The rise of transfer agreements and the greater scrutiny on college costs has brought more attention to the value of community colleges as the first step in higher education. Transfer articulation agreements between community colleges and state universities provide valuable pathways for students advancing their education. Community college students represent over 40% of all undergraduates in the U.S., and a large portion of them will transfer to another institution along their educational journey. This journey is often facilitated by credit transfer agreements between institutions, which are built on common curricular goals, including information literacy (IL). Relatively little has been published about how libraries between partner institutions collaborate to meet these IL needs. Support resources and services like advising, financial aid, veterans affairs, and scholarships assist in bridging the transfer shock of students leaving a teaching college and entering a research university. Though not traditionally involved in these collaborations, librarians need to be part of the process as well. Creating clearly defined cross-institutional partnerships between library professionals facilitates IL success for transfer students. The FUSE Program at the University of South Florida is an articulation agreement with eight community colleges in Florida, ensuring not only admission to the university, but inclusion within certain proprietary degree programs. This poster explores the current state of IL requirements within the FUSE environment and the nature of library-led IL interventions for transfer students. It also looks at the possibilities for cross-institutional library collaboration to better meet these needs.
Learning Objectives:
The attendee will understand the nature of transfer agreements and their impact on information literacy (IL) instruction.
The attendee will be able to analyze the IL instruction partnerships at their own institutions.
The attendee will be able to evaluate library input on transfer student IL instruction.