Gathering commemorates first anniversary of the university’s transfer agreement

In commemorating the first anniversary of Radford University’s Tartan Transfer agreement, Felicia Ganther turned to a unique source of inspiration – the producer DJ Khaled and his triple-platinum single from 2010, “All I Do Is Win.”

Ganther, the Virginia Community College System’s senior vice chancellor for academics and workforce programs, was the keynote speaker at the Tartan Transfer Summit, an Oct. 23 luncheon at The Highlander hotel, a gathering that recognized and reflected upon the collaboration among Radford University and eight Virginia community colleges, including Mountain Empire, Mountain Gateway, New River, Patrick and Henry, Southwest Virginia, Virginia Highlands, Virginia Western and Wytheville.

The Tartan Transfer agreement is designed to ensure that junior college students experience smooth and successful transitions as they take the leap to attend Radford, and this fall semester, the university welcomed its first student to enroll through the program. In the meantime, across the eight partner schools, 59 students have also submitted their declaration of intent to apply, while another 45 have requested inquiry forms.

At the top of her address to the schools’ officials, Ganther quoted Khaled’s hit, specifically the refrain in which he announces, “All I do is win, win, win!” Then she unpacked the repetition within that lyric.

“Khaled could have just said, ‘All I do is win,’” she mused. “We all know what the definition of ‘win’ is, so it is not necessary for him to say ‘win’ more than once, but in this particular song, he says it three times.

“That is a whole lot of winning,” she noted, then localized the focus of her observation: “The reality is that the win for the Tartan Transfer program requires more than just one win; it requires three wins. It requires a win for Radford, a win for the Virginia Community Colleges and, most importantly, a win for the transfer student.”

When Radford and the state’s community college system came together in November 2024 to sign their articulation agreement, she explained, they were declaring a shared belief that every Virginian deserves a clear and affordable pathway to a bachelor’s degree, and that the institutions in the partnership could work together to make that real.

“Today, one year later, we gather not to simply mark the program’s success, but to affirm its future, to strengthen the bridges we built and ensure that students across the commonwealth will continue to cross these transfer bridges with confidence,” Ganther said.

“This summit – our first of what I know will become an annual touchpoint – is happening at an important moment for higher education, especially here in Western Virginia,” she continued. “Across the nation, we face what many have called the demographic cliff, a steady decline in the number of traditional students.”

As that population shrinks, she said, competition for enrollment intensifies, even as campuses experience greater diversity, and students and their families question the return on investment for higher education.

“Against this backdrop, the Tartan Transfer program stands as a bold and hopeful answer. It proves that when universities and community colleges act as partners, instead of competitors, we can expand access, reduce barriers, restore confidence in the promise.

“We have eight [community] colleges represented,” she noted. “This is exactly what it takes to sustain transformation. People from every corner of the educational experience coming together to align goals, share strategies and innovate on behalf of our students, because together, we are creating a future where the road from aspiration to achievement is open, supported and celebrated.”

Indeed, the meeting also doubled as a workshop in which attendees broke into concurrent groups to discuss what they’ve learned over the past 12 months. Individual sessions were held by the colleges’ advisors, by student success and admissions officials, and by the presidents and chief academic and enrollment officers. The summit concluded with summaries of those conversations.

Topics at hand included creating a cohesive “transfer roadmap” that would offer students direction and answers in advance; a transfer peer group among advisors that could hold periodic virtual meetings; and a student ambassador group.

Others said they considered the financial obstacles students often must overcome and the mental health challenges they can face, as well as such practical considerations as housing and work responsibilities.

“We started talking about some of the barriers that students have as they transition, focusing on what those are,” said Austin Pryor, Virginia Western Community College’s coordinator of retention and student success. “Identifying them is a big part of making sure our students are successful.

“I think one of the great things about the Tartan Transfer is that we are lengthening the runway to transfers for students; we’re having them think about it from day one. We can be intentional, knowing what those challenges are.”

New River Community College President Robert Brandon said his group focused on unified communication.

“One thing I think is important: consistent messaging from the community college advisors through Radford’s advisors,” he said, to ensure that “we’re all on the same page, we’re telling students the same things, we’ve got the same ideas.”

“The Tartan Transfer is a great model,” Brandon said, “because it begins a regional conversation. It brings us all together to talk about how we can build this regional ecosystem that helps students get into professions.”

Provost Bethany Usher and President Bret Danilowicz also spoke, with Danilowicz underscoring the importance of community college students who intend to transfer earning their associate degrees first.

“If students get their degrees before they transfer, it makes a world of difference,” he said. “If I remember right, 86% of the students who come in with associate degrees then graduate from Radford University.”

The president also thanked the visiting representatives.

“The suggestions that came out help us make and implement differences that support our students,” Danilowicz said. “As a region, we can work together to find better solutions for creating pathways for students that also stay in our region for their whole careers.”