plan or to attend one of the many workshops that the counseling
department offers. Throughout the semester I reminded students of the extra credit
opportunities and repeatedly handed out the workshop brochure. During the fall
semester I taught five classes with twenty-five students in each class. On average

140
five to six students per class took advantage of one of the extra credit opportunities.
While this may not seem like many students, the majority of the students that met
with a counselor or went to a workshop said that they would not have done so had
they not been given extra credit points. Having recently graduated from high school,
many of the students said that they did not know that they had to make an
appointment to see a counselor or felt that it was too early in their educational career
to form an educational plan. I pressed upon them the importance of meeting with a
counselor early and often.
Each semester the college I work at offers a large transfer fair. Typically over
fifty colleges are represented and there is a big student turnout. Having learned about
the visibility of the transfer fair at Oceanside College, I was interested in seeing how
it was advertised on my campus. What I found shocked me. Aside from one banner
about the transfer fair that had been on campus since the beginning of the fall
semester, I saw no other advertising about the fair. I did not receive an email or flier
about the transfer fair; the only reason I was aware of the fair is because I made note
of the date that was on the banner. Had I not been looking for the information, the
date would have passed me by.
I wanted to encourage my students to attend the transfer fair so I offered an
additional extra credit assignment – I sent them to the fair. Participants in the
Oceanside Transfer Project had wondered if students knew what to ask when
attending a transfer fair and thought that maybe it would be better to arm students
with questions to ask the college representatives. Therefore, students were required

141
to not just go to the fair but to also speak to at least three representatives and fill out
the questionnaire that I provided (Appendix I). The transfer fair was a more difficult
assignment to complete. The fair only took place for four hours on a Tuesday so
students who were not normally on campus on Tuesdays or who had class were not
able to attend. On average, two to three students per class attended the fair. Again,
the number may seem small but it is higher than the number of students who would
have attended without the incentive. In addition, after the fair we had a discussion in
class about transfer. The students who attended the fair passed on what they learned
to the other students. The students were most surprised to learn that schools within a
college may have different entrance requirements and that there is a limit to the
number of credits that transfer. Prior to my involvement in the Oceanside Transfer
Project I would have made an announcement about the transfer fair – had I gotten the
information – but I would not have included the extra credit assignment or talked
about the fair in class.
In addition to the extra credit assignments, my interactions with students have
changed. Over the course of the semester I spent more time talking with students
about their goals and helping students find information about colleges. I spent time
with one student who wanted information about Spelman College. Together we
looked on the computer to find out about their transfer requirements and admissions
process. Although some of this change can be attributed to the project, one important
factor is that I am now a full-time faculty member and I have an office. As a part-
time instructor I did not have a place to meet with students and most days I would

142
leave campus once I was finished teaching. Having an office and being on campus
four days a week gave me the opportunity to have more in-depth interaction with
students.
Personally, I believe that the project has had a major impact on the way that I
teach and how I connect with my students. But did the project have an impact on the
participants? This is the question that I will address in this chapter.

Goals and Purpose
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Oceanside
Transfer Project by examining the impact that an inquiry process has on participating
faculty members and to understand if their participation in the project led to a change
in their beliefs and/or behaviors regarding transfer issues. The ultimate question is
does inquiry as a means of bringing about change work?
In order to answer that question it is important to revisit the goals for the
project. The two main goals of the project were to help participants gain “(1) a better
understanding of why some transfer-ready
11
students do not transfer and why some
UC-ready students transfer instead to a less selective institution, and (2) to assist
Oceanside College to understand ways in which to restructure or change policies and
practices at Oceanside College to improve the rates of transfer for all students”
(Oceanside College Data).

11
The rate by which first-time entering freshman meets the basic transfer requirements for CSU and
UC.

143
In addition, as an offshoot of the Equity for All project, the Oceanside
Transfer Project had two additional goals “(1) to increase campus members’
awareness of differences in educational outcomes across racial and ethnic groups,
and (2) to encourage “equity-mindedness” in ways campus members make sense of
unequal educational outcomes and the role they play in eliminating them” (Peña,
Colyar, & Bensimon, 2006, p.48).
Opportunities to meet these goals were facilitated through the inquiry
activities and collaborative inquiry meetings. The nature of the project gave
participants the opportunity to reflect upon the structure of the Oceanside College
transfer services and their own practices. In addition, the project provided an
occasion for participants to come together to discuss their thoughts and to envision
new ideas that could have an impact on student transfer success.
In this chapter, I begin by discussing the significant findings from the study
that led to the success of the project. Next, I will discuss the implications for
practice, considering the benefits of using inquiry as a form of professional
development and assessment. I then discuss the limitations of this study. Finally, the
chapter will conclude with recommendations for further research.

Significant Findings
In this section I will discuss the significant findings of the study; which are:
• The difficulty of maintaining equity throughout the project
• Learning may not inherently lead to equity-mindedness or a sense of agency

144
• Participants gained a better understanding of transfer issues
• Participants identified ways to restructure policies and practices that may
improve the transfer rates of students
As outlined in chapters four and five, the key findings show that participants
reacted positively to the Oceanside Transfer Project, learned about transfer services
and about their own practices, and took steps towards making positive behavioral
changes that could have an impact on student success. While these were all positive
outcomes, in this section I will discuss if the outcomes met the project’s goals.
Two of the projects goals dealt with equity; they were to increase awareness
of unequal educational outcomes across racial groups and to help participants
become “equity-minded” in their thinking and practices. Did the participants shift
their thinking and begin to see themselves as solutions to the low transfer rates of
African American and Latino students? From the findings, it is unclear if these two
goals have been met.
The first goal of creating an awareness of unequal outcomes across races was
the more successful of the two. During the orientation meeting, participants were
presented with data that detailed the transfer success of a cohort of 520 fast-track
students who had enrolled at Oceanside College between 1999 and 2002, which was
broken down by race and ethnicity (Appendix H).
Awareness, as defined by the online Encarta dictionary, is – having
knowledge of something from having observed it or been told about it. The findings
provide evidence that awareness was achieved, “This was really an eye opener for

145
me. You gave us that number a few weeks ago. That was really a shocking number”
(Michael). However, while they were shocked by the numbers, for many, the shock
was a result of seeing the low percentage of “students” that transfer; not necessarily
by the low number of “minority students.” For example, Julia and Beth, both
Caucasian language professors, said, “You know, I thought that we had much more
transfers,” and “I thought it was awfully depressing, that it’s just a small number that
do transfer.”
On the other hand, Richard and Paula, both African-American counselors,
focused on the rate of African-American transfers and felt that they could use the
numbers to show the need for an African-American program. Richard said, “I mean,
looking at it, that I thought this was going to be really good data to use to start an
African-American program. That was what I thought of originally because the
number of African-American students, there’s going to be one transfer to those who
actually did.” Echoing Richard’s statement, Paula said, “I’m with a group of faculty
members who are proposing a program for African-American youth between the
ages of 18 to 25 to help with retention efforts to sustain attrition, to recruit young
black males and provide mentorship. And I think, given the data, that we should
support that type of program.” Certainly all participants became aware of the
numbers but Paula and Richard used the information to help them fight for changes
in college practices; this leads us to our second goal of having the awareness lead to
“equity-minded” thinking and practices.

146
While awareness of the problem spurred Richard and Paula into action, such
awareness did not lead to a change in thinking in other participants. When asked
what she could do to help Latino and African-American students, Julia responded,
“There’s nothing I can do. It’s really up to them; the decision is really up to them. I
can only provide information and forward the information to all of my students and
hopefully the Latinos and African-Americans will proceed and move forward.” In
the middle-ground, some participants spoke of showing “images of highly educated
African-Americans and Latinos” (Heidi) or getting “those” students [African-
American and Latino] to “think in terms of transfer” (Beth).
The development of equity-minded thinking takes time and concentrated
effort. After reviewing the data, it seems that conversations about equity were
lacking in the project. While equity was explicit for the researchers at CUE, it was
not explicit to the participants. Equity was discussed during the first meeting when
the data was presented, but there is no evidence that equity was discussed in
subsequent meetings. During the second meeting, in response to a question about the
focus of the project, a researcher from CUE said, “No, this project looks at all
students. This team [OCAT] is looking at the transfer culture. The interview team
[SIT] is looking at students who could have transferred but didn’t.” There was no
mention about looking specifically for issues affecting African-American and Latino
students. In addition, the SAI tool that was used by the participants to collect data
included few indicators that focused specifically on race and ethnicity; the SAI did
not help advance equity-mindedness.

