Date of Award

12-1-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

College

College of Education and Social Sciences

First Advisor

Sheena Kauppila

Second Advisor

Jonathan Coker

Third Advisor

Rosline Sumpter

Abstract

This institutional ethnography explores the implementation of vertical transfer policies in South Carolina, where community and technical college students face persistent barriers in transferring credits to four-year institutions. Despite the growing population of students who begin their academic careers at two-year colleges with aspirations for a bachelor’s degree, South Carolina lacked a formal, statewide transfer policy until 2023. This dissertation investigates how front-line professionals, such as transfer coordinators, transfer advisors, registrars, and other transfer personnel, interpret and implement new transfer policies in practice. The study centers their experiences to illuminate the disjuncture between policy design and institutional realities.

Using transformative institutional ethnography (TIE), a modified approach to institutional ethnography, this study draws on Marxist feminist theory, standpoint theory, and street-level bureaucracy to understand the social organization of policy implementation. Data were collected through interviews with members of the SC Commission on Higher Education (CHE) Transfer Task Force and other relevant stakeholders involved in policy implementation in South Carolina’s higher education landscape. The analysis focused on how these professionals navigate institutional texts, bureaucratic structures, and inter-institutional relationships.

Findings reveal key challenges including vague policy language, inconsistencies in credit acceptance, lack of transfer-supportive institutional culture, and limited authority of the SC CHE to enforce policy. Participants also identified opportunities for improvement through inter-agency collaboration, clearer articulation agreements, and increased faculty involvement.

This research contributes to higher education policy studies by highlighting how professionals on the ground shape the lived outcomes of policy reform. It calls for actionable changes in statewide governance, faculty collaboration, and equity-centered transfer pathways to better support South Carolina’s diverse student populations.

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