| dc.description.abstract | Higher education closes achievement gaps between socioeconomic levels in our society, especially for historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups (Webb, 2016). However, with the downturn in enrollment and the global pandemic, many institutions of higher education faced unmitigated financial challenges, resulting in a reduction in programs and school closures. The University of Bridgeport (UB), a small private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut, faced closure in 2020 because of financial challenges. UB discontinued some of its academic programs, placed students in a teach-out program, and reduced faculty, staff, and administrators to stay open. A teach-out is a contract between a university and its enrolled students, where the university provides opportunities for them to complete their degree after the university discontinues their academic programs. Teach-out plans may provide change-of-major options (if the school remains open) and transfer options through formal partnership/consortium agreements between schools. UB seeks to understand how to support enrolled students navigating a teach-out transfer process. This mixed-methods quality improvement project used archival data, surveys, and interviews to help senior leadership understand the impact of the teach-out transfer process on students and make recommendations for the University to provide proper institutional support. The theoretical frameworks that informed this study are Tinto’s (1975) longitudinal model of departure and Pascarella’s (1980) student integration model. This study found that support measures fell short of students' needs and expectations throughout the teach-out transfer process. Recommendations were made to improve the process, including creating a transition team; aligning goals, objectives, and ethics; developing and following the federally-mandated teach-out plan, developing a communication plan, and providing adequate resources to facilitate the process. | |