147
Studies of participant inquiry show us that participants bring their own
backgrounds and learning experiences to the inquiry process. As project facilitators,
the researchers at CUE did not provide enough activities that may have helped
participants rethink their assumptions. Two important elements of inquiry are
dialogue and reflection. While inquiry meetings were held on a monthly basis, rather
than using the time to help participants gain a deeper understanding of the
complexities of transfer, most of the time was spent discussing the process of data
collection.
The lack of consistent focus on the issue of low minority student transfer rate
may be one reason why some participants did not leave the project with a sense of
efficacy regarding improving the transfer rates for African-American and Latino
students. These data shows how difficult it is to maintain equity-minded thinking at
the forefront of the project even when it is a stated goal. In future inquiry projects it
will be important to improve the SAI so that it includes indicators related to equity
and to incorporate learning activities that could help participants reflect on a deeper
level and rethink their assumptions.
The third goal was for participants to “gain a better understanding of why
some transfer-ready students do not transfer and why some UC-ready students
transfer instead to a less selective institution.” (Oceanside College Data).
As described in chapter three, the Oceanside Transfer Project was made up of
two teams. The team described in this study is the On Campus Assessment Team
(OCAT), which conducted observations, document analysis, and interviews of fellow

148
Oceanside College colleagues. The second team, the Students Interview Team (SIT),
conducted interviews of students who fell in the “transfer gap.” The original design
of the study called for each participant to conduct the data analysis, institutional
audits, and the student interviews. However, due to the large number of volunteers,
the inquiry activities were divided between two teams.
While the members of OCAT had the opportunity to see the data regarding
the number of students who fell in the transfer gap, they did not have the opportunity
to meet directly with students. Although the members of OCAT did not get the
student’s perspective firsthand, the members of SIT interviewed students and they
were able to share the data with the OCAT participants. In addition, the data from
SIT was extensively included in the final report to Oceanside College administrators.
This is important to note because members of OCAT felt that they could have
learned more by talking to the students. During his final interview, Miguel noted that
the student’s voice was missing from the OCAT findings, “Coming out at the end of
the project, it kind of seems now we got the faculty perspective, but I don't think we
got enough student’s perspective.”
One piece of information that may have helped OCAT members gain a better
understanding of why students elect not to attend a UC is what participants learned
about transfer fairs. Transfer fairs for CSU schools are held several times throughout
the year in the center of campus and they are open to all students, while students
must make an appointment to meet with a UC representative. Beth thought “it was
interesting for me to look at the transfer fairs to see what schools are actually

149
coming, with what frequency they’re coming, and having open fairs versus the one-
on-one appointments.” Learning about the two-tiered structure helped participants
think about how the UC appointment only system could be a barrier to students
transferring to those schools. Again Beth noted, “if one of the criticisms is that we’re
not transferring enough students to UC’s, well there’s a lack of visibility there for
one thing.” In the end, OCAT members did discover one important reason why
students may choose less selective institutions.
The forth and final goal was “to assist Oceanside College to understand ways
in which to restructure or change policies and practices at Oceanside College to
improve the rates of transfer for all students” (Oceanside College Data).The findings
from the data suggest that the Oceanside Transfer Project was highly successful in
meeting this goal. Through the inquiry activities, participants were able to identify,
investigate, and provide solutions to policies and practices that were a hindrance to
student transfer success.
As documented in the final report to the Oceanside College president,
through their research, participants identified six barriers to student success:
informational, structural, practices, policy, cultural, and relational. Additionally,
participants were able to suggest solutions for each of the barriers.
The first informational barrier involved getting information to students in a
timely manner. A major complaint was that students were not provided with a
college email address, and therefore, information was not sent directly to students.
Much to the chagrin of faculty members, they were charged with passing information

150
they received via email to the students. Participants felt that the information was
getting lost before it reached the students. As shown in her case study, Julia was
passionate about the subject; she repeatedly stressed the importance of sending
information directly to the students.
Two solutions were recommended for alleviating this informational barrier.
The first was to require students to have a college email address. This way
information from all departments could be sent directly to the students, thus
lessoning the responsibility of faculty members to act as the middleman. The second
solution was to encourage faculty to let counselors into their classes to make
presentations about transfer.
Second, informational barriers included the lack of visibility that was
discussed in chapter four. Inadequate signage made it difficult to find the transfer
center. Julia noted, “I hoped that, you know, the Transfer Center was more obvious.”
During one of the meetings there was discussion about the need for all transfer
services to be housed in one location. While this would be an ideal solution, given
the available space, the solution is not feasible at the moment. To address this issue,
a simpler and more cost effective solution, “improving the quality and quantity of
signage” was written into the final report. As I was completing this dissertation, I
learned that because of the report, the college is in the process of improving the
signage on campus.
The lack of visibility leads to the next barrier that participants highlighted;
the structural barrier. The structural barrier refers to the physical location of the

151
transfer center, which participants felt was located in obscure places without much
foot traffic. Without significant construction the location of the transfer centers are
unlikely to change. Again, the suggestion was to make sure that there was
appropriate signage and to make sure that the center was physically appealing.
The next barrier was related to the practices of the transfer center.
Participants came to believe that students lacked adequate access to four-year college
recruiters; especially recruiters from UC’s and more selective institutions.
In order to address this barrier, participants felt that it would be important to
first conduct further research to see which groups of students take advantage of
appointments and which groups participate in other recruitment activities such as the
transfer fairs. Also, it was suggested that the counseling department open dialogue
with recruiters from the UC system to discuss the possibility of conducting fairs or
other ways to provide open access to information.
The fourth barrier is related to the policy issue of how much time counselors
have to meet with students for individual appointments. Paula, a counselor spoke
about her many obligations that kept her away from Oceanside College students.
Well I do various group meetings. I wear many hats. I’m out in the
community a lot so the load that I have here at [Oceanside College]
isn’t the typical instructor/professor role where you’re inside the
classroom setting. The classes I teach are online and I also am out
in the community talking to students about getting started in
college and completing their college education, transfer.

She noted that with counselors’ many responsibilities it was easy to let some things
slip. “So we’re really busy, … we’re suppose to remember to tell the students all of

152
this. And so often times I can understand that we might forget to let them know, you
know, there are more options available.”
A solution for this barrier would be to reassess the use of counselors’ time.
Possibly reorganizing their assignments and responsibilities, in order to provide more
opportunities to meet with students one-on-one.
Cultural barriers were the fifth barrier identified by participants. This refers
to the lack of faculty awareness and involvement in transfer issues. As Beth stated,
“Transfer is in the transfer center. It needs to be with the faculty, they’re the ones
that are directly in front of the students.”
Faculty need better information about transfer and need to feel empowered to
help lead students on the path to transfer. Solutions include the creation of
professional development (PD) opportunities including short term PD on FLEX
days
12
and additional long-term inquiry projects.
The final barrier revolved around relational issues. Participants found that
students may have anxiety about transferring. Looking at the honors programs that
are designed to help students transfer to four-year universities, Juan found that few
African-American students qualified for the programs and those that did qualify did
not choose to participate. Speaking about her child development students, Heidi
noted, “When I look at my population of students, they are going to need some more
assistance to feel comfortable in that role of transfer.”
From Juan’s observations of a transfer fair he felt that he sensed anxiety on
the part of the students, “And there definitely from what I observed,…there were

12
FLEX days are mandated days set aside for campus-wide professional development.

153
students who seem to be interested in the information that was made available to
them but did not approach the tables and did not engage with the representatives.”
Solutions for overcoming this anxiety involve developing relationships with
students to help them overcome their fears. These relationships can take several
forms: faculty-student, student-student, and college-wide initiatives. Participants
suggested solutions include the creation of new groups of increased involvement of
students in groups that help students transition to a four-year university. Juan felt that
it was important to encourage more African-American and Latino students to apply
for the honors program.
As a Latino male, Miguel realized that Latinos may have limited exposure to
universities outside of the immediate area and he felt that it was important to help
students gain exposure to new places,
So I realized that the more you're exposed to different areas and
different parts of the life that you're having, you can be successful.
… I kind of see that, and I try to help them out to expose them to
different universities and different places.

