University of Alabama reaches out to state Community Colleges

July 10, 2008, Tuscaloosa, AL,  The Crimson White, Tyler Deierhoi staff reporter
Recent UA graduates still looking for work now have one more option on the table. The Alabama College Transfer Advising Corps is seeking 10 qualified individuals to act as transfer advisers at community colleges around the state. The advisers will be temporary, full-time employees of the University and will help students at rural community colleges in Alabama apply for admissions, financial aid and housing at universities across the country.

The program, implemented by a partnership between the University of Alabama Education Policy Center and the Office of Academic Affairs, is one of 12 separate projects focused on the same goal. The projects are headed by the National College Advising Corps, which operates at the University of Utah, Brown University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tufts University, the University of Virginia and others.

These projects exist to give community college students from lower economic and social backgrounds the opportunity to receive an education they might not have the chance for otherwise.

David Hardy, the director of the Alabama College Transfer Advising Corps and assistant professor of higher education, said he thinks the project offers a unique opportunity to graduates.

"It is a post-graduation service program along the lines of Americorps and Teach for America," he said. "It is different, however, in that it allows students who have just successfully completed their own postsecondary education to help other Alabamians do the same thing who, without the program's assistance, might never complete a bachelor's degree."

Primarily, the goal of the project is to improve transfer rates between community colleges in the rural areas of Alabama, where current rates are among the lowest in the country, and the state's universities.

The University sent proposals to 17 community colleges, focusing in the Appalachian and Black Belt Regions of Alabama. The 10 colleges chosen are: Bevill State Community College, Gadsden State Community College, George C. Wallace State Community College-Hanceville, George C. Wallace State Community College-Selma, Jefferson Davis Community College, John C. Calhoun State Community College, Lurleen B. Wallace Community College, Northeast Alabama Community College, Northwest Shoals Community College and Snead State Community College.
Stephen Katsinas, director of the UA Education Policy Center and professor of higher education, described the project as part of UA "fulfilling the role of flagship for the state's higher education."

"It helps emphasize the importance of baccalaureate learning and gives students a chance at an education they probably wouldn't get otherwise," Katsinas said. "There is no doubt in my mind that we are not going to make it in the 21st century in this state with a less educated population. It isn't going to happen."

Community college transfer advisers will work 38.75 hours per week for nine months. They will work with community college students on a one-on-one advising basis, helping the students to choose which university is best for them and helping them complete their applications for admissions, housing, financial aid and scholarships. The advisers will also have the responsibility of conducting presentations on subjects such as the importance of a bachelor's degree, holding SAT and ACT prep workshops and working with the community college's staff to encourage students to transfer and work toward a better future for themselves.

Advisers will receive an hourly wage of $12 to $15, basic medical insurance and an expenses-paid training program at the University and at UNC in Chapel Hill in July and August. Also, upon completion of the nine-month service commitment, the program will make a payment of $5,000 to each adviser's undergraduate student loan provider to pay down part of their student debt or, alternatively, to the institution where the adviser plans to pursue a graduate or first professional degree in the next year to help offset tuition and fees.

All students who graduated between summer 2007 and summer 2008 are eligible for the program, regardless of their major, according to the program materials. Additional information on the program, adviser duties and responsibilities, minimum and preferred applicant qualifications and adviser benefit can be requested via e-mail by writing to Hardy at dhardy@bamaed.ua.edu.