Building a Sustainable Higher Education Model: CSCU's Partnership for Workforce Readiness

Changing Higher Ed

Learn how CSCU’s unification of its once-siloed community college is building a sustainable higher education model and helping improve retention and enrollment.

The first half of this two-part series with Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU)’s Chancellor Terence Cheng explores how CSCU partners with local businesses to ensure equity and workforce preparation for its majority-minority student population.

Forming Effective Partnerships with Local Businesses

At UConn Stamford before coming to CSCU, Dr. Terrence pinpointed local businesses in the Stamford, Connecticut, area like NBC Sports and then identified the type of skills NBC Sports wanted to connect them with the programs UConn Stamford offered that could best meet their needs.

98% of CSCU’s students come from Connecticut and will remain there, so CSCU strives to create a strong relationship with local businesses where these businesses feel compelled to call the system if they have any needs. Dr. Terrence describes it as building “muscle memory” for them.

Higher ed leaders need to help local businesses realize a simple if/then value proposition if they partner with your system. You want them to say, “If I call CSCU, I will get this.”

Improved Retention Through Streamlined Transfers

CSCU helped unite the system’s 12 legacy community colleges into one singularly accredited multi-campus institution. A united system provides a more streamlined and efficient shared services model on the back end that anticipates providing improved academic performance, retention, graduation rates, and job placements.

Most community college students cannot take 12 or even 9 credits at a time and regularly move across the state for various reasons. A unified curriculum makes transferring easier. To streamline transferring, higher ed must first identify the percentage of community college students who want to transfer but haven’t and those who transfer within and outside your system.

After performing this analysis, remove obstacles that complicate transferring, such as “the last-credit conundrum.” This can be accomplished by breaking down the perception that a course taken from a community college is not good enough for a university. Also, more effectively communicate the seamlessness of your continuum from community colleges to four-year institutions to help attract and retain students.

At a Glance

• How systems like CSCU need to position themselves in relation to major flagship universities in their state like UConn
• CSCU’s unique history when Governor Daniel Malloy created CSCU’s system more than 10 years ago
• The challenges of navigating a siloed university system that is deeply rooted in its ways

Read the transcript on the website →

About our Guest

Terrence Cheng

Terrence Cheng is chancellor of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system, which oversees 12 community colleges, four state universities, and Charter Oak State College and serves more than 85,000 students.

About the Host

Dr. Drumm McNaughton, host of Changing Higher Ed®, is a consultant to higher education institutions in governance, accreditation, strategy and change, and mergers. To learn more about his services and other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website: https://changinghighered.com/.

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