Transfer Student Success Partnership Conference

The 2026 Transfer Student Success Partnership Conference is a complimentary event that convenes academic leaders, faculty, advisors, and academic success coaches from DirectConnect to UCF® partner institutions, the Florida College System, the State University System (SUS), and Central Florida public school systems.

Now in its third year, the conference continues to support efforts that strengthen curriculum alignment, enhance degree pathways, and improve outcomes for transfer student success.

We celebrate 20 years of partnership, innovation, and impact that began with the formation of the Central Florida Higher Education Consortium in 2005. This visionary collaboration laid the foundation for the launch of DirectConnect to UCF® in 2006, creating a nationally recognized model for advancing transfer access and student success.

Over the past two decades, the Consortium has expanded degree pathways, strengthened curriculum alignment, and supported transfer student success, marked by the awarding of more than 77,964 UCF bachelor’s degrees to students who transferred from DirectConnect to UCF partner institutions.

This year’s theme focuses on the continued evolution of transfer student success strategies, highlighting innovative practices in curriculum alignment, data-informed decision-making, seamless academic transitions, and holistic advising and coaching. Through interactive sessions and four targeted presentation tracks, participants will explore bold, student-centered approaches that elevate transfer outcomes now and into the future.

Track 1: Initiatives for Seamless Academic Transition

Sessions in this track will focus on efforts, campaigns, initiatives, or activities that reduce barriers to transfer student success and increase a student’s opportunities for successful transition. Presentations can focus on those activities that result in major readiness, transfer readiness, increased retention, student course momentum, improved graduation or time-to-degree/graduation; aligned course, programs, or pathways; completed pre-requisite requirements, improved social/academic integration.  

Track 2: Data-informed Transfer Success Strategies

Sessions in this track will focus on examples or best practices of how to use data, artificial intelligence, and researched best practices to inform academic support, curricular or pedagogical practices to address transfer shock, or demonstrate how data informs and impacts student success.

Track 3: Curriculum Alignment 

Sessions in this track include topics that discuss intra- and inter- institutional efforts to align curriculum for foundational courses. Presentations in this track may include horizontal alignment, vertical alignment, or integrated alignment of foundational courses, course coordination efforts of foundational courses, faculty based course interventions, course redesign, and curriculum mapping.

Track 4: Coaching, Advising, and Pathways

Sessions in this track focus more on the impact of effective advising and coaching strategies. Presentations may include effective use of degree pathways, co-curricular supports, best practices, and innovative approaches to advising and coaching, transfer readiness, and major readiness.