Finally, participants felt that it was important to expose current Oceanside
College students to students who have transferred successfully. “If they would have
someone on their own level so they can see it as a possibility so they can see
someone who has gone before them” (Beth). Tapping into the alumni network and
providing former students the opportunity to speak about their experiences may help
student’s transfer anxiety.
These extensive findings suggest that the project was highly successful in
meeting the goal of assisting participants and the larger Oceanside College

154
community in first, understanding the structures and policies that hinder student
success and then secondly, suggesting ways in which the college can restructure or
change policies and practices in order to improve the rates of transfer for all students.
For a complete list of barriers and potential solutions see Appendix J.
Going back to the two questions: “Did the Oceanside Transfer Project have
an impact on participants” and “Does inquiry as an intervention work?” The answer
to both questions is a resounding yes. The findings indicate that the Oceanside
Transfer Project, an inquiry project, met its goals and had a significant impact on the
participants. However, the same answer can not be given to the goal of encouraging
“equity-mindedness”. The project was not as successful on this goal.

Implications for Practice
Professional Development
Administrators and faculty members are faced with many options when it
comes to professional development (PD) and self-assessment. The questions that
many administrators and faculty members may ask when thinking of implementing a
long-term inquiry project are, “How will such a project benefit the institution?” and
“Why is this type of project better than the “typical” professional development
workshop?” The findings from this evaluation show that collaborative inquiry
projects, like the Oceanside Transfer Project, have the ability to provide deeper
learning by participants, which in turn, leads to greater benefits for the college as a
whole. By and large, the use of collaborative inquiry has far-reaching implications as

155
both a means of professional development and as a measure of assessment and
accountability.
Lieberman and Miller (1990) define effective professional development as,
the continuous inquiry into practice. In this construction of
professional development, we see the teacher as a ‘reflective
practitioner,’ someone who has a tacit knowledge base and who
then builds on that knowledge base through ongoing inquiry and
analysis, continually rethinking values and practices (p.107).

As a form of professional development, the inquiry project is the epitome of an ideal
condition for learning because it recognizes the participants as having a strong base
of knowledge to build upon through inquiry and reflection.
In addition, the Oceanside Transfer Project meets the five elements of
professional development that Lieberman and Miller (1990) found are essential for
promoting significant learning. First, it is important to establish “norms of
colleagueship, openness, and trust” (p.107). As a long-term project, participants had
the opportunity to get to know one another which led to a feeling of trust and to a
sense that meetings were a safe place to have open discussions. Second, participants
should be provided with “opportunities and time for disciplined inquiry” (p.107).
Over the course of the five months, participants conducted extensive inquiry
activities and met for four collaborative inquiry meetings. This provided them with
extensive opportunities to inquire, reflect, and discuss their findings. Third,
participant learning should be “in content of context” (p.107). Unlike many
professional development activities, the inquiry activities for the Oceanside Transfer
Project took place where they worked, not at an unrelated site outside of their local

156
context. Fourth, all participants should be given equal opportunity to assume
leadership roles. While there were no specific leadership titles, each participant had
an equal voice and equal opportunity for contribution. Finally, there should be an
opportunity for the formation of “networks, collaborations, and coalitions” (p.107).
Participants had the opportunity to work with and collaborate with colleagues from
across academic disciplines. They were able to collaborate during the project and the
collaboration continued after the completion of the project. Several participants
noted that because of the project, they would now be able to send students to specific
people for information about transfer. They did not have this knowledge prior to
working on the project.
The Oceanside Transfer Project shows educational leaders that they can help
bring about change in their organizations by providing professional development
opportunities that involve the collaboration of cross-departmental teams. It also
shows that collaboration can occur naturally between departments when there is a
focus on an activity, in this case, transfer.

Accountability
Another positive aspect of a collaborative inquiry project is that such a
project can also be used as a form of accountability. There are three general types of
student outcomes that are used for accountability purposes, but the most widely
measured outcomes are the measures of progress. These outcomes include

157
progress/course completion rates, employment rates, and transfer rates. (Grubb &
Badway, 2005; Ewell, 1991).
Typically, colleges assess themselves in the area of transfer by the number of
students who transfer to a four-year university within four years of first enrolling.
Using raw numbers alone to assess transfer is limited for two reasons. First,
Bensimon et al. (2003) note that unlike K-12 schools, the majority of the colleges do
not disaggregate their data by race and ethnicity “Student transfer by race from two-
year community colleges (where the greatest numbers of African Americans and
Latinos are concentrated) to four-year colleges or universities is a measure used by
just one state” (Bensimon et al., 2003, p. 4). Second, transfer rates only report the
number of students that have been successful. There is no way to look ‘behind the
data’ to examine the reasons why some students did not transfer.
In order to address the inequitable transfer rates of minority students, colleges
have implemented a variety of programs that attempt to address the problem.
Typically these solutions focus on the deficits of students without assessing the
institutional factors that may contribute to the unequal outcomes. These deficit-
minded solutions have failed in increasing the number of minority students who
transfer (Grubb and Badway, 2005). Research by Grubb and Badway (2005) shows
that when colleges embrace accountability and use the data internally to examine
their own practices and student outcomes then the process can be used to improve
the ability of the institution to meet the needs of the students.

158
In general, colleges have not taken advantage of the assessment systems that
are in place to look at the effectiveness of their institutions. In higher education,
action research and an emphasis on participative democracy for the generation of
knowledge is not prevalent (Levin & Greenwood, 2001). There is great potential for
the design and implementation of assessment tools that can examine the
effectiveness of institutional policies and practices (Grubb & Badway, 2005).
As discussed earlier in the chapter, the findings show that the inquiry project
was very successful in assessing the effectiveness of the policies and practices that
were potentially hindering transfer. The Oceanside Transfer Project differs from
typical state accountability systems in that it assesses the institutional factors that
may contribute to unequal transfer outcomes and it provides a lens for looking at
data disaggregated by race and ethnicity. In addition, participants had a greater
investment in the assessment because they were involved in the research which led
them to feel a greater connection to the outcomes.

Limitations of the Oceanside Transfer Project
While the overall project was a success, and the use of collaborative inquiry
is recommended for use at other institutions, there are some points that should be
considered before undertaking such an endeavor.
First, time was a pressing issue throughout the study. While five months is
longer than a typical professional development activity, the nature of the project calls
for a sufficient amount of time for data collection and processing. Some participants

159
felt that they did not have enough time to collect their data – particularly those who
had to conduct interviews. Also, at the end of the project there was a rush to finish
the final report. When implementing an inquiry project, an institution may want to
consider a year-long project; though this may bring up an issue of finding
participants willing to commit to a year project.
Issues of time led to questioning whether participants had the capacity to
complete the project. Busy schedules hindered some data collection. While there
were a sufficient number of people on the team, some participants did not have
enough time to complete their assigned tasks to the fullest.
Capacity also became as issue when trying to determine who would write the
final report. The first dilemma was deciding on how to bring together the findings
from the two teams into one cohesive report. After deciding that each team would
write a separate report we needed a participant who was willing to take on the
responsibility. Paula volunteered to write the bulk of the report while other team
members were responsible for contributing and editing the report. In the end, the
researchers at CUE took the documents from the two teams and used their ideas to
create one final report to the college.
Third, while we expected participants to conduct interviews of colleagues, we
did not model interviewing techniques or provide them with training on how to
conduct an interview. In addition, we did not provide them with an interview
protocol. Since the participants interviewed colleagues in different departments, the
researchers at CUE felt that there were no uniform questions that could be asked, and

160
therefore, as researchers we made the decision not to provide an interview protocol.
Participants who conducted interviews felt that they lacked guidance and were
confused about what was expected of them. The absence of training and an interview
protocol may have impeded the data collection activity.
Additionally, the use of Survey Monkey as a data collection tool was
problematic. Participants had difficulty inputting their data, and when they would go
over their entries they would find that data was missing. Participants that did reenter
their data noted that they were not as detailed the second time some information may
have been lost.
Furthermore, this study was conducted at a school that had experience
working with the USC as a part of an action research team. As a partner in the
original Equity for All study, the institution had a background in equity and had made
equity in educational outcomes as one of its goals in their 2005-2010 Master Plan
(Bensimon, Dowd, Trapp, Alford, 2006). It is uncertain whether this background
contributed to the success of the project. Collaborative inquiry is a complicated
approach which requires a great attention to detail. An undertaking of this nature
may require outside assistance.
Finally, although the study was led by a team of researchers dedicated to
issues of equity, the project failed to develop “equity-mindedness” i.e., a way of
thinking about unequal transfer outcomes and the individual’s role in eliminating
them, in many of the participants. As discussed earlier, there were several reasons for
this omission: equity was not explicitly discussed throughout the project, the data

161
collection tool did not focus on equity, and there were insufficient learning activities
built into the project. The data shows that equity did not maintain a prominent
position during the project, the difficulty of facilitating equity discussions and how
easy it is to lose sight of important goals.

