With enrollment in steady decline since 2011, SUNY Orange needs to find new pools of students to recruit from; we also need to make sure that those students can succeed by persisting through college and successfully completing certificate and degree programs. However, this challenge takes place in the context of a high need among the adult population in Orange County who lack a high school diploma or equivalency, and for those adults who have difficulty speaking English. It is essential for SUNY Orange to engage this population to truly become a driver of economic mobility and community empowerment, and more than likely increase enrollment. Benefits to the College can only become possible if we better assist this large pool of adult students move to earn college credentials. The College's current design is to actively promote programs to transition students to college, however the College "system" is unprepared to receive them. Focusing more on a transition model for college management, operations, and pedagogy will better assist adult education students to advance and persist to post secondary education. 

It is obvious that CAPE's adult education programs could serve as a large “feeder school” into credit and certificate programs with AY 16-17 enrollment for ESL at  816 and HSE at 647. However, this adult education student population is often neglected. Consequently, students are missing an opportunity to boost their earnings, and we are missing an opportunity to improve completion rates and increase enrollment. The fact that these students are already enrolled in CAPE programs affords the College the opportunity to structure student transitions into postsecondary education in a way that promotes persistence. If these students are already at the College, it is easier to ensure that they have a viable plan for how to complete a degree program. It has been shown that systems in which community colleges are responsible for adult education, the revenue-cost calculations show that it will be worthwhile to invest in adult education transition.

For all these reasons, CAPE ESL and HSE programs are seeking to assist in developing and implementing a transition model for this student population which includes hiring a Transition Specialist. This model goes beyond just providing college application assistance. We need staff who have the skill set and knowledge to work directly with ESL/HSE students to develop aspirations for college and career goals, and secondly, facilitate the process for next steps. In addition, such a model can include activities that can enable students to enter college with little or no need for remedial or developmental education, improving their chances of degree attainment. Specifically, this Transition Specialist would provide mentoring during the duration of these programs to see the possibilities of continuing their education toward a credit program. Assistance with disseminating information to non-credit students needs to begin early in the process of the non-credit programs. Mentoring continues with guiding students through the admissions process and then maintaining mentoring relationships with the students during their first year in the credit program. The mentor/student relationship would be an important component in sustaining the student in the College by means of establishing a personal contact dedicated to the success of the student, thereby increasing the probability of student retention in the College. Most of these students are first generation college students who need the support to get them through school. If successful, word of mouth would help feed students into the college from non-credit to credit.

It takes visionary leadership that can see a future for these students from adult education into postsecondary programs and will help them successfully complete certificates and degrees that have value in the job market.