Alliance Will Manage National Articulation and Transfer Network
WASHINGTON
The Alliance for Equity in Higher Education has assumed leadership and management of the National Articulation and Transfer Network, a major national initiative designed to increase enrollment, retention and graduation rates for minority students. The move was announced after more than a year of discussions about how best to advance the national goals of the project.
Established in 2001 at the City College of San Francisco, NATN includes several interrelated activities. The network primarily focuses on developing articulation agreements that simplify transfer processes among community colleges and four-year colleges and universities, and expand transfer participation for minority-serving institutions. NATN also is developing an Internet-based college information search engine and transfer audit system known as CollegeStepz.
NATN has grown into a coalition of more than 200 of the nation’s large urban high schools, community colleges and four-year institutions. Its work has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Congress, the Ford Foundation and more recently by the Lumina Foundation for Education.
“This collaboration provides an opportunity to consolidate efforts on behalf of access for minority students and ultimately create broader opportunities for all prospective students,” says Jamie Merisotis, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy.
NATN founder Dr. Philip Day, chancellor of the City College of San Francisco, commended the transition, saying, “As a national organization committed to student access and opportunity, the Alliance is the right place for NATN. I am happy and hopeful on behalf of the students that will benefit from this new continuum of pathways to educational opportunity. NATN’s initiatives have galvanized support among the educational community and policy leaders.”
Alliance leaders of have expressed resounding optimism for the initiative and the integration of NATN’s mission and goals with those of the Alliance.
“NATN senses the growing demand from education and policy leaders for a coherent transfer policy that provides all students opportunities in higher education,” says Dr. Lezli Baskerville, president of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.
“We have many efforts underway to reshape education policy to increase access for minority students. NATN has the potential to open that access even wider and to revolutionize the way students approach their educational success and persistence,” says Dr. Antonio Flores, president of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