Limitations of the Study
In addition to the limitations of collaborative inquiry, there were several
limitations of the study that must be addressed. To begin with, as this study was my
first undertaking as a researcher, my inexperience must be taken into account. While
I did conduct practice interviews, I needed to continue working on my interview
skills. As I read the transcripts I could see many instances where I should have asked
probing questions. A more skilled interviewer may have been able to obtain more in-
depth information.
In addition, because of the size of the study some things could not be said in
order to maintain confidentiality. For example, specific job titles were left out so that
participants could not be identified. This is important because some faculty and
counselors had more knowledge and direct engagement with transfer than others.
This may have affected what participants learned and how that learning affected their
behavior.
Finally, the end of the project fell during finals week of spring semester. As
faculty members began preparing, administering, and grading finals, it became very
difficult to find time to conduct the final interviews. For most participants interviews

162
could not be scheduled after finals because they were not going to be on campus
during the summer. Additionally, participants questioned why they were being
interviewed again when they had been interviewed two months earlier. This was a
result of a five month project; they were interviewed in March, after their first
attempt at data collection, and again in May, at the end of the project. A longer
project may have alleviated that sense of repetition.

Future Research
In this study, I evaluated the effect of a collaborative inquiry action research
project of one of two teams involved in the Oceanside Transfer Project. While the
data collected highlights the success of practitioner inquiry, it does not address
whether this project could be successfully implemented at another institution.
Additional research on collaborative inquiry groups is needed in order to help
determine what characteristics facilitate successful inquiry projects.
This study also brings out questions that can be answered through future
research. First, since all of the changes in behavior were self-reported, I was not able
to measure actual changes in behavior. A follow-up study could return to Oceanside
College and investigate if and how participant behavior had changed. In addition, a
long-term study could be conducted to look at Kirkpatrick’s (2006) level 4 – results,
to see if the college implemented the suggestions from the Oceanside Transfer
Project and if the changes led to an increase in the number of students who
transferred.

163
Since the original design of the study called for one group of participants
conducting all of the research activities, future research could involve the use of a
single team. Some unanswered questions may be addressed by such a design. First, is
a project more successful if participants are asked to complete all inquiry activities or
would such a design lead to capacity issues for the participants? Second, would the
agency of Caucasian participants increase if they had the opportunity to interview
students?
Finally, if the overall goal is to increase the transfer rates of minority students
then further research needs to be conducted on how the inquiry process affects
people of different races. “Do Caucasians and minority members experience the
inquiry process differently when it involves race?” As we saw in the data, the
African-American and Caucasian participants reacted differently to the data and their
feelings of empowerment differed. Since the majority of faculty members on college
campuses are Caucasian, “What needs to be in place to help Caucasian faculty
members feel empowered to help minority students achieve educational success?”

Conclusion
Nearly 75 percent of students in California public higher education
institutions are enrolled in community colleges (Moore, 2006). While almost half of
California’s 18 year-old population is African-American or Latino, only one-fourth
of them will earn undergraduate certificates and/or Associates/Bachelor degrees

164
within six years from initial enrollment; with the Latino population being the least
educated (Moore & Schulock, 2006; Shulock & Moore, 2007).
Degree attainment is not only important for the individual but has
implications for all of society. Since African-American and Latinos are more likely
to begin the educational careers at a community college, these colleges play a vital
role in the educational attainment of minority students. Since community colleges
have a large pool of minority students, transfer is an essential component for access
to a four-year university. Inequitable transfer rates amongst minorities have a direct
effect on the attainment of bachelor’s degrees and economic prosperity of people of
color.
Colleges have implemented various programs to address the inequitable
transfer rates of minority students, however, generally the solutions focus on student
deficits without looking at the institutional factors that may contribute to the unequal
outcomes (Grubb and Badway, 2005). Research by Bensimon et. al (2004) and
Dowd and Tong (2007) show that change in practitioners’ beliefs and assumptions
can be brought about through collaborative inquiry activities. To this end, the
Oceanside Transfer Project was developed to increase the participants’ knowledge
about transfer and to address the inequitable transfer outcomes at Oceanside College.
The findings from this evaluative study support the premise that involving
practitioners in collaborative inquiry activities can lead to an increased awareness of
transfer practices, which in turn, may have an impact on behavior. Although, the
findings do not show that the project was successful at creating the “equity-

165
mindedness” needed to improve transfer outcomes for minority students, this does
not mean that the project was not a successful undertaking. It simply suggests that
additional components need to be in place in order to meet all of the project’s goals.
Despite its limitation, the Oceanside Transfer Project facilitated dialogue and
reflection about transfer across disciplines which led to a greater awareness of
barriers that hinder student success. Participation in the project led to an increase in
personal, proxy, and collective agency, which in turn, led to action on the part of the
participants and the larger community. This study provides strong evidence to
educational leaders that collaborative inquiry is a valuable tool for professional
development and accountability that is a worthy investment of a colleges’ time and
resources.

166
References

Argyris, C. (1976a). Theories of action that inhibit individual learning. American
Psychologist, Sept. 638-654.

Argyris, C. (1976b). Single-loop and double-loop models in research on decision
making. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21(3), 363-375.

Argyris, C. (1980). Making the undiscussable and its undissusability discussable.
PublicAdministration Review, 40(3), 205-213.

Argryis, C. (1994). Initiating change that perseveres. Journal of Public
Administration Research and Theory, 4(3), 343-355.

Argyris, C. (2003). A life full or learning. Organization Studies, 24(7), 1178-1192.

Astin, A.W. (1999). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher
education. Journal of College Student Development, 40(5), 518-529.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman
and Company.

Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review
of Psychology. 52, 1-26.

Bensimon, E.M. (2005a). Closing the achievement gap in higher education: An
organizational learning perspective. New Directions for Higher education,
131, Fall, 99-111.

Bensimon, E.M. (2005b). Equality as a fact, equality and a result: A matter of
institutional accountability. Washington DC: American Council on
Education.

Bensimon, E.M. (2006). Learning equity-mindedness equality in educational
outcomes. The academic workplace. New England resource center for higher
education. 17(1).

Bensimon, E.M. (2006). The underestimated significance of practitioner knowledge
in the scholarship on student success, Association for the Study of Higher
Education, 75(1), 104-126.

Bensimon, E.M. & Dowd, A. (2007) Developing advising capacity for institutional
transfer effectiveness. A proposal submitted to the William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation.

167
Bensimon, E.M., Hao, L., & Bustillos, L. (2003). Measuring the state of equity in
public higher education. Paper presented at the Harvard Civil Right and UC
Conference on Expanding Opportunity in Higher Education: California and
the Nation, Sacramento, California

Bensimon, E.M., Polikinghorne, D.E., Bauman, G.L., & Vallejo, E. (2004) Doing
research that makes a difference. Journal of Higher Education, 75(1), 104-
126.

Bray, J.N., Lee, J., Smith, L.L., & Yorks, L. (2000). Collaborative inquiry in
practice: Action, reflection, and meaning making. London: Sage
Publications, Inc.

Bruner, D. (1994). Inquiry and reflection: Framing narrative practice in
education. Albany: State of New York Press.

California Community College Chancellor’s Office Retrieved July 14, 2007, from:
http://misweb.cccco.edu/mis/onlinestat/studdemo_annual_college_rpt.cfm?R
equestTimeout=1000

California community college transfer: Recommended guidelines (2006), community
college system office and California community college transfer directors
association, 1-37

California’s Edge: Keeping California competitive, creating opportunity. California
EDGE Campaign. (n.d). Retrieved June 12, 2007, from:
http://www.californiaedgecampaign.org/download/CaliforniaEdgeCampaign
_White_Paper.pdf

Chatterji, M. (2005). Evidence on “what works”: An argument for extended-term
mixed method (ETMM) evaluation designs. Educational Researcher, 34(5),
14-24.

Clark, R.E. & Estes, F. (2002). Turning research into results: A guide to selecting
the right performance solutions. Atlanta: CEP Press.

