Together and Toward Equity: Experiences and Insights of Faculty in a Transfer Partnership

Abstract

Empirically grounded, this article presents practical insights from a faculty‐led cross‐institutional transfer partnership involving three community colleges and a university in the Midwest. Drawing upon focus group interviews with over 60 members involved in the partnership, we delve into how faculty participants traverse domains of teaching, mentoring, and collaboration in their quest for developing equitable transfer opportunities and pathways. The article offers implications and recommendations that inform several vital areas of community college research and practice, such as transfer partnerships and equity initiatives, especially those led by faculty. Further, by illuminating how faculty negotiate priorities, tensions, strategies, and opportunities across their multiple roles in the transfer partnership, this article offers approaches for supporting community college faculty in reconciling their multiple professional roles toward complementarity, synergy, and sustainability.