Improving Ease of Transfer Between New Mexico State University System Campuses
Impact at a Glance
Applied a student-centered approach to evaluating transfer support
Brought together a cross-functional team from across the university
Evaluated transfer, graduation, GPA, and time-to-completion outcomes
Gathered feedback directly from current and former transfer students
Expanded student-centered decision-making to other improvement initiatives
The Challenge
The New Mexico State University (NMSU) System includes its flagship campus in Las Cruces and community colleges across New Mexico. NMSU wanted to evaluate and improve the Aggie Pathways Program, which helps community college students transfer to NMSU and ultimately earn a bachelor's degree.
Leaders wanted to:
- Better understand the effectiveness of the Aggie Pathways Program
- Identify barriers students encountered during transfer
- Capture student feedback on existing transfer processes
- Improve transfer practices to support retention and completion
- Examine how administrative and financial processes affected the transfer experience
The goal was to identify changes that could make it easier for students to navigate the transition between NMSU campuses.
The Action
NMSU used NACUBO's Guiding Questions for Student-Centered Decision-Making to develop an evaluation of the Aggie Pathways Program.
The university:
- Formed a cross-functional team representing finance, budget, student success, and university leadership
- Used the Guiding Questions to identify what should be evaluated
- Partnered with the SOAR Evaluation and Policy Center to conduct the evaluation
- Compared Aggie Pathways participants with similar students who did not participate
- Examined transfer, graduation, first-semester GPA, and time-to-completion outcomes
- Surveyed current and former participants about their experiences
The process brought together departments that had not previously worked together and placed the student experience at the center of evaluating transfer processes.
The Results
Immediate Impact
- Completed a structured evaluation of the Aggie Pathways Program
- Compared outcomes for program participants with similar non-participants
- Examined transfer, graduation, GPA, and time-to-completion measures
- Captured feedback from current and former Aggie Pathways students
Process Improvements
- Strengthened collaboration among finance, budget, student success, and university leadership
- Brought together departments that had not previously worked together
- Created a more student-centered approach to evaluating transfer-related processes
- Established findings that can inform future improvements to transfer support
Ongoing Momentum
- Use evaluation findings to improve transfer processes and support
- Apply student-centered decision-making to other university initiatives
- Share the Guiding Questions with additional teams across the NMSU System
- Continue using Student Success Hub resources to support continuous improvement
“There was major interest from finance and budget colleagues, and others within NMSU strategic goal teams, to utilize these questions to spark mindset shifts for working groups and departments. The tool will be disseminated to additional teams at NMSU ... for consideration. ...”
Kimberly RumfordChief Budget Officer