Cobb, P., Confrey, J., diSessa, A., Lehrer, R., & Schauble, L. (2003). Design
experiments in educational research. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 9-13.

Cohen, D. K., Raudenbush, S. W., & Ball, D. L. (2003). Resources, instruction, and
research. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 25(2), 119-142.

Dougherty, K.J. (2001). The contradictory college: The conflicting origins, impacts,
and futures of the community college. Albany: The State University of New
York Press.

168

Dowd, A.C. (2005). Data don’t drive: Building a practitioner-driven culture of
inquiry to assess community college performance (Research Report).
Indianapolis, IN: Lumina Foundation for Education

Dowd, A. C. & Bensimon, E. M. (2007). Developing advising capacity for
Institutional transfer effectiveness. A proposal Presented to the William and
Flora Hewlett Foundation

Dowd, A.C., Bensimon, E.M, & Gabbard, G. (2006). Transfer Access Self-
Assessment Inventory [assessment instrument]. Los Angeles and Boston: of
Southern California and University of Massachusetts Boston.

Dowd, A.C. & Tong, V.P. (2007). Accountability, assessment, and the scholarship of
“best practices”. Higher Education Handbook of Theory and Research, Vol
XXII, 57-119 (J.C. Smart, Ed). Springer

Ewell, P. T. (1991). To capture the ineffable: New forms of assessment in higher
education. Review of Research in Education, 17, 75-125.

Friedman, V. J. (2001). Action science: Creating communities on inquiry in
communities of practice. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of
action research (pp. 159-170). London: SAGE Publications.

Fry, R. (2004). Latino youth finishing college: The role of selective pathways. Pew
Hispanic Center Report. Retrieved February 2, 2007, from:
http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/30.pdf

Gaventa, J. & Cornwall, A. (2001). Power and knowledge. In P. Reason & H.
Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research (pp.70-80). London: SAGE
Publications.

Goddard, R.G., Hoy, W.K., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2000). Collective teaching
efficacy: Its meaning, measure, and impact on student achievement.
American Educational Research Journal, 37(2), 479-507.

Goddard, R.G., Hoy, W.K., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2004). Collective efficacy beliefs:
Theoretical developments, empirical evidence, and future directions.
Educational Researcher, 33(3), 3-13.

Greenwood, D. & Levin, M. (2001). Pragmatic action research and the struggle to
transform universities into learning communities. In P. Reason & H.Bradbury
(Eds.), Handbook of action research (pp. 103-113). London: SAGE
Publications.

169
Grubb, W.N. & Badway, N.N. (2005). From compliance to improvement:
Accountability and assessment in california community colleges. Higher
Education Evaluation and Research Group, 1-46.

Heron, J. & Reason, P. (2001). The practice of co-operative inquiry: Research ‘with’
rather than ‘on’ people . In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of
action research (pp. 179-188). London: SAGE Publications.

Hoachlander, G. & Sikora, A.C. (2003). Community college student: Goals,
academic preparation, and outcomes. National Center for Education
Statistics: 1-73.

Hoy, W.K., Tarter, C.J., & Hoy, A. (2006). Academic optimism of schools: A force
for student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 43(3),
425-446.

Huber, L., Huidor, O., Malagon, M.C., Sanchez, G., Solorzano, D. G. (2006). Falling
through the cracks: Critical transitions in the Latina/o educational pipeline.
2006 Latina/o Education Summit Report, CSRC Research Report. 7

Kelly, P.J. (2005). As America becomes more diverse: The impact of state higher
education inequality. National Center for Higher Education Management
Systems. Retrieved June 12, 2007, from:
http://www.higheredinfo.org/raceethnicity/California_State_Profile.pdf

Kember, D. & Gow, L. (1992). Action research as a form of staff development in
higher education. Higher Education, 23(3), 297-310.

Kemmis, S. (2001). Exploring the relevance of critical theory for action research
Emancipatory action research in the footsteps of Jurgen Habermas. In P.
Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research (pp. 91-102).
London: SAGE Publications.

Kim, D.H. (1993). The link between individual and organizational learning. Sloan
Management Review, Fall, 37-50.

Kirkpatrick, D.L. (2006). Evaluation training programs: The four levels. San
Francisco: Berett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Knapp, L.G., Kelly-Reid, J.E., Whitmore, R.W., Miller, E.S. (2006). Enrollment in
postsecondary institutions, Fall 2004; Graduation rates, 1998 & 2001
cohorts; and financial statistics, fiscal year 2004. National Center for
Education Statistics. iii-B6

170
Kutz, E., Cornog, J., & Paster, D. (2004). Beyond grammar: Building language
awareness in the writing classroom. Journal of Teaching Writing, 21(1 & 2),
65-82.

Lee, V. E., & Smith, J.B. (1996). Collective responsibility for learning and its effects
on gains in achievement for early secondary school students. American
Journal of Higher Education, 104(2), 103-147.

Lee, W.Y. (2001). Toward a more perfect union: Reflecting on trends and issues for
enhancing the academic performance of minority transfer students. New
Directions for Community Colleges, 114, 39-44.

Lieberman, A., & Miller, L. (1990). Teacher development in professional practice
schools. Teacher College Record. 92(1) Fall 105-122

McGrath, D., & Spear, M.B. (1991) The academic crisis of community college.
Albany:State University of New York Press.
Merriam, S.B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Moll, L. C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for
teaching: Using qualitative research to connect homes and classrooms.
Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-141.

Moore, C., & Shulock, N. (2006). State of decline? Gaps in college access and
achievement call for renewed commitment to education Californians. Policy
Issue Report: Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy, October
2006

Nasir, N.S., & Hand, V.M., (2006). Exploring sociocultural perspectives on race,
culture, and learning. Review of Educational Research, 76(4), 449-475.

National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (2005). As America
becomesmore diverse: The impact of state higher education inequality,
California state profile. Boulder, CO: Author. Available at
www.higheredinfo.org/raceethnicity/California_State_Profile.pdf retrieved
June 12, 2007

Palmer, J.C. (1994). Educational planning and assessment. In Artur M. Cohen,
Florence B Brawer & Associates (Eds.), Managing Community Colleges: A
Handbook for Effective Practices, 457-474. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers.

Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. London: Sage
Publications.

171
Park, P. (2001). Knowledge and participatory research. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury
(Eds.), Handbook of action research (pp. 81-90). London: SAGE
Publications.

Peña, E. (2007). The Responsive Academic Practitioner: Using Inquiry Methods for
Self-Change. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Southern
California.

Peña, E., Colyar, J., & Bensimon, E.M. (2006). Contextual problem defining:
Learning to think and act. Liberal Education, 92(2), 48-55.

Peterson, M.W. & Augustine, C.H. (2000). External and internal influences on
institutional approaches to student assessment: Accountability or
improvement? Research in Higher Education, 41(4), 443-479.

Polkinghorne, D.E. (2004). Practice and the human sciences: The case for a
judgment-based practice of care. Albany: State University of New York
Press.

Preskill, H. & Torres, R. (1999). Building capacity for organizational learning
through evaluative inquiry. Evaluation, 5(1) 42-60. London: Sage
Publications.

Promoting access to higher education: A review of the state’s transfer process (2006)
Legislative Analyst’s Office, 1-47.

Putnam, R.W. (1999). Transforming social practice: An action science perspective.
Management Learning, 30(2) 177-187. London: Sage Publications.

Raudenbush, S. W. (2005). Learning from attempts to improve schooling: The
contribution of methodological diversity. Educational Researcher, 25-31.

Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (2001). Handbook of action research: Participative
inquiry & practice. London: Sage Publications.

Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (2004). Handbook of action research: Participative
inquiry & practice. London: Sage Publications.

Richardson Jr., R.C., & Skinner, E. (1990). Adapting to Diversity: Organizational
influences on student achievement. Journal of Higher Education, 61(5), 485-
510.

Rodgers, C.R. (2002). Seeing student learning: Teacher change and the role of
reflection. Harvard Educational Review, 72(2), 230-253.

172

Russel, T. & Munby, H., (1991). Reframing: The role of experience in developing
teachers’ professional knowledge. In D. Schon (Ed.), The Reflective Turn
(164-187). New York: Teachers College Press.

Schon, D.A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action.
New York: Basic Books Inc.

Shulock, N. & Moore, C. (2007). Rules of the game: How state policy creates
barriers to degree completion and impede student success in the California
community college. Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy.

