Spoon River College was selected by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program (Aspen) and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) to join the 2024-2025 cohort of the Aspen-AASCU Transfer Student Success Intensive.
Spoon River College joins its partner Western Illinois University and 18 other two- and four-year colleges engaged in the third Intensive cohort. Selected from an applicant pool of 97 institutions and three systems from 24 states, the three cohorts collectively represent a total enrollment of over 1.3 million undergraduate students from across the U.S.
The Intensive, funded by Ascendium Education Philanthropy, is a one-year initiative of monthly sessions designed to support partnerships between community colleges and AASCU members in advancing the practices and policies associated with improved, more equitable transfer student success. Spoon River College will join a community of practice focused on transfer and equity, receive one-on-one consulting with experts, and work to identify, collect, understand, and utilize critical transfer outcomes and equity data to develop a forward-looking strategic transfer plan.
Spoon River College is a two-year, public community college in West Central Illinois, with campuses and Community Outreach Centers in Canton and Macomb, and Learning Centers in Havana and Rushville. It serves students in a 1,566 square mile area that includes portions of Fulton, McDonough, Mason, Schuyler, and Knox counties. For more information about Spoon River College, visit www.src.edu.
The Aspen-AASCU Transfer Student Success Initiative is presented by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and generously funded by Ascendium. Learn more at https://highered.aspeninstitute.org/transfer-intensive/.
The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program supports colleges and universities in their quest to achieve a higher standard of excellence, delivering credentials that unlock life-changing careers and strengthen our economy, society, and democracy. We know it takes visionary college leaders to lead scaled, sustainable reforms, and we make it our mission to equip them with the knowledge, skills, and research-backed tools to inspire change, shift practice, and advance the capacity of colleges to deliver excellent and equitable student outcomes.
The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is a Washington, D.C.-based higher education association of 350 public colleges, universities, and systems whose members share a learning- and teaching-centered culture, a historic commitment to underserved student populations, and a dedication to research and creativity that advances their regions’ economic progress and cultural development. These are institutions Delivering America’s Promise. Visit us at www.aascu.org.
Dr. Curt Oldfield (Spoon River College president) and Dr. Kristi Mindrup (WIU president)