Presenters: Ryan Griffith and Micah Jendian of Grossmont College
Session Moderator: Michael M. Dinielli

This session focused on Grossmont College’s efforts to improve the alignment of ENGL 1A courses at Grossmmont/Cuyamaca Community Colleges and San Diego State University (SDSU). This Project, part of the Cal-PASS Initiative, facilitates smoother and more successful transfers from the CC District to SDSU. The faculty used common assignments, texts, and instructional plans at SDSU and Grossmont/Cuyamaca Colleges. Despite different emphases, the two faculty groups discovered shared values, the need to establish a clearly stated mission statement and to recognize protocols, the importance of honoring the alignment process, and the common roles in support of successful student transfer. Grossmont/Cuyamaca faculty also recognized that their composition CORs and SLOs had to be updated to align with SDSU’s composition requirements.

While this alignment project is ongoing, the hope is that the data will reflect not only an increased number of transfer students to SDSU, but also better prepared, more successful students who have seamlessly transferred from Grossmont/Cuyamaca Colleges to San Diego State University.