Somekh, B. (1995). Teacher researcher: Methodological and empowerment issues in
practical research for improved teaching and learning. British Educational
Research Journal, 21(3), 339-355.
Sproull, L.S. & Tamuz, M. (1999). Learning from samples of one or fewer. In J. G.
March (Ed.), The pursuit of organizational intelligence. Malden, MA:
Blackwell.

Stage, F.K. & Manning, K. (2003). Research in the College Context. New York:
Brunner-Routledge.
Stanton-Salazar, R.D. (1997). A social capital framework for understanding the
socialization of racial minority children and youths. Harvard Educational
Review, (67)1, 1-40.

Stecher, B., Le, V.-N., Hamilton, L., Ryan, G., Robyn, A., & Lockwood, J. R.
(2006). Using structured classroom vignettes to measure instructional
practices in mathematics. Educational evaluation and policy analysis, 28(2),
101-130.

Stringer, E.T. (1999). Action Research. Second Edition Thousand Oaks: SAGE
Publications

Title V program statute. Retrieved July 20, 2007, from:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/idueshsi/title5legislation.doc

Townsend, B.K. & Wilson, K.B. (2006). The transfer mission: Tried and true, but
troubled? New Directions for Community Colleges, 136, 33-41.

Transfer capacity and readiness in the California community colleges: A progress
report to the legislature (2002). Sacramento, Chancellor’s Office, California
Community Colleges.

173
Tschannen-Moran, M., Woolfolk Hoy, A., & Hoy, W.K. (1998). Teaching efficacy:
It’s meaning and measure. Review of Educational Research, 68(2), 202-248.

U.S. Department of Education. (2006). A test of leadership: Charting the future of
U.S. higher education. Washington, D.C.

Wassmer, R., Moore, C., & Shulock, N., (2003). A quantitative study of California
community college transfer rates: Policy implications and a future research
agenda. Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity.
Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

Zamani, E.M. (2001). Institutional responses to barriers to the transfer process.
New Directions for Community Colleges, 114, 15-24.

174
Appendix A
USC Self-Assessment Inventory Index
13

Transfer Counseling Services for Students
1. 1. Brochures or other forms of literature are available addressing specific needs of students seeking
to transfer to four-year institutions.
1. 2. Informational material on four-year institutions (i.e. view books, catalogs and transfer
applications) are available.
1. 3. Dedicated web-based information related to transferring to four-year institutions is available.
1. 4. Transfer personnel and/or faculty inform students about transfer opportunities to four-year
institutions during first-year orientation and other workshops and meetings for incoming students.

1. 5. Workshops scheduled at various times to inform students about transfer possibilities to four-year
institutions.

1. 6. A faculty member accompanies potential transfers on visits to four-year institutions.

1. 7. Transfer counselors are available daily and in the evenings for drop-in advising at all campus
locations.

1. 8. Transfer counselors will place calls for students to four-year college admissions and financial
aid offices to help students make and interpret inquiries.

1. 9. Students who transferred and graduated from four-year institutions are available as peer tutors
and mentors.

1. 10. High school students invited to college to meet with faculty/staff and learn about transfer
options.

1. 11. Free transportation is provided for campus visits at four-year institutions.

1. 12. Special transfer-directed programs offered, such as a summer writing, mathematics, or science
program.

1. 13. Workshop for transfer students focus on social and cultural norms at four-year institutions,
including the experiences of transfer shock and of being away from one’s family.

1. 14. Faculty plan workshops for students planning to transfer to four-year institutions dealing with
academic concerns.

1. 15. Honors program or college provides preparation and support for students to apply to a four-year
institution.

1. 16. Participants in honors and transfer-directed programs reflect the racial-ethnic and socio-
economic diversity of the college’s general population.

13
The index lists the indictors of the SAI. The complete tool is designed to allow for participants to
take notes directly on the form. Dowd, A.C., Bensimon, E.M, & Gabbard, G. (2006). Transfer Access
Self- Assessment Inventory [assessment instrument]. Los Angeles and Boston: of Southern California
and University of Massachusetts Boston.

175
1. 17. Students participate in service learning and civic engagement projects with peers from four-
year institutions.

Financial Support for Students Seeking to Transfer to Four-Year Institutions
2. 1. Financial packages/ scholarships designed to specifically support students transferring to four-
year institutions are available from your college.

2. 2. Information provided about grants/scholarships available from the state, colleges, or the private
sector for community college graduates planning to transfer to four-year institutions.

2. 3. Financial aid personnel available to assist students seeking to transfer to four-year institutions.

2. 4. Financial aid advisors participate in professional development activities with four-year
institution colleagues.

2. 5. Phi Theta Kappa chapter on campus providing support and scholarships for students seeing to
transfer to four-year institutions.

Institutional Transfer Policies and Practices
3. 1. Formal articulation agreements with four-year institutions.

3. 2. Alignment and transferability of general education courses.

3. 3. Curriculum alignment (e.g. sequenced course numbering, general education, course content,
etc.).
3. 4. Guaranteed admission for qualified associate degree holders.
3. 5. Guaranteed admission for qualified degree holders for specific programs (e.g. engineering, pre-
med, etc.).
Please specify:
3. 6. Articulation agreements with secondary schools to accept high achieving students into honors
program (or college) on track to being accepted to a selective four year college or university.
3. 7. Transfer course and credit equivalencies are available online.
3. 8. Regularly scheduled workshops for personnel to enable them to assist students to follow transfer
requirements.
3. 9. Transfer credit evaluations are conducted by designated trained personnel to work with four-
year institution partners to assist in transfer policies and procedures.
3. 10. Baseline data collected on transfer and transfer performance to help in planning and facilitating
transfer to four-year institutions.
3. 11. Professional development opportunities available to faculty/staff to help them to assist students
who are seeking to transfer to a four-year institution.
3. 12. Board of Trustee involvement in promoting or assisting student transfer to four-year
institutions.
3. 13. Alumni involvement in promoting or assisting student transfer to four year institutions.

176
Partnerships and Collaborations
4. 1. Joint workshop activities, or projects, focused on pedagogy, student support services, or the
improvement of teaching. List by Name and Collaborating College:
4. 2. Jointly received external funding. List by Name and Collaborating College:
4. 3. Joint curriculum or program development projects. List by Name and Collaborating College
4. 4. Jointly sponsored academic programs, i.e., honors programs. List by Name and Collaborating
College
4. 5. Four-year college/university host activities or events on your campus. List by Name and
Collaborating College
4. 6. Programs at four-year institutions allowing students to gain experience with academic
expectations at such schools. List by Name and Collaborating College
4. 7 Transfer personnel visit four-year institutions to provide information on the college and its
students and programs to faculty/staff. List by Name and Collaborating College
4. 8. Joint monitoring of institutional policies related to transfer at two- and four-year institutions. List
by Name and Collaborating College

177
Appendix B

January 15, 2007

NAME
COLLEGE
ADDRESS 1
ADDRESS 2

Dear NAME,

Professor David Morse has informed us that you are interested in participating in
“The ‘Missing 87’: A Study of ‘Transfer-Ready’ Community College Students Who
Do Not Transfer.” We want to thank you for your interest and look forward with
great anticipation to collaborating on this project. The purpose of this letter is to
give you more information on the project.

Over the past year LBCC has been one of nine campuses participating in the “Equity
for All” project which involved a team of your colleagues: Dr. Fred Trapp, Hannah
(Oh) Alford, Dr. Linda Umbdenstock, Lee Douglass, Kevin Ryan, Shauna Hageman,
and Delia DuRos led by Dr. Leticia Suarez, Dean of School Resources. The purpose
of Equity for All was to examine data to identify gaps in educational outcomes and
construct an “equity scorecard.” Information on LBCC’s Equity for All work is
available in LBCC’s web site [INCLUDE ADDRESS]. One of the most
compelling findings from the team’s work in the Equity for All project was that more
than 20% of eligible students at LBCC do not transfer. There is also a group of
students who met the criteria to transfer to UC but instead transferred to a CSU
campus. However, we do not know why students who qualify to transfer do not, or
why students who qualify for transfer to UC choose a CSU institution. Needless to
say, there are probably a variety of reasons for this phenomenon and the purpose of
the “Oceanside Transfer Project” is to find out.

We decided that the best way of understanding this problem would be by talking
directly to the students who did not transfer or who transferred to a CSU even though
they could have gone to a UC campus. Fortunately, The William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation felt that this project has the potential of shedding insights into a problem
that is likely to have implications for transfer-related policies and practices at other
California community colleges and decided to support it.

The “Oceanside Transfer Project” will involve you in the conduct of semi-structured
interviews with students and ethnographic observations on your campus. The
purpose of the interviews is to learn first-hand from students why they didn’t transfer
to a four-year college even though they were eligible. The observations on campus
will be conducted as part of a cultural and resource audit of transfer advising

178
practices. The interviews and observations will begin in February and end in May
2007.

We will hold an orientation to discuss the Oceanside Transfer Project and your role
in further detail on January 25, 2007, from 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m., at the LBCC
Pacific Coast Campus. Dinner will be provided. Additional details about the
orientation will be given once we have received your confirmation of attendance.

We would like to emphasize that, should you agree to participate, your work on this
project will dovetail with your current work on other initiatives and various
committees at LBCC. In fact, this project will benefit LBCC in the following ways:
Assist with meeting important measures of institutional accountability,
particularly student transfer;
Serve as a natural extension of ongoing equity initiatives at LBCC (e.g.,
the Equity for All project);
Benefit the upcoming Western Association of Schools and Colleges
(WASC) accreditation, as well as future internal reviews of various
departments such as counseling, financial aid, and EOP&S;
Help LBCC further achieve its goal of equity, as stated in the 2005-2010
Master Plan;
Strengthen relationship to student learning outcomes, as outlined in the
Title V cooperative grant with CSU Long Beach;
Increase campus-wide discussion to promote transfer for LBCC students,
particularly those from underrepresented groups; and
Develop a better understanding of the “transfer gap” among faculty, staff,
and administrators and make corresponding changes.

We also envision several professional and personal benefits for the faculty and staff
members, who will comprise the “Transfer Gap” inquiry team, including:
Develop an understanding and awareness of transfer stories and
experiences of LBCC students with implications for effecting teaching
and advising practices;
Exposure to inquiry practices that can be applied to situations that require
problem-defining (e.g., retention, improving outcomes of particular
groups of students);
Engage in further research, publishing, and presentation opportunities
with researchers from the Center for Urban Education at USC; and
Apply this project to graduate coursework, master’s theses, and doctoral
dissertations.

Additionally, your colleagues who participated in the Equity for All inquiry team can
give you a good sense of their experience and whether they found it worthwhile.

We are thrilled about the possibility of your participation in this exciting project. We
hope you will take some time to review the enclosed Executive Summary. To

179
facilitate your response to this invitation, we have provided a response form in which
you can indicate your interest and conveniently return by e-mail to Edlyn V. Peña,
CUE Research Assistant, at evallejo@usc.edu. We would appreciate hearing from
you no later than _____________. If you prefer to talk more in-depth about the
project, you can contact me at (213) 740-5202 or via e-mail at bensimon@usc.edu.

Sincerely,

Estela Mara Bensimon Alicia C. Dowd
Professor of Higher Education Assistant Professor
Director, Center for Urban Education University of Southern
California
University of Southern California

Fred Trapp Hannah Alford
Administrative Dean Research Analyst
Institutional Research and Academic Services Long Beach City
College
Long Beach City College

David Morse
Academic Senate President
Long Beach City College

180
Appendix C
First Interview Protocol

Interview questions of On Campus Assessment Team (OCAT)
1. What is your role at [Oceanside] and what kinds of interactions do you have with
students?

2. What assessments did you conduct? Tell me how they went.
• Did they go as you expected them to go?
• Was there anything you were apprehensive about in conducting
assessments?

3. When you first saw the data what was your reaction? How did it make you feel?
• What was the most surprising and why?

4. What kinds of things did you learn from conducting assessments that you did not
know before doing them?
• What are your feelings about the process of discussing and analyzing
assessment findings in the inquiry meetings?

5. What have you learned about the way that [Oceanside] does transfer that you
didn’t know before?
• Given what you know now, how does that change what you do?
• How does it affect your practice?
• How does it affect the way you interact with students?
• How does it affect the way you feel about your ability to improve transfer
outcomes?

6. In the meeting Ingrid suggested that at the beginning of the semester the faculty
members should be given a transfer information sheet to give to the students. What
do you think about that?
• Would you pass it out in your class?
• Would you have a discussion about transfer?
• If you were given a 10 minute DVD about transfer, would you show it?
• Do you think that you would have shown the DVD prior to your involvement
in this project? Why or why not?

7. In the meeting Craig said, “Transfer is in the transfer center. It needs to be with
the faculty, they’re the ones that are directly in front of the students.
• Do you feel that faculty has a role to play in transfer?
• If so, what does that role look like?
• Have you ever considered what role you play in transfer?
• How can you take this information to other aspects of your work life?

181
8. In the meeting Dana said, “Child development students can get a job with 12 units
or a master’s degree. It’s all the way across the boards. Students are clueless about
transfer. They think that they only have to take 12 units but it limits them to where
they can work. They’re thinking career but don’t realize that they can’t move on with
their jobs with only 12 units. They are stuck in a low level position.”
• Should faculty stand by the students’ decisions or should they encourage
students to further their education. Does faculty have a role to play in raising
the aspiration of students?

182
Appendix D

Second Interview Protocol

I want to talk to you about the project…

1. What were your initial impressions of the project?
• What are you impressions now?

2. Has this process made you think differently about transfer outcomes?

3. If someone at [Oceanside] asked you about what difference this project has made
to you, what would you say?

Now I would like to talk to you about what you have learned from the project…

4. What did you learn about existing practices at [Oceanside] as you progressed
through this project?

5. Was there anything you learned about yourself as a result of this project?

6. This project derived from the Equity for All project. The goal is to promote more
equitable outcomes for African-American and Latino/a students. What can you do
specifically to support Latino and AA students transfer?

7. Reflecting on the project and your own beliefs, do you think that this project has
had an effect on your beliefs about your capability or potential to increase transfer
rates?
• What was the catalyst for change?

8. If someone not familiar with the campus came to [Oceanside], what do you think
their impression of the transfer culture would be? Transfer culture being defined as
the language used by faculty, staff and students, visibility, and shared knowledge.
• Do you think this person would have the same impression of both the LAC
and PCC campus?
• How do you see yourself in the transfer culture?

Finally, I would like to talk to you about actions and behaviors…

9. On the final survey you stated that since this project began you have engaged in
(Fill in for each individual) activities related to transfer. Please elaborate on what
caused you to engage in those behaviors.
• There were some items that you did not check. Please elaborate on why you
did not check them. Are there barriers that prevent you from taking those
actions?

183

10. Given what you have learned, are there things that you might do differently?

11. Given what you have learned from this project, what are three changes you
would recommend to the President-Superintendent?
How likely is it that your recommendations will be adopted?
What would you like to see different five years from now regarding transfer?

12. In your opinion, what, if any, changes have you observed since the beginning of
this project?

13. Was there anything else you would like to add?

184
Appendix E

Dinner Orientation Survey

1/25/07

We are looking forward to working with you and would like to know more about you
before getting started. Please take a few minutes to answer these question, writing as
much or as little as you like.

1. Your name
2. Your position at Oceanside College
3. Number of years at Oceanside College
4. What interested you in this project?
5. What other research projects have you been involved in at Oceanside College
or elsewhere? Tell us about your role and the methods that were used.
6. Have you heard about the Equity Scorecard project? If you have heard about
it, do you have any impressions about it?
7. This project is about finding out why students who could have transferred to
four-year colleges did not and why students who could have transferred to a
UC campus did not. Do you have any hunches about why this may be so?
Could you share them with us?
8. What do you know about how Oceanside College does “transfer”?
9. How would you describe the transfer culture here at Oceanside College?

185
Appendix F

Name:___________________________________
Title:__________________________

Since you began your involvement in the [Oceanside Transfer] project have you
engaged in any of the following behaviors? Please check all that apply.

_____Spoke to your class(es) about transfer

_____Had an individual conversation with a student(s) about transfer

_____Disseminated information to your class about a transfer fair

_____Attended a transfer fair (not as a part of data collection for the project)

_____Printed out an email you received from the transfer center and presented the
information to your class

_____Spoke with a colleague about transfer issues

_____Shared information about transfer with other committees

_____Invited a speaker to present information about transfer to your class

_____Attended a conference on transfer such as Ensuring Transfer Success
conference

_____Other: Please Describe

To what extent, did you do these things prior to the project?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Frequently Sometimes Not at all

In your opinion, what facilitated the success of the [Oceanside Transfer] project?

In your opinion, what were the challenges of the [Oceanside Transfer] project?

186
Appendix G

Verbal Recruitment of Subjects
Bensimon, Dowd, Harris, James, and Peña

My name is __________ and we are interested in having you participate in a small
research study of your role in the project at [Oceanside College] involving
assessments of transfer-ready students’ experiences and transfer resources on
campus. Specifically, we are interesting in the understandings you gain about the
transfer process from conducting these assessments. Upon your permission, I would
like to interview you and observe you during your project meetings at [Oceanside
College]. These events will be audio-taped. Your participation is voluntary. But if
you wouldn’t mind talking to me two times this year for about forty-five minutes at a
time, your participation will be greatly appreciated. I will hand out a sheet of paper
for you to sign up for interviews. If you decide to sign up, I will contact you via
email to set up an appointment for me to talk to you. Thank you!

187
Appendix H
Oceanside College Fast-track transfer-eligible students (1999-2002) by transfer
status and race and ethnicity
UC-Eligible Asian/PI African
American/Black
Hispanic/
Latina/o
White Other Total
Transferred to
UC
6
(15%)
6
(15%)
11
(28%)
9
(23%)
8
(20%)
40
(100%)
Transferred to
CSU
20
(19%)
9
(9%)
27
(26%)
35
(33%)
14
(13%)
105
(100%)
Transferred
elsewhere
2
(13%)
1
(6%)
3
(19%)
7
(44%)
3
(19%)
16
(100%)
Transferred
nowhere
6
(16%)
1
(3%)
7
(19%)
17
(46%)
6
(16%)
37
(100%)
Unduplicated*
UC-eligible
Total
34
(17%)
17
(9%)
48
(24%)
68
(34%)
31
(16%)
198
(100%)

CSU-Eligible Asian/PI African
American/Black
Hispanic/
Latina/o
White Other Total
Transferred to
CSU
47
(22%)
16
(7%)
61
(29%)
63
(29%)
27
(13%)
214
(100%)
Transferred
elsewhere
9
(27%)
3
(10%)
9
(27%)
7
(21%)
5
(15%)
33
(100%)
Transferred
nowhere
17
(23%)
2
(3%)
18
(24%)
25
(33%)
13
(17%)
75
(100%)
Unduplicated*
CSU-eligible
Total
73
(23%)
21
(7%)
88
(27%)
95
(30%)
45
(14%)
322
(100%)
*Though CSU-eligible, UC-eligible students are counted only once.
Source: (Bensimon, Dowd, Peña, Alford & James, 2007).

188
Appendix I
Transfer Fair Extra Credit Assignment

Name:________________________________________
Date:____________________

In order to receive extra credit you must attend the transfer fair and ask the
college representative the following questions. You may visit as many tables as
you like, but for this assignment you need to get information from 3 different
universities. You can write your answers on this paper.

Name of the University:
___________________________________________________

1. How many units do I need to transfer to your college?
__________________________

2. Is there a maximum number of units that transfer?
_____________________________

3. What is the minimum GPA for transfer to your college?
________________________

4. Do D's transfer?_________________________________________

5. Is there a deadline for admissions? If so, what is it?
____________________________

6. How much is the application fee and is there a way to have the fee waived?
____________________________________________________________________

7. What type of financial aid is offered for transfer students?
____________________________________________________________________

If you already have a major in mind then ask the following questions. (Example,
if you want to major in journalism, education, business etc.)

8. Do you offer a degree in ___________________________ (fill in the blank with
what you want to major in).

____________________________________________________________________
9. Are the special requirements for transferring into this major? (GPA, specific
courses)
____________________________________________________________________

189
Appendix J

Transfer Barriers and Solutions
14

Informational
Barriers:
Students do not spend enough time interacting with counselors.
Students accumulate too many credits.
Lack of awareness about basic information, processes, and support programs.
Lack of capacity for just-on-time communication.
Lack of computer knowledge constrains use of electronic resources.
Inadequate signage.

Potential Solutions:
Encourage all instructors to invite counselors to make presentations about
transfer in their classes.
Improve the quality and quantity of signage and make it easier for students to
know where to seek resources.
Explore the feasibility of establishing various means of communicating with
students, including email, text-messaging, instructors’ announcements, and
electronic bulletin boards.

Structural
Barrier:
Physical location of transfer centers.

Potential Solution:
Make the transfer center visible and inviting.

Practices
Barrier:
Access to four-year college recruiters.

Potential Solutions:
Determine which students make appointments with university recruiters and
whether particular groups of students are less likely to do so.
Meet with the recruiters who require appointments and seek their feedback on
the process.
Document student participation in recruitment activities.
Invite instructors of basic skills and other fields to create assignments
connected to transfer.

14
The list of barriers and solutions were reported in the final collaborative report of both the Student
Interview and On Campus Assessment Teams. In order to maintain confidentiality, a citation is not
provided.

190
Policy
Barrier:
The limited amount of time counselors have available for individual
appointments.
Potential Solution:
Review the organization of counselors’ assignments and responsibilities.

Cultural
Barrier:
Faculty involvement in transfer.

Potential Solution:
Create professional development opportunities on FLEX day on the role of
faculty in the transfer process.

Relational
Barrier:
Transfer anxiety.

Potential Solutions:
Anti-anxiety programs.
Expose students to the many types of colleges.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This study explores the experiences of ten faculty members and counselors involved in a collaborative inquiry project at an urban community college. Participants in the study investigated the transfer-gap -- the gap between the number of students who are eligible to transfer and the number who actually transfer to a four-year college. The purpose of the project under study was to increase knowledge about factors that inhibit and promote equitable transfer to four-year institutions. This new knowledge had the potential to motivate faculty members and counselors to take responsibility for addressing unequal outcomes of students of color. Participants were observed in collaborative inquiry meetings and interviewed over five months to trace changes in their knowledge about transfer and in their educational practices related to transfer. Analysis of participants reactions, learning, and behavior was conducted using the Kirkpatrick (2006) framework on program evaluation.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

Reframing the role of transfer facilitators: using action research methods for new knowledge development

PDF

The responsive academic practitioner: using inquiry methods for self-change

PDF

Developing adaptive expertise among community college faculty through action inquiry as a form of assessment

PDF

Remediating artifacts: facilitating a culture of inquiry among community college faculty to address issues of student equity and access

PDF

Math faculty as institutional agents: role reflection through inquiry-based activities

PDF

The Transfer Academy: providing community college students with the informational, structural, relational, and cultural resources to transfer successfully to a four-year college

PDF

Evaluating the impact of CUE's action research processes and tools on practitioners' beliefs and practices

PDF

The influence of organizational learning on inquiry group participants in promoting equity at a community college

PDF

Institutional researchers as agents of organizational learning in hispanic-serving community colleges

PDF

An examination of collaboration amongst student affairs and academic affairs professionals in an action research project

PDF

How community college basic skills coordinators lead organizational learning

PDF

The “lost boys” of higher education: African American males from basic skills through university transfer

PDF

Re-mediating practitioners' practice for equity in higher education: evaluating the effectiveness of action research

PDF

Academic advisement practices and policies in support of Black community college students with the goal of transfer

PDF

Assessing the impact of the Puente Project on Latino males in California community colleges

PDF

Designing equity-focused action research: benefits and challenges to sustained collaboration and organizational change

PDF

AB 540 community college students in Southern California: making connections and realizing dreams

PDF

Postsecondary faculty attitudes, beliefs, practices, and knowledge regarding students with ADHD: a comparative analysis of two-year and four-year institutions

PDF

The role of historically underserved students’ perceptions of their high school counselor in overcoming the equity gap in college admissions: an evaluative study

PDF

The college selection process of high-achieving Latino students

Asset Metadata

Creator James, Kimberly Raina (author)

Core Title Changing the landscape of institutional assessment on transfer: the impact of action research methods on community college faculty and counselors

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 04/01/2008

Defense Date 03/13/2008

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag action research,community college,OAI-PMH Harvest,professional development

Language English

Advisor Bensimon, Estela Mara (committee chair), Dowd, Alicia (committee member), Peña-Vallejo, Edlyn (committee member)

Creator Email kimberrj@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m1076

Unique identifier UC174886

Identifier etd-James-20080401 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-51191 (legacy record id),usctheses-m1076 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-James-20080401.pdf

Dmrecord 51191

Document Type Dissertation

Rights James, Kimberly Raina

